Vellum Alternative
What Vellum costs, and what the open-source alternative costs
Vellum is free to download, and its cloud plans run from $30 to $200 a month. Kortix is the open-source alternative: self-host it for free, or pay $40 per seat each month on the managed cloud.
What you run, from the Kortix docs
Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System.Your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors live in one git repo you own.Each session runs on its own cloud computer.Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network.Self-host is free; the managed cloud charges per seat.
Vellum's pricing: free to download, cloud from $30 a month
Vellum is a personal AI assistant you can run yourself. Vellum says it is free to download and start. If you choose Vellum Cloud, its own pricing page lists three plans: Mighty at $30 a month, Super at $100 a month, and Ultra at $200 a month, each with dedicated compute, storage, and bundled credits. Vellum bills usage in credits, where $1 equals 1 credit, and says you pay only for what you use.
The self-install path carries no platform fee
The same Vellum page says the assistant is open source, and you can deploy it on your own hardware, a VPS, or a private cloud. On that path Vellum charges no platform fee and no computer-tier charge, and you keep control of your data, your keys, and your uptime SLA. That setup is one assistant for one person, running where you put it.
How Kortix's pricing shape differs
Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and it prices a team rather than a single assistant. Kortix lists its own numbers: Free includes 200 credits each month for sandbox compute and 1 project, and the team plan is $40/seat/month with 2,500 pooled credits per seat, and seats for the people on your team. Self-host is free. Any model provider with your own keys. Or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for.
What each pricing shape buys
For one person, Vellum's local install is free and a Vellum Cloud plan covers a single assistant. For a team, Kortix charges per seat: each seat adds a person and carries pooled credits the whole team draws on. Self-host keeps the platform on your own network at no platform fee, and you pay your own model and sandbox provider. The Kortix vs Vellum comparison covers scope and ownership, and the self-hosting guide covers the free path.
Vellum pricing questions
01Is Vellum free?
Vellum is free to download and start. Its own pricing page says you can self-install on your own hardware, a VPS, or a private cloud with no platform fee. Vellum Cloud plans run from $30 to $200 a month.
02Is there a free open-source alternative to Vellum?
Kortix is open source, and its Free tier includes 200 credits each month and 1 project. Self-host is free, so a team can run the whole platform with no platform fee.
03How does Kortix pricing compare with Vellum?
Kortix charges $40 per seat per month with 2,500 pooled credits per seat on the managed cloud, and self-host is free. Vellum charges per cloud plan, from $30 to $200 a month, for one assistant.
04Do I pay for models on top?
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.
Try the open-source alternative
Self-host for free, or start on the managed cloud.
Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem