Vellum is a personal AI assistant that runs as a native Mac app on your machine or in Vellum Cloud, with iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces that share one memory. Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic mode inside the Claude desktop app that runs multi-step tasks against local files and connected applications during a sandboxed working session.
Last updated: May 2026
Vellum is a personal AI assistant that runs as a native Mac app on your machine or in Vellum Cloud, with iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces that share one memory. It builds a structured, persistent memory of your work and people automatically, and executes real actions across 50+ services through managed OAuth.
Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic AI mode for knowledge work, accessed inside the Claude desktop app on all paid Claude plans. It runs multi-step tasks against local files and connected applications like Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, and Chrome inside a sandboxed working session, with the user steering each step before significant actions.
Category
Vellum
Claude CoworkChannels
Native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Every surface shares one memory.
Claude desktop app on Mac and Windows, with mobile entry through the Claude app on iOS and Android. Chrome via connector.
Hosting
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Runs locally inside the Claude desktop app. Models served from Anthropic's infrastructure. No self-host option.
Integrations
Native agent skills plus 1-click integrations with 50+ services through managed OAuth.
Native connectors for Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, DocuSign, FactSet, Linear, Jira, and Chrome. Custom MCP support.
Memory
Builds a persistent, structured memory of your work and people that gets sharper with every conversation and correction.
Each Cowork task is a working session you steer. No persistent personal memory layer across tasks or sessions.
Modularity
Builds its own skills, learns your tone, and adapts based on what you reward and correct.
Skills system and customizable plugins. Plugins encode workflows for domains like finance, engineering, or HR.
Open Source
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Proprietary. Closed-source SaaS from Anthropic. Source code not available.
Pricing
Free Base with 10 free credits + referral credits. Pro from $50/mo for configurable compute, storage, and assistant email.
Included on Claude paid plans: Pro $20/mo, Max $100 to $200/mo, Team about $25/seat, Enterprise custom. Usage caps apply.
Privacy
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Runs on your local machine but processes through Anthropic's infrastructure under its enterprise data policies.
Schedules
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
Recurring tasks supported. Define cadence once and Claude runs it on schedule, like a weekly Slack digest.
Security
Credentials live in an isolated vault and never enter the language model, so prompt injection can't exfiltrate keys.
Sandboxed via Apple VZVirtualMachine with explicit folder permissions. Audit logs and Compliance API not yet captured.
Setup
Up and running in 5 to 10 minutes: download the Mac app, sign in, connect your tools. No terminal needed.
Available immediately on any paid Claude plan. Sign in, select a folder for sandboxed access, start tasks.
Storage
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.
Runs inside the Claude desktop app. No published minimum specs for Cowork specifically.
Cowork runs tasks during a steered desktop session inside the Claude app. When you close the session or step away, the work pauses.
Vellum is fully managed cloud. No session to keep open, no laptop to babysit. Scheduled jobs and background tasks run in Vellum Cloud whether you are at your desk or asleep, and you wake up to work that already shipped.
Cowork lives in the Claude desktop app on Mac and Windows, with mobile entry through the Claude app on iOS and Android.
Vellum ships as a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, with voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces. Every surface shares one memory and identity, so you can switch from desktop to phone without losing a beat.
Each Cowork task is a working session you steer to completion. The next task starts fresh, without inherited context.
Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work, people, and patterns automatically. Every conversation makes the next one sharper, and that memory follows you across every surface.
Cowork processes actions through Anthropic's infrastructure, with files accessed inside an Apple VZVirtualMachine sandbox on your machine. Audit logs and Compliance API are not yet captured.
Vellum is available as both Vellum Cloud and a native Mac app on your own machine, and Vellum never has access to your data on either path. Credentials live in an isolated vault the model never sees, so prompt injection cannot exfiltrate keys.
Choose Vellum if you want a persistent personal AI assistant that builds memory of your work and people over time, runs proactively in the background, and shows up across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack with one shared memory. Vellum executes real actions through managed OAuth on 50+ services and runs scheduled work continuously in Vellum Cloud, not only during a steered session at your desk.
Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic mode for knowledge work inside the Claude desktop app. If you already pay for Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise and primarily want to delegate self-contained desktop tasks like reformatting files, drafting reports from source documents, or organizing folders, Cowork covers that working-session pattern well.
Claude Cowork is included on every paid Claude plan: Pro at $20/mo, Max at $100 to $200/mo, Team at roughly $25 per seat per month, and Enterprise priced custom. Usage limits apply on each tier. Vellum offers a Free Base plan, plus Pro from $50/mo with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and your assistant's own email and subdomain.
Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work, people, and patterns automatically across every session, shared across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Cowork operates as a working session: you describe a task, Claude executes it inside the session, and the next task starts fresh. There is no managed long-term memory of you across Cowork tasks.
Vellum connects to 50+ services through managed OAuth with one-click setup and no API keys to handle, including Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, X, and Telegram. Cowork has native connectors for Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, DocuSign, FactSet, Linear, Jira, and Chrome, plus custom MCP support for the broader ecosystem.
Cowork is primarily a desktop product running inside the Claude desktop app on Mac and Windows, with mobile entry through the Claude app on iOS and Android. Vellum ships as a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, with voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces, all sharing the same memory.
With Vellum, your data lives on Vellum Cloud with per-customer isolation, encryption at rest, configurable retention, and custom LLM credentials so model API keys stay under your control. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path, whether you run the native Mac app on your machine or use Vellum Cloud. With Cowork, files Claude accesses stay on your machine inside an Apple VZVirtualMachine sandbox, and Anthropic processes actions through its infrastructure under its enterprise data policies.
Both target non-technical users. Vellum is built for every human, with a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, plus voice, email, Telegram, and Slack, all syncing one persistent memory. Cowork is built for knowledge workers who want to hand off desktop tasks during a working session inside the Claude desktop app. For ongoing personal AI work across surfaces, Vellum is the broader fit. For self-contained desktop deliverables, Cowork is a strong execution layer.
Yes. Vellum runs as a native Mac app on your own machine, with iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces in sync. If you want continuous 24/7 background work without keeping your laptop open, Vellum Cloud handles it on the Pro plan from $50/mo with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and your assistant's own email and subdomain. Either path gives you the same assistant and identity.
Yes. They serve different jobs. Some people use Vellum as their always-on personal assistant across surfaces and use Cowork when they want to hand a sandboxed desktop task to Claude for a single session. Most people consolidate on one over time once they see how Vellum's persistent memory and multi-surface presence cover the day-to-day.
Vellum's memory is structured, persistent, and assistant-managed: it builds up an understanding of you across every conversation, surface, and action, and that memory is the same whether you reach the assistant from Mac, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, or Slack. Cowork's working session is task-scoped: you define a task, steer it through to completion, and the session ends. Future tasks start fresh, without inherited context.
