# Vellum vs Claude: the open-source alternative your team owns

> Vellum and Claude are both assistants a person talks to. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System a team owns, where agents, memory and connectors live in one git repo and every session runs on its own cloud computer.

URL: https://vellumalternative.com/vellum-vs-claude

## Vellum and Claude beside the open-source option

Kortix cells come from its docs and repo; each Vellum and Claude cell comes from that vendor's own site.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Vellum | Claude |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | The open-source AI Operating System a team runs agents on. | A personal AI assistant for one person. | An AI assistant for tasks, drafts and research. |
| Open source | Yes. Read it, fork it, audit it. | Yes. Vellum's site says you can inspect the code and self-host. | No. Runs in Anthropic's cloud. |
| Where it runs | Kortix Cloud, your VPC, or your own on-prem network. | Locally on your Mac, or in Vellum Cloud. | Anthropic's cloud, or your own cloud provider account. |
| Models | Any model provider with your own keys. | OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or local weights via Ollama. | Anthropic's models: Opus, Sonnet and Haiku. |
| What you own | Every agent, skill, memory file and connector in one git repo. | Your assistant's memory and credentials stay on your machine. | Your chats and projects, inside Anthropic's product. |
| How work is reviewed | Work reaches main through a change request a person approves. | High-stakes actions ask for approval until you trust them. | Permissions settings make Claude show its plan first. |

Vellum and Claude cells come from their own pages, checked October 2026. Kortix details come from its docs and repo.

## Vellum and Claude are assistants you talk to

Vellum and Claude are both assistants a person talks to. [Claude](https://claude.com/product/overview) is Anthropic's assistant, reached on the web, on mobile and in the desktop app, and it works in Anthropic's cloud or your own Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud or Microsoft Foundry account. Vellum is a personal AI assistant that [Vellum](https://www.vellum.ai/) says runs locally on your machine or in its cloud, and Vellum's own site compares it with chat assistants such as Claude.

Kortix is a different shape. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector in one git repo you own, with the agents working on real cloud computers. An assistant answers one person. Kortix runs the work of a team across agents, sessions and review.

## What each one lets you own

Kortix keeps the whole system as files in a git repo the team shares and reads. Agents, skills, memory and connectors sit in that same repo, so a change to how the company works is a diff a person can review. The [Kortix vs Vellum comparison](/kortix-vs-vellum) draws the same line for the two open-source options.

```yaml
# kortix.yaml
agents:
  support-triage:
    file: agents/support-triage.md # what it does, in plain markdown
    connectors: all # what it may reach
```

Vellum keeps one person's assistant on their own machine, with memory and credentials local unless they opt in to the cloud. Claude keeps your chats and projects inside Anthropic's product. For a team, the choice turns on where the configuration lives: a repo the company owns, or one person's device and a vendor's cloud.

## How each one reviews the work

Work in Kortix lands through review. One isolated sandbox per session. Each session has its own isolated machine and branch. Session work reaches main through a change request a person approves. Merge is default-deny for agents. Approval gates you set, off until you set them. Vellum asks for approval on high-stakes actions until you mark them trusted. Claude has permission settings that show its plan and wait for your approval before it acts. Kortix reviews the change to the repo, while an assistant asks per action.

_FAQ_

## Vellum, Claude and Kortix questions

### Is Vellum better than Claude?

The two are different shapes. Vellum is a personal assistant you can run locally or in Vellum Cloud; Claude is Anthropic's assistant in Anthropic's cloud. For a team that wants its agents, memory and connectors in one repo it owns, Kortix is the open-source option.

### Is Vellum open source?

Yes. Vellum's own site says it is open source and that you can inspect the code, and its pricing page says you can deploy the assistant on your own hardware, a VPS, or a private cloud.

### What is the open-source alternative to both?

Kortix. It is the open-source AI Operating System: one git repo holds your agents, skills, company memory and connectors, and every session runs on its own cloud computer.

## Run your team on an open-source system you own.

Self-host for free, or start on the managed cloud.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Compare Vellum and Kortix](https://vellumalternative.com/kortix-vs-vellum)

Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem