Comparison

Vellum Assistant vs bighelp

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Vellum Assistant

This AI assistant learns your work habits and thought processes to help you stay on top of tasks. It syncs across devices, providing quick summaries of communications and access to past notes. Over time, it becomes an indispensable teammate.

Highlights
  • Learns user work habits
  • Syncs across Mac, iPhone, and web
  • Summarizes Slack, email, and meetings
  • Remembers forgotten tasks and follow-ups
  • Accesses past notes and thoughts
  • Improves with continued use
Features
Read full description

vellum is your personal AI for work and life. It learns how you think, remembers what matters, and helps with the things you care about. With vellum, you're always in control: • Choose where your data lives: vellum Cloud or your own self-hosted vellum • Use any model, bring your own API key, or use vellum-optimized models • Decide what your assistant can access and remember Talk, text, or show vellum what you see with your camera, then use it to: • Catch up on email, Slack, and meetings • Remember follow-ups, tasks, and important details • Plan your day, trips, meals, or workouts • Find old notes, files, and saved links • Think through work and personal decisions • Get help with whatever is in front of you One assistant across iPhone, Mac, and web. Always caught up on what matters to you.

About

bighelp

Interact with AI agents through a familiar messaging interface. Manage agent fleets, build custom workflows, and automate tasks with scheduled jobs. Offers voice interaction, live avatars, and customizable agent profiles.

Highlights
  • Direct messaging with AI agents
  • Group chats for collaborative agent work
  • Customizable agent profiles with avatars
  • Node-style workflow builder
  • Scheduled tasks and automated processes
  • Voice and text communication options
  • Approvals and card-based responses
Features
Read full description

bighelp is a streamlined way to work with the AI agents you run with Hermes. Whether you want a simple chat interface, or a full fleet command center, bighelp has it covered. CHATS THAT FEEL LIKE TEXTING • Message any of your agents one on one • Watch replies arrive as they're written • Type, talk, or share photos and files • Pick up any conversation right where you left off GROUP CHATS • Pull several agents into one thread • Mention who should take what, and they split the work A FACE FOR EVERY AGENT • Give each agent a name, a face and a job • Live avatars show when an agent is thinking, working or waiting on you WORKFLOWS Build and manage custom node-style workflows for repeatable processes across your agents! YOU STAY IN CHARGE • Approvals let an agent ask before it acts • Agents can reply with cards and forms, so choosing is one tap TASKS ON A SCHEDULE • Set up a morning brief, a weekly budget check-in or a fare watch • Pause or change a task anytime VOICE • Talk it through, turn by turn or live • Turn-based voice is transcribed on your device EVERYWHERE YOU ARE • Notifications, Live Activities, widgets and Shortcuts • An Apple Watch app for quick replies and approvals • Works on iPhone and iPad • Light and dark themes NERD MODE Everyday controls stay simple. Turn on Nerd Mode in Settings to reveal host tools like files, plugins and logs. OPTIONAL DEVICE TOOLS With your permission, agents can add to your Calendar and Reminders and see where you are. Each is off until you turn it on under Permissions. HOW BIGHELP CONNECTS bighelp connects directly to a Hermes host you run, such as your own Mac, over your home network, Tailscale or HTTPS. Sign in with that host's own login. No separate bighelp account is needed. The free bighelp plugin for Hermes adds notifications, live voice, cards and the Feed. Your Hermes host remains the agent engine. AI, voice, storage and infrastructure providers configured on that host may process data under their own terms and may require separate accounts or subscriptions.

Screenshots

Vellum Assistant4 screens
bighelp4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: bighelp at 5.0 against Vellum Assistant's 4.0. bighelp also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 4 days) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Vellum Assistant's advantage is ratings volume (18 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

bighelp holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vellum Assistant has 18 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vellum Assistant ships an update every 4 days, bighelp daily. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Vellum Assistant versus bighelp: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVellum Assistantbighelp
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (18 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings18 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB98 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperVocify Inc.Colton Coan

Customer experience

Vellum Assistant

All ratings18 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%

bighelp

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Vellum Assistant

No in-app purchases

None

bighelp

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Vellum Assistant free?
Vellum Assistant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is bighelp free?
bighelp is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Vellum Assistant or bighelp?
bighelp is rated higher. Vellum Assistant averages 4.0 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while bighelp averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Vellum Assistant or bighelp have ads?
Neither Vellum Assistant nor bighelp shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Vellum Assistant or bighelp?
Vellum Assistant ships an update every 4 days, and bighelp daily. Most recently, Vellum Assistant was updated on November 5, 2026 and bighelp on November 6, 2026.

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