Is Vellum or AutoGen better?

Neither clearly leads. Vellum starts at Free and AutoGen at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Vellum or AutoGen?

Vellum starts at Free and AutoGen at Free.

Does Vellum or AutoGen run on more platforms?

Vellum runs on Web, macOS, iOS, Slack, Telegram, Terminal. AutoGen runs on Python, .NET.

Can I use Vellum for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Vellum best used for?

Vellum is most often used for personal productivity automation across email and calendar, crm updates and pipeline management, expense report generation and management, document drafting and content creation. Of those, personal productivity automation across email and calendar and crm updates and pipeline management are not what AutoGen is typically brought in for.

What can Vellum do that AutoGen cannot?

Vellum covers Persistent AI identity, Long-term memory, Email automation, Calendar management. AutoGen covers Multi-agent orchestration, Message passing API, AgentChat API, Extensions API.

AI · head to head

Vellum vs AutoGen

Vellum

Personalized AI assistant with persistent memory and autonomous action-taking

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

AutoGen

Programming framework for multi-agent agentic AI

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Vellum pricing varies significantly by computational tier, making budget planning difficult; AutoGen framework now in maintenance mode, no new features planned
They diverge on capability: Vellum covers Persistent AI identity, AutoGen covers Multi-agent orchestration.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Vellum and AutoGen actually diverge.

Attributes where Vellum and AutoGen differ
Attribute	Vellum	AutoGen
Pricing model	Freemium with paid plans and pay-as-you-go credits	Open source, no pricing
Platforms	Web, macOS, iOS, Slack, Telegram, Terminal	Python, .NET

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (AI).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Vellum

Persistent AI identity
Long-term memory
Email automation
Calendar management
Autonomous task execution
Multi-device synchronization
Custom plugins
Open-source deployment

Only in AutoGen

Multi-agent orchestration
Message passing API
AgentChat API
Extensions API
MCP server support
AutoGen Studio
Cross-language support
Observable agent networks

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Vellum

Personal productivity automation across email and calendarnot AutoGen
CRM updates and pipeline managementnot AutoGen
Expense report generation and managementnot AutoGen
Document drafting and content creationnot AutoGen
Meeting scheduling and calendar coordinationnot AutoGen

AutoGen

Building multi-agent conversational systemsnot Vellum
Rapid prototyping of agent applicationsnot Vellum
Research on agentic AI patterns and architecturesnot Vellum
Distributed agent networks across boundariesnot Vellum

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Vellum

Pricing varies significantly by computational tier, making budget planning difficult
Requires explicit permission for sensitive actions, limiting autonomy
Self-hosting option may intimidate non-technical users
Learning curve to develop customizations with plugins

AutoGen

Framework now in maintenance mode, no new features planned
Steeper learning curve for advanced use cases
Microsoft recommends new projects use Agent Framework instead
Limited to Python and .NET platforms

Pricing, plan by plan

Vellum

Free

FreeFree
- Starter credits included
- Basic features
Mighty$30/month
- 1 vCPU, 2 GiB RAM
- 10 GB storage
- Included usage allowance
Super$100/month
- 2.5 vCPU, 5 GiB RAM
- 30 GB storage
- Assistant email and subdomain
Ultra$200/month
- 4 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM
- 60 GB storage
- Assistant email and subdomain

AutoGen

Free

Open SourceFree
- MIT and CC-BY-4.0 licenses
- Full framework access
- Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Vellum if

You need persistent ai identity.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, macOS, iOS, Slack, Telegram, Terminal.
You also want long-term memory.

Vellum review

Choose AutoGen if

You need multi-agent orchestration.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Python, .NET.
You also want message passing api.

AutoGen review

Questions people ask

Is Vellum or AutoGen better?: Neither clearly leads. Vellum starts at Free and AutoGen at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Vellum or AutoGen?: Vellum starts at Free and AutoGen at Free.
Does Vellum or AutoGen run on more platforms?: Vellum runs on Web, macOS, iOS, Slack, Telegram, Terminal. AutoGen runs on Python, .NET.
Can I use Vellum for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Vellum best used for?: Vellum is most often used for personal productivity automation across email and calendar, crm updates and pipeline management, expense report generation and management, document drafting and content creation. Of those, personal productivity automation across email and calendar and crm updates and pipeline management are not what AutoGen is typically brought in for.
What can Vellum do that AutoGen cannot?: Vellum covers Persistent AI identity, Long-term memory, Email automation, Calendar management. AutoGen covers Multi-agent orchestration, Message passing API, AgentChat API, Extensions API.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Vellum: How does Vellum protect my data privacy?

Vellum uses permission-based controls requiring explicit approval for sensitive actions. Data is encrypted and the option for self-hosting provides complete data control. Open-source deployment option allows hosting on your own infrastructure.

Source

AutoGen: Is AutoGen still actively developed?

As of March 2026, AutoGen is in maintenance mode and will not receive new features. Microsoft recommends new projects use the Microsoft Agent Framework instead.

Source

Vellum: Can I use Vellum for business team collaboration?

Vellum is primarily designed as a personal assistant with persistent identity. For team collaboration, platforms like Lindy offer better multi-user features with shared credit pools and Slack workspace integration.

Source

AutoGen: Can I still use AutoGen for new projects?

While AutoGen is stable and maintained for existing projects, Microsoft recommends using the Microsoft Agent Framework for new development.

Source

Vellum: What does the free tier include?

Vellum offers free starter credits to begin using the platform. Beyond that, it operates on a pay-as-you-go credit model with paid tiers starting at $30/month for increased computational resources and bundled credits.

Source

AutoGen: What LLM providers does AutoGen support?

AutoGen includes extensions for OpenAI and Azure OpenAI through its Extensions API, with community support for other providers.

Source

Vellum vs AutoGen

Vellum

AutoGen

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Vellum

Only in AutoGen

What people use each for

Vellum

AutoGen

Where each one falls short

Vellum

AutoGen

Pricing, plan by plan

Vellum

AutoGen

Which should you pick?

Choose Vellum if

Choose AutoGen if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Vellum

More on AutoGen

Keep looking

Other head to heads