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. Hermes Agent is an open-source CLI-based agent framework from Nous Research that you self-host on your own infrastructure.
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.
Hermes Agent is an open-source autonomous agent by Nous Research. It runs on your own server or VPS and is free to use under the MIT license.
Category
Vellum
Hermes AgentChannels
Native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Every surface shares one memory.
CLI and terminal-first with an optional web UI. No native mobile or messaging surfaces.
Hosting
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Self-hosted only. You provision and manage the infrastructure end to end.
Integrations
Native agent skills plus 1-click integrations with 50+ services through managed OAuth.
Manual configuration required for every connector, key, and orchestration step you want to use.
Memory
Builds a persistent, structured memory of your work and people that gets sharper with every conversation and correction.
Agent-curated flat memory files with no managed persistence. Long-term memory depends on what you wire up.
Modularity
Builds its own skills, learns your tone, and adapts based on what you reward and correct.
Customization happens through code changes. The core agent loop itself is fixed.
Open Source
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Pricing
Free Base with 10 free credits + referral credits. Pro from $50/mo for configurable compute, storage, and assistant email.
Free codebase, but you pay for infrastructure, model API usage, and ongoing maintenance to keep it running.
Privacy
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Self-hostable, but your data passes through whatever model provider you wire up. Privacy depends on your stack.
Schedules
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
No native scheduling. Bolt on cron or an external orchestrator.
Security
Credentials live in an isolated vault and never enter the language model, so prompt injection can't exfiltrate keys.
API keys flow directly into model context for tool calls, with no isolation between credentials and LLM input.
Setup
Up and running in 5 to 10 minutes: download the Mac app, sign in, connect your tools. No terminal needed.
Multi-hour setup: clone the repo, configure the environment, set up API keys, and host the runtime yourself.
Storage
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.
Self-hosted. Resource needs scale with model size and tool load. No official minimum specs published.
Hermes can run on a VPS 24/7, but uptime, security patches, and API key rotation are entirely on you.
Vellum is fully managed cloud. No server to provision, no uptime to watch. Background tasks and scheduled jobs execute whether you're at your desk or asleep, and you wake up to work that already shipped.
Hermes connects via CLI and a gateway to Telegram, Discord, Slack, and 15+ messaging platforms, but there's no native desktop or mobile app.
Vellum has a native MacOS app, iOS app, web dashboard, Slack, Telegram, and a full CLI. Every surface shares the same memory and identity, so you can switch from desktop to phone without losing a beat.
Hermes has persistent memory via MEMORY.md and SQLite, with 8 pluggable backends that are file-based and require configuration.
Vellum memory is structured around concepts, relationships, and summaries that the assistant proactively grows without you managing any files. There is granular access to this memory system for those who want extra fine tuning of their assistant’s memory. It's consistent across every surface and deepens every session.
Hermes is self-hosted meaning your data stays on your own server, which is a genuine advantage for users who want full sovereignty.
Vellum can be self hosted or ran on managed cloud infrastructure with per-customer isolation, encryption at rest, configurable retention, and BYOK model keys. For teams that need SOC 2 alignment or compliance documentation, that's more operational assurance than self-managing a VPS.
Choose Vellum if you want a personal AI assistant that works out of the box across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack, with persistent memory and managed credentials. No VPS to provision, no API keys to rotate, no terminal required. Vellum is built for every human, with native apps on every major surface and 24/7 background execution in Vellum Cloud.
Hermes Agent is an open-source CLI-based agent framework from Nous Research that you self-host on your own infrastructure. If you specifically want to run your own server, choose your own models, and build directly on the open-source AI ecosystem, Hermes covers that use case. Vellum runs as a native Mac app on your machine or in Vellum Cloud and gives you the same data-ownership guarantee without the infrastructure work.
Hermes Agent is MIT licensed and free to download. In practice you pay for the VPS that hosts it (typically $5 to $15 per month) and LLM API costs (typically $2 to $60 per month depending on usage and model). 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. For most people the all-in cost of running and maintaining Hermes plus model fees lands close to a Vellum Pro plan, without the operational overhead.
Vellum takes 5 to 10 minutes. Download the Mac app, sign in, and the setup wizard walks you through connecting your tools. Hermes requires provisioning a server, configuring a YAML file, and setting up API keys for each provider and integration. For non-technical users, that setup can take hours.
Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work, people, and patterns automatically across every session. The assistant manages its own understanding of you, and that memory stays consistent across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Hermes curates MEMORY.md and USER.md files each session, backed by SQLite, which gives you visibility into what the model knows but puts the curation burden on you.
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. Hermes integrates via manually configured API keys and MCP servers, so each service requires its own setup and ongoing key rotation.
Vellum runs as a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, with voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces that all share the same memory and identity. Hermes works through a CLI and a gateway mode that routes messages from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and 15+ other platforms, with no native desktop or mobile app.
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 Hermes, your data stays on whatever server you self-host on, and uptime, backups, security patches, and credential rotation are your responsibility.
Yes. Vellum is open source and you can run it as a native Mac app on your own machine. The full Vellum experience also includes Vellum Cloud for 24/7 background execution, the OAuth credential vault, and managed infrastructure on the Pro plan from $50/mo. Either path gives you the same assistant, memory, and identity.
Technically yes. Some developers run Vellum as their daily-driver personal assistant across surfaces and use Hermes for specific technical workflows. Most people find one assistant handles everything they need. If you are unsure where to start, Vellum is the faster path to a working assistant.
Vellum is built for every human, with native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces. No terminal, no server, no API keys, and no daemon to maintain. Hermes Agent is a CLI-based framework that assumes Python, a terminal, and host administration.
