claude-mem vs cognee

claude-mem is much bigger: 101.9k stars against 32.6k. Over the days we have tracked them claude-mem moved +15.4% and cognee +11.6%, so claude-mem is growing faster right now.

They split the axes: claude-mem leads on setup ease, cognee on context depth.

Stars and commit dates come from our own daily tracking. The six axes are read off each project's documentation by our review pipeline, so they describe what a project says about itself, not what we measured in its code.

Where they stand today

thedotmack/claude-mem

Claude-Mem pairs a Claude Code–focused persistent memory with progressive-disclosure search tools and a local worker/web UI to deliver token-efficient, session-persistent context.

Stars: 101.9k
Tracked growth: +15.4%
Maturity: ●●●●●
Last commit: 9h ago
Language: TypeScript
License: Apache-2.0
Cost to run: Your API key for model calls; optional cloud backup to cmem.ai

topoteretes/cognee

Runs the full memory layer (graph, vectors, sessions) on a single self-hosted Postgres-backed stack, combining vector search and evolving knowledge graphs.

Stars: 32.6k
Tracked growth: +11.6%
Maturity: ●●●●●
Last commit: 17m ago
Language: Python
License: Apache-2.0
Cost to run: Your LLM API key, or use Cognee Cloud (managed)

thedotmack/claude-memtopoteretes/cognee

Six axes, head to head

Each axis runs 0 to 5. The label under a score is what that project's own docs claim, not a category average.

Axis	claude-mem	cognee
Context depth How much of your codebase it sees before it answers: the open diff, the diff plus related files, or the whole repository.	●●●●● Related files & memory	●●●●● Whole-graph memory
Noise control How it keeps output volume down — severity thresholds, deduplication, incremental runs over new commits only.	●●●●● Configurable filters	●●●●● Feedback & routing
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config.	●●●●● Config file & modes	●●●●● Config + plugins
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only.	●●●●● Self-hostable (local worker)	●●●●● Self-hostable
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one.	●●●●● Bring-your-key (many providers)	●●●●● Bring-your-key
Setup ease What it takes to get a first useful run out of it.	●●●●● One-command install	●●●●● API key required

Which one to pick

Pick claude-mem if…

Easy setup — one-command installer and a local worker that preserves and injects compressed session context into future Claude Code sessions.

Setup ease: One-command install (5/5 against 3/5)

Runs in cli, ide, coding-agent-plugin, web-app. Works with byok, anthropic, openai, gemini.

Pick cognee if…

Self-hostable — run a unified, persistent agent memory on a single Postgres instance with minimal extra services and strong integration options.

Context depth: Whole-graph memory (5/5 against 3/5)

Runs in cli, web-app, coding-agent-plugin. Works with byok, openai.

What people want from each one

thedotmack/claude-mem

Hacker News: Claude-Mem drew 2 points and 1 comments.

Most-wanted open issues

topoteretes/cognee

Hacker News: Show HN: Cognee – Open-Source AI Memory Layer That Remembers Context drew 9 points and 2 comments.

Most-wanted open issues

Questions people ask

Is claude-mem better than cognee?

They split the axes: claude-mem leads on setup ease, cognee on context depth. claude-mem is worth picking when easy setup — one-command installer and a local worker that preserves and injects compressed session context into future Claude Code sessions.

Which of claude-mem and cognee keeps my code private?

claude-mem: Self-hostable (local worker) (4/5). cognee: Self-hostable (4/5).

What does each one cost to run?

claude-mem: Your API key for model calls; optional cloud backup to cmem.ai. cognee: Your LLM API key, or use Cognee Cloud (managed).

Full profiles: thedotmack/claude-mem and topoteretes/cognee. Everything else in Memory & context.