| Compared on | Kaer | Vellum |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | One AI operator for a business: email, calendars, business software and its own sandboxed browser. | “A personal AI assistant for your busywork.” vellum.ai |
| Where it runs | On Kaer's isolated machines: nothing to install, a fresh machine for each run. | “By default, your assistant runs locally”; in Vellum Cloud, “an isolated container provisioned exclusively for you”. vellum.ai |
| Free to start | Starter is free: 20 messages every day, no card. | “Start free.” vellum.ai/pricing |
| Paid plans | Core $15, Pro $43 or Max $99 a month, each with included credits (kaer.ai/pricing). | $30, $100 or $200 a month by computer size, with usage in credits at $1 = 1 credit. vellum.ai/pricing |
| Approvals | Stops before anything consequential: the message before it sends, the invoice before it is issued (kaer.ai/security). | High-stakes actions “require explicit approval until you mark them as trusted”. vellum.ai |
| Open source | No. Kaer is a hosted service. | “Vellum is open-source, so you can inspect the code yourself.” vellum.ai |
Pick Vellum if
- You want the assistant on your own hardware, open source, with your data on your machine.
- It is for your own life admin as much as work, across Mac, iOS, Android, Telegram and Slack.
- You want to choose the model yourself, including open-weight models through Ollama.
Pick Kaer if
- It is for a business: roles, approvals before consequential steps, and an audit log of every action.
- The work includes websites with no API, done on an isolated machine that is wiped after the run.
- You want a business mailbox included and internal tools built, not just tasks run.
Kaer vs Vellum: common questions
Is Kaer a Vellum alternative?
If the job is business work — enquiries, quotes, invoices, back-office portals — yes. If you want a personal assistant that runs on your own Mac, Vellum is built for that and Kaer is not.
Do both ask before acting?
Yes. Vellum asks for explicit approval on high-stakes actions until you mark them as trusted. Kaer stops before anything consequential — the message before it sends, the invoice before it is issued — and records every action.
Against the others
01
Kaer vs Lindy
02Kaer and Lindy both sell an AI employee. How they differ on price, websites with no API, approvals and building tools, from each vendor's own pages.
Kaer vs Zapier Agents
Zapier Agents act through Zapier's app integrations. Kaer works the software itself, including sites with no API. Price, limits and fit, from each vendor's pages.
Hand it one job.
The fastest way to compare is to give Kaer something you would rather not do today.
