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. OpenClaw is an open-source agent framework that runs as a local Node Gateway daemon you install and configure on your own machine.
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.
OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent framework built by Peter Steinberger that runs as a local Gateway daemon on your own machine. Installed via npm and configured through a CLI, it targets developers who want a self-managed agent with broad messaging channel support.
Category
Vellum
OpenClawChannels
Native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Every surface shares one memory.
Twenty-four messaging channels you wire up individually. Primary surface is the CLI.
Hosting
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Self-hosted only. Runs as a Node Gateway daemon on a machine you own and operate.
Integrations
Native agent skills plus 1-click integrations with 50+ services through managed OAuth.
Twenty-four messaging channels supported, but you bring your own API keys per provider and manage rotation yourself.
Memory
Builds a persistent, structured memory of your work and people that gets sharper with every conversation and correction.
Session history only. Long-term memory depends on whatever persistence layer you wire up yourself.
Modularity
Builds its own skills, learns your tone, and adapts based on what you reward and correct.
Behavior is configured by hand via prompts and config files. No automatic learning or adaptation loop.
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 under MIT license, but you pay for infrastructure, model API usage, and ongoing maintenance to run it.
Privacy
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Self-hosted by default, but privacy depends entirely on how you configure your machine and exposed services.
Schedules
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
No built-in scheduler. Rely on cron, launchd, or external triggers to run anything on a cadence.
Security
Credentials live in an isolated vault and never enter the language model, so prompt injection can't exfiltrate keys.
Credentials live in plaintext at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Security assumes a trusted operator.
Setup
Up and running in 5 to 10 minutes: download the Mac app, sign in, connect your tools. No terminal needed.
CLI onboarding through npm install and an interactive daemon setup. Expect an hour or more before your first message.
Storage
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.
Needs 1+ GiB RAM to start, 2+ GiB to update versions. Resource-constrained hardware like Raspberry Pi can struggle.
OpenClaw runs as a persistent daemon you keep alive on your own host, with uptime, scaling, and patches on you.
Vellum runs continuously in Vellum Cloud or locally as a native Mac app, with managed uptime so your assistant keeps working whether your laptop is open or closed. You stop thinking about hosting and start working with your assistant.
OpenClaw supports twenty-four messaging channels you wire up individually, but the primary experience is the Gateway daemon and its CLI.
Vellum ships as a native Mac app with iOS and web app availability, plus Slack and Telegram. Every surface shares the same memory and identity, so your assistant feels like the same assistant everywhere.
OpenClaw provides session history and bundled session tools, but no managed long-term memory layer by default.
Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work, people, and patterns automatically. It is hybrid retrieval, not just a chat log, so your assistant actually understands your context as it grows.
OpenClaw uses a trusted-operator model where credentials live in a host config file and are accessible during tool execution and model calls.
Vellum keeps your data and credentials local on the native Mac app, and in Vellum Cloud they are isolated from the model. Vellum itself never has access to your data.
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. OpenClaw is an open-source Node Gateway daemon you self-host and configure per channel and per API key. For most people, Vellum is the faster path to a working assistant and the lower operational lift over time.
OpenClaw is a self-hosted Node Gateway daemon that connects twenty-four messaging channels in one runtime, including niche ones like Matrix, Signal, Nostr, and BlueBubbles for iMessage. If you already maintain a host, work in a terminal, and want to wire each integration manually, OpenClaw covers that specific setup. Vellum runs as a native Mac app on your machine or in Vellum Cloud and gives you the same data-ownership guarantee without the per-channel configuration.
The OpenClaw codebase is free and MIT licensed, but running it is not free. You pay for the host, model API usage, and the operational time to keep the daemon, channels, and credentials healthy. 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 OpenClaw plus model fees lands close to Vellum Pro, without the maintenance work.
OpenClaw setup starts with npm install -g openclaw, then openclaw onboard --install-daemon, and walks through workspace, channels, skills, and API keys. Realistic time to a usable assistant is an hour or more, longer if you want multiple channels wired up. Vellum is download, sign in, and OAuth into your tools. Up and running in 5 to 10 minutes.
OpenClaw stores session history and bundles session tools, but it does not ship with a managed long-term memory layer or structured retrieval. Persistent memory across sessions depends on what you wire up. Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work, people, and patterns automatically, shared across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack.
Vellum focuses on real read-write actions across the apps people use every day: email, calendar, Slack, GitHub, Notion, X, and more, all through managed OAuth with no API keys to handle. OpenClaw focuses on messaging channels (twenty-four of them), with each channel configured manually and credentials managed by you.
OpenClaw is a Node Gateway daemon you run on a desktop, server, or VPS, with an optional macOS menu bar app. iOS and Android can pair as nodes to a running gateway, but the primary experience is the daemon and its CLI. Vellum ships as a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, with voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces, all syncing the same memory.
OpenClaw stores credentials in a host config file at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, and those values are available during tool execution in the same context as the model. The SECURITY.md describes a trusted-operator model and says prompt-injection-only attacks are out of scope for fixes. Vellum keeps credentials in an isolated vault that the language model never sees, so prompt injection cannot exfiltrate keys, and Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
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. Both modes give you the same assistant, memory, and identity.
Yes, you can run both, since they target different layers. Some developers experiment with OpenClaw for niche messaging channels while keeping Vellum as their day-to-day personal AI assistant. Most people consolidate on one once they see how Vellum's persistent memory and managed integrations replace the manual setup work.
Vellum is built for every human, with native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces. No terminal, no API keys, and no daemon to babysit. OpenClaw is a self-hosted Node Gateway daemon that assumes Node, a terminal, host administration, and per-provider key management.
