# An open-source Vellum alternative for your whole team > If you want an open-source alternative to Vellum that a whole team shares, the difference is scope. Vellum is a personal AI assistant, and its own page says it is open source. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors in one git repo you own. URL: https://vellumalternative.com/ Independent comparison · updated October 2026 **The open-source AI Operating System** `kortix.yaml` ```yaml # kortix.yaml agents: support-triage: file: agents/support-triage.md # what it does, in plain markdown connectors: all # what it may reach ``` Source: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna An agent is `agents/.md` (behavior) plus an `agents.` block in `kortix.yaml` (governance). [Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [See Kortix vs Vellum](https://vellumalternative.com/kortix-vs-vellum) Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem _The split_ ## Kortix and Vellum, side by side Kortix is the open-source option we recommend. Every Vellum cell quotes Vellum's own site. | | Kortix (recommended) | Vellum | | --- | --- | --- | | Open source | Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it. | Open source; its page says you can inspect the code | | What it is | The open-source AI Operating System | A personal AI assistant with long-term memory | | Who it is for | Teams that want agents that do finished work, reviewed by people | One person, the assistant you own and customize | | Self-host | Self-host is free, or run Kortix Cloud | Deploy on your own hardware, a VPS, or a private cloud | | Your configuration and memory | Agents, skills, memory, and connectors in one git repo you own | Memory of you, kept locally on your machine | | Models | Any model provider with your own keys | OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or open weights via Ollama | | Governance | Per-tool Allow, Ask or Block; approval gates you set | Asks permission on risky actions until you trust them | | Price to start | Free is $0 with 200 credits per month and 1 project | Free to download; Vellum Cloud from $30/month | Vellum's cells quote its own site and pricing page. Confirm both vendors before you buy. _The route_ ## Six layers, each one a file or a command you can read Kortix is an open-source AI Operating System. Your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors live in one git repo you own. ### 1. One git repo Your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors in one git repo you own. `kortix.yaml` ```yaml kortix_version: 2 default_agent: kortix project: name: my-project description: What this project is. ``` Source: https://kortix.com/docs/project/manifest ### 2. 3,000+ apps 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP. Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine. `kortix.yaml` ```yaml connectors: - slug: read-ai name: Read AI provider: mcp url: 'https://api.read.ai/mcp' ``` Source: https://kortix.com/docs/connect/connectors ### 3. Any model Any model provider with your own keys. Or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for. Or sign in with your OpenCode Console account for OpenCode Zen and Go. `terminal` ```sh $ kortix providers login opencode $ kortix providers login opencode-go ``` Source: kortix providers login --help ### 4. OpenCode OpenCode is the harness. An agent is `agents/.md` (behavior) plus an `agents.` block in `kortix.yaml` (governance). `kortix.yaml` ```yaml opencode: config_dir: harnesses/opencode ``` Source: https://kortix.com/docs/project/manifest ### 5. A cloud computer per session One isolated sandbox per session. Each session has its own isolated machine and branch. `terminal` ```sh $ kortix sessions new --prompt "Summarize this week's commits and open a change request" ``` Source: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna ### 6. Change requests and permissions Rules down to the arguments of each call. Set each tool to Allow, Ask or Block. Approval gates you set. Off until you set them. `kortix.yaml` ```yaml agents: release-bot: file: agents/release-bot.md connectors: [github] kortix_permissions: [project.gitops.push] ``` Source: https://kortix.com/docs/project/manifest **20,000+** GitHub stars ## Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it. [Read the source](https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna) · [Read the docs](https://kortix.com/docs) _FAQ_ ## Questions people ask before they switch Short answers, each quoting Kortix's docs or Vellum's own page. ### Is Vellum open source? Yes. Vellum's own site says it is open source and you can inspect the code. The difference is scope: Vellum is a personal assistant for one person, while Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System a whole team runs on. ### Is there a free Vellum alternative? Yes. Vellum is free to download. Kortix is free to start too: $0 with 200 credits per month and 1 project, and self-host is free. The team plan is $40 per seat per month with 2,500 credits per month per seat, pooled. ### Can I self-host an alternative to Vellum? Yes. Run Kortix on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network; self-host is free. Vellum's pricing page says you can deploy it on your own hardware, a VPS, or a private cloud. See the [self-hosting guide](/self-hosting). ### What is a Vellum alternative for a whole team? Kortix. Your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors live in one git repo the team owns, and each session runs on its own cloud computer. Session work reaches `main` through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents. The line between a personal agent and a company system is in the [Kortix blog](https://kortix.com/blog/personal-ai-agents-vs-company-os). ### Is this site affiliated with Vellum? No. Vellum is a product of its own company, and we name it only to compare. This site recommends Kortix, which is open source. ## Run your whole team on one repo you own. Start with one job and grow from there. [Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [See Kortix vs Vellum](https://vellumalternative.com/kortix-vs-vellum) Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem