# Vellum vs Muse
> Personal AI assistant vs Meta's autonomous agent
> Last updated: September 8, 2026
> Comparison: https://www.vellum.ai/compare-assistants/vellum-vs-muse

## Overview
Vellum is an open-source personal AI assistant with free cloud hosting that runs on your computer or in Vellum Cloud, with continuous structured memory across Mac, iOS, Android, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Muse is Meta's consumer AI agent that runs on a dedicated cloud virtual machine with its own browser, communicates inside WhatsApp and mobile apps, and initiates purchases using virtual cards. While both systems execute real-world tasks autonomously, Vellum prioritizes open-source data ownership and local execution, whereas Muse operates within Meta's closed cloud infrastructure.

## The contenders
### Vellum
Website: https://vellum.ai

Vellum is a voice-first personal AI assistant that learns how you work and can improve itself around your habits. Its companion works alongside you in real time, or takes on longer tasks in the background. It follows you across devices and apps with one shared memory, and can run in Vellum Cloud or on your own machine.

Why choose Vellum:
- Model agnostic: Use any frontier AI model, open or proprietary, and switch anytime.
- Truly yours: Give it a name and personality. It learns you, your work, and your tools.
- Self-improving: Gets better the more you use it, with one memory across every device.
- Private by design: Credentials stay secure, and you choose where your data lives, including self-hosting.
- Built for busy business owners: Offload work and make more time for life.

### Muse
Website: https://muse.ai

Muse is Meta's personal AI agent, powered by the Muse Spark model. It runs on a dedicated cloud virtual machine with an isolated browser, Debian runtime container, WhatsApp integration, and one-time virtual card checkout via Stripe Link.

Why choose Muse:
- Dedicated cloud virtual machine with a full browser and code execution runtime
- Native WhatsApp integration for everyday task assignment and status updates
- Sentinel safety supervisor with eBPF-based tainted egress tracking
- Autonomous shopping checkout with single-use virtual cards and Stripe Link protections

## The scorecard

### channels

Vellum: 9 surfaces, one memory
iOS app with Home Screen widgets, native Mac app, web app, voice, email, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, and Discord, now an official channel with a setup wizard. Sent messages can be edited in place in Slack and Telegram. Every surface shares the same memory and identity.
Vellum runs natively on Mac and iOS with Home Screen widgets, plus web app, voice, email, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, and Discord. Sent messages can be edited in place in Slack and Telegram. Every surface shares the same memory, so you can start a task on your Mac and pick it up on your phone or in a chat.

Muse: WhatsApp, mobile apps, and web access
Native messaging in WhatsApp, dedicated iOS and Android apps, and web interface at muse.ai.
Muse is accessible through native WhatsApp messaging threads, dedicated iOS and Android mobile apps, and the muse.ai web application. Future integration is planned for Meta smart glasses.

### execution

Vellum: One sentence to real output
Build me a habit tracker gets you a working, interactive app in the conversation. Read this page uses the browser extension to read your open tabs and act on the page you are looking at. Call the dentist and reschedule places an actual phone call with its own voice.

Muse: Autonomous browser and Linux sandbox execution
Navigates websites via accessibility trees and executes terminal commands inside a Debian container.
Muse executes tasks by interacting with web pages through accessibility tree snapshots and running bash scripts inside its Debian container. It handles multi-step workflows like researching flights, filling online forms, and checking out purchases autonomously.

### hosting

Vellum: On-device, managed cloud, or self-hosted
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Vellum gives you the full range: run the native Mac app entirely on your own hardware, use Vellum Cloud for managed uptime and cross-device sync, or self-host on your own VPS for full infrastructure control.

Muse: Dedicated Muse Secure VM
Runs on an isolated Linux cloud virtual machine with persistent browser and Debian runtime.
Every user is provisioned a dedicated Muse Secure VM in Meta data centers. The virtual machine includes a persistent Chromium browser, a Debian runtime container, local storage, and code compilation tools. There is no option to host Muse on personal hardware.

### integrations

Vellum: 50+ managed OAuth integrations
Native agent skills plus 1-click integrations with 50+ services through managed OAuth, including native Calendly and Eventbrite. Your assistant acts in real services without you touching tokens or API keys.
Vellum connects to 50+ services through managed OAuth: Google, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, Calendly, Eventbrite, and more. Your assistant acts in real services on your behalf without you handling tokens or API keys.

Muse: Consumer apps and Stripe Link commerce
Integrates with email, calendar, Instagram, and Stripe Link for single-use virtual card checkouts.
Muse connects to everyday consumer services including email, calendar, and Instagram. For commerce, it integrates with Stripe Link to generate single-use virtual card numbers with agent purchase protections, keeping real card details hidden from merchants.

### memory

Vellum: Structured memory that builds itself, everywhere
Vellum builds a structured memory of your projects, people, and preferences automatically, across every surface. It sharpens with every conversation and correction, and there is nothing to configure: no files to curate, no engine to pick, no embedding provider to wire up.
Vellum builds a structured memory graph of your projects, people, and preferences across every surface. It sharpens over time through use and explicit corrections, so each conversation picks up where the last left off.

Muse: Long-term goal and preference tracking
Tracks everyday goals, preferences, and tasks across chat sessions inside Meta cloud storage.
Muse tracks long-term goals, personal preferences, and conversational history within Meta's cloud infrastructure. It reflects on user routines to suggest proactive ideas and milestones, but context remains bound to Meta's proprietary ecosystem.

### modularity

Vellum: Adapts to you personally
Builds its own skills, learns your tone, and adapts based on what you reward and correct. Install new skills from a growing library, or just ask and it figures out a way.
Vellum adapts at the individual level: it learns your communication style, builds custom skills from your instructions, and updates its behavior based on your feedback. Each assistant is shaped by the specific person using it.

Muse: Automated subagents and dynamic tool building
Spins up subagents for web tasks and dynamically writes custom tools for missing workflows.
Muse can decompose complex objectives into subtasks, launching dedicated subagents inside its virtual machine. If an external service lacks an API or integration, Muse can compile code and write its own tool scripts to complete the assignment.

### open-source

Vellum: Open source under MIT
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Vellum is open source under the MIT license. The full codebase is on GitHub and can be self-hosted, audited, and extended.

Muse: Proprietary closed platform
Muse is a proprietary closed-source service with no public code repository or self-hosting capability.
Muse is closed-source software developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs. The underlying harness, Sentinel monitoring code, and Muse Spark model weights are proprietary and cannot be inspected, self-hosted, or modified.

### pricing

Vellum: Free Base, paid from $30/mo
Free Base plan with free credits to start. Paid plans from $30/mo (Mighty), $100 (Super), and $200 (Ultra) with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and your assistant's own email and subdomain on higher tiers.
Vellum offers a free Base plan with credits to start. Paid plans run from $30/mo (Mighty) to $100 (Super) and $200 (Ultra) with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and a personal assistant email and subdomain on higher tiers.

Muse: Freemium consumer tiers
Free tier for everyday personal tasks and basic goal management, with paid subscriptions for higher compute.
Muse follows a consumer freemium pricing model: free for standard personal errands and goal tracking, with paid subscription tiers unlocking higher virtual machine compute allocations, faster subagent concurrency, and expanded cloud storage.

### privacy

Vellum: Local or cloud, always yours
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Vellum gives you three deployment paths: native Mac app on your own hardware, Vellum Cloud with per-customer isolation, or self-hosted on your own infrastructure. On every path, Vellum never has access to your data.

Muse: Cloud data processing on Meta infrastructure
All virtual machine data and conversations are processed on Meta cloud servers with model training opt-outs.
Muse processes all VM state, browsing history, and chat messages on Meta cloud infrastructure. Meta states VM data is not shared with advertising systems and provides a model training opt-out. A hardware-encrypted Confidential VM with user-held keys is planned for future release.

### schedules

Vellum: Built-in scheduling, always running
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
Vellum has native scheduling for recurring tasks: daily briefings, weekly reports, hourly checks. Scheduled tasks run in the cloud whether or not you have a session open.

Muse: Proactive background goal monitoring
Runs persistent background routines and cron jobs inside the VM to track ongoing goals.
Muse runs continuous background routines and scheduled tasks inside its cloud VM, monitoring price changes, appointment openings, and project milestones while your phone or browser is inactive.

### security

Vellum: Isolated credential vault
Credentials live in an isolated vault and never enter the model layer, so prompt injection can't exfiltrate your keys. Every sensitive action asks permission with a risk badge before it runs, and guardian approvals land in one inbox.
Vellum stores every connected service credential in an isolated vault that never touches the LLM inference layer. Prompt injection attacks cannot reach your API keys or OAuth tokens.

Muse: Sentinel supervisor and surrogate credentials
Host-side Sentinel supervisor isolates credentials in authd and blocks untrusted network egress.
Muse runs inside an unprivileged container gated by a host-side supervisor named Sentinel. Credentials and OAuth tokens live in an isolated daemon (authd) and are injected at the network boundary, ensuring the core language model never inspects raw secrets. Actions touching untrusted data are marked tainted and require manual human approval.

### setup

Vellum: Sign up and start talking
No terminal, no API keys, no daemon. Voice-first onboarding is the default: your first experience is speaking, not configuring. Free, no credit card, up in minutes.
Vellum setup is sign up and start talking. Create an account and your first sentence gets real output. Voice is the default first experience. No terminal, no config files, no API keys, no infrastructure to provision.

Muse: Turnkey consumer onboarding
Quick sign-in via mobile number or email with instant WhatsApp and mobile app access.
Muse onboarding requires only signing in with a phone number or email address, connecting directly to WhatsApp or mobile apps without server configuration, API keys, or command-line tools.

### storage

Vellum: Storage
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.

Muse: Dedicated cloud VM disk
Stores virtual machine files, browser sessions, and personal state inside Meta cloud storage.
All files, browser session cookies, compiled code, and goal records live on the user's dedicated Muse Secure VM disk within Meta infrastructure. There is no local storage option.

### trust

Vellum: Permissions you can see
Every sensitive action asks first with a risk badge, guardian approvals land in one inbox, and you can export or delete your data at any time. The trust model is written down in the docs.

Muse: Tainted egress tracking and human approval gates
eBPF kernel tracking revokes autonomous egress on untrusted data; sensitive actions require confirmation.
Muse employs eBPF kernel probes to track tainted data flows. If the agent ingests untrusted web content, its autonomous network permissions are revoked and actions require explicit human confirmation. Irreversible actions like payments or sending emails always pause for human approval.

## Where they split

### Which one is right for you?
Muse is Meta's personal agent for consumer errands, running tasks inside a remote cloud VM and messaging through WhatsApp. It automates shopping, travel booking, and daily to-dos, with your data, memory, and execution locked inside Meta's cloud.
Vellum handles those same errands, schedules, and daily tasks, but lives on your computer with complete data ownership. You get an autonomous personal assistant out of the box with zero technical setup, continuous memory across your devices, and your private data never trapped in a closed cloud.

### Which setup fits you best?
Muse operates on a remote cloud virtual machine accessed through WhatsApp, mobile apps, and the muse.ai web interface, with smart glasses support planned.
Vellum lives where you work: a native Mac app that controls your local computer, mobile apps on iOS and Android, web app, voice calling, email, Slack, and Telegram, all connected to one persistent assistant.

### How do you want privacy and security handled?
Muse runs entirely in Meta's cloud with Sentinel kernel tracking and surrogate credentials, but entrusts all personal data, browsing history, and context to Meta infrastructure.
Vellum gives you complete architectural ownership: run locally on your physical device with zero cloud transmission, self-host under MIT, or use Vellum Cloud with isolated credential vaults that keep your keys and passwords private.

## Lingering questions

### Should I choose Vellum or Muse for a personal AI assistant?
Choose Vellum if you want an autonomous personal assistant for daily errands and complex tasks with complete data ownership, free cloud hosting, and continuous memory across your Mac, phone, and messaging apps. Choose Muse if you prefer managing your tasks through WhatsApp inside Meta's cloud infrastructure.

### When does Muse make more sense than Vellum?
Muse makes sense if your primary messaging app is WhatsApp and you want a cloud-based agent to handle automated shopping checkouts with single-use virtual cards through Stripe Link. If you want an assistant that handles those same everyday errands while keeping your context, files, and credentials under your own ownership, Vellum is built for you.

### How much does Vellum cost compared with Muse?
Vellum includes free cloud hosting when you sign up. Paid plans upgrade your assistant's compute and storage: Mighty at $30 per month, Super at $100 per month plus a $10 platform fee, Ultra at $200 per month plus a $10 platform fee, and Custom. Self-hosting has no platform fee. Muse follows a freemium model: free for core everyday tasks, with paid subscription tiers for higher compute, subagents, and cloud storage.

### How does Muse's security compare to Vellum's credential vault?
Both platforms recognize that language models must never see raw passwords or tokens. Muse uses a host-side Sentinel supervisor and authd daemon to inject surrogate credentials at the network boundary, combined with eBPF tainted egress tracking. Vellum isolates credentials in a dedicated execution vault container where secrets never enter prompt context, while keeping the entire codebase open-source and auditable.

### Can I self-host Muse or run it on my own computer?
No. Muse runs exclusively on dedicated cloud virtual machines inside Meta's infrastructure. Vellum can run directly on your own computer as a native Mac app with local memory, self-hosted on your own private server under the MIT license, or deployed in managed Vellum Cloud.

### Can Vellum buy things online like Muse does?
Muse features native integration with Stripe Link to generate single-use virtual card numbers for automated merchant checkouts. Vellum can execute browser automation and tool-assisted purchases with human approval gates, but focuses on broad desktop workflows, file management, and professional project execution rather than consumer virtual card issuance.

### What messaging apps do Vellum and Muse support?
Muse supports native messaging inside WhatsApp, dedicated iOS and Android apps, and the web at muse.ai. Vellum connects across Mac, iOS, Android, web app, voice calling, email, Telegram, Slack, and terminal, sharing continuous memory across all surfaces.

### Where does my data live with Muse vs Vellum?
With Muse, all virtual machine files, browser sessions, conversations, and goal context live on Meta cloud servers. Meta states VM data is not shared with advertising systems. With Vellum, you choose your data residency: keep memory entirely local on your physical Mac, self-host on your own infrastructure, or use managed Vellum Cloud with zero-access encryption.

### Can I use models like Claude or GPT-5 with Muse?
No. Muse is permanently locked to Meta's proprietary Muse Spark model. Vellum is model-agnostic, allowing you to route tasks to Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, or completely private open-weight models running locally via Ollama.

### Can Muse manage files on my physical laptop?
No. Muse operates strictly inside its remote cloud virtual machine and browser. It cannot read, organize, or edit files on your personal physical computer. Vellum runs natively on your machine, managing local files, running shell commands in your terminal, and coordinating desktop workflows directly.

### Is Vellum or Muse easier to use for non-technical users?
Both are built for non-technical users. Muse lets you chat inside WhatsApp, while Vellum gives you a ready-to-use assistant across your Mac, iPhone, web, voice, email, Slack, and Telegram with zero command-line or server setup required. The difference is not usability: it is whether you want your life admin stored inside Meta's cloud or kept secure on your own devices.

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Full comparison index: https://www.vellum.ai/compare-assistants
Try Vellum: https://www.vellum.ai