# AI Memory vs Basic Memory (slim)

> Basic Memory scores 76.9 (BB) to AI Memory's 65 (B) for memory search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-memory-vs-basic-memory.md (~4,350 tokens) · this version ~1,930 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-memory-vs-basic-memory.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-memory-vs-basic-memory
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
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Basic Memory scores 76.9 (BB) on agent readiness against AI Memory's 65 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. AI Memory leads on payments & pricing. Both do memory search.

- AI Memory: B 65, rank #438 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ai-memory.min.md
- Basic Memory: BB 76.9, rank #38 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/basic-memory.min.md
- AI Memory, good for Developers running several coding agents on one project who want shared memory and task handoffs on their own machine or server. Ahead on Payments & pricing, 60 against 50.
- Basic Memory, good for Memory for coding agents and assistants kept as Markdown the user owns, with search and a graph. Ahead on Reliability, 83 against 65; Agent ergonomics, 85 against 60; Maintenance & community, 91 against 50; Transparency & trust, 82 against 50. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; No key needed to call it; Open source.

| Category | AI Memory | Basic Memory |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 65 | 83 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 90 | 89 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 60 | 85 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 65 | 61 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 50 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 50 | 91 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 50 | 82 |

| Fact (where they differ) | AI Memory | Basic Memory |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Fabio Akita | Basic Memory LLC |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| Licence | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Tools exposed | 25 | 13 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.basicmachines-co/basic-memory` |
| Last release | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-10-27 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-27 |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 11k stars | 4.5k stars, 20k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Maintenance & community, Basic Memory +41: AI Memory 50 (v3.3.3 of 3 November 2026 (30). 68 tags from 6 August to 3 November, from v2.x through v3.3.3 (20). Issue and pull-request replies couldn't be read (github.com refused) (0). Not in the official MCP registry, and the repository has no server.json (0 of 15). Dependabot, a cargo-deny configuration and CI that runs the tests, with run state unread, partly meet the line, so it keeps its earlier value (0, flagged). 30+20+0+0+0 = 50.); Basic Memory 91 (v1.0.0 on 29 October 2026 (30). v0.24.0 and v0.24.1 on 22 October and v1.0.0, three releases in 90 days (20). Recent issues from outside users got maintainer replies within a few days (20 of 25). Verified namespace io.github.basicmachines-co/basic-memory in the official MCP registry, published by a workflow (15). uv.lock and CI, with an open report of an unmaintained dependency (6 of 10). Total 91.)
- Transparency & trust, Basic Memory +32: AI Memory 50 (MIT source (30). DATA_HANDLING.md and SECURITY.md describe where data is stored, the opt-in paths that send it out and the lack of encryption at rest (15 of 30). Dated 3.0.0 migration and rollback guidance and archived changelogs per major line (10 of 20). DATA_HANDLING.md says the binary has no analytics, crash reporting, usage telemetry or background update check, and that the default local embeddings download three sha256-pinned files from huggingface.co on first start, avoidable with `embedding_provider = "none"` (20, from 0). 30+15+10+20 = 75.); Basic Memory 82 (AGPL-3.0, an OSI licence (30). The terms and privacy policy of 27 October 2026 agree on 30-day retention after cancellation, backups up to 90 days and no training on or sale of content, and name the infrastructure providers (26 of 30). The 1.0 release ships a migration guide mapping every removed tool and command, without a written deprecation period (14 of 20). Telemetry is disclosed in the README with what is and isn't sent and one opt-out, but it is on by default (16 of 20). Total 86.)
- Agent ergonomics, Basic Memory +25: AI Memory 60 (25 tools with long descriptions in one set, and no toolsets or read-only subset found (15). Search takes scope and filters, and recent pages take a count (20). Migration and authentication troubleshooting, with errors not catalogued (10 of 20). Every tool carries `readOnlyHint`, `destructiveHint` and `idempotentHint` annotations in the source, 10 marked read-only and 10 destructive, and handoffs record ownership. No idempotency keys on writes. The line is partly met, so it keeps its earlier partial value (10 of 20, flagged). Client bridge defaults and setup commands, with one language (5 of 15). 15+20+10+10+5 = 60.); Basic Memory 85 (13 tools, one hidden unless enabled, so the 11 to 30 band (15), with 6 back for the manual tool and the progressive-discovery tags (21 of 25). Search narrows by mode, filters, note types, items, `since`, `path` and line context (18 of 20). Refusals are tool errors with typed codes an agent can act on (17 of 20). Every tool has readOnly, destructive and idempotent hints, and edits take an expected checksum that refuses a stale write (19 of 20). Most arguments are optional and the server starts with one command, but there is one language and no SDK beyond the CLI (10 of 15). Total 85.)
- Reliability, Basic Memory +18: AI Memory 65 (Graded on the local-software lines (self-hosted server and stdio MCP bridge). Releases install from GitHub with `install.sh` or `install.ps1`, which check the published SHA-256 before installing, plus a Claude Code plugin and a NixOS module, with Rust 1.95 stated (20). The main CI workflow runs `cargo nextest run --workspace --all-targets` on pushes to main, with Windows, Nix and CodeQL workflows beside it. Run state couldn't be read on 4 November (api.github.com refused), so 15 of 25, from 0. Open crash and regression issues weren't read (github.com refused) (0). A Keep a Changelog file under semantic versioning, with 3.0.0 calling out the removed 1.x token commands and a migration and rollback guide (15). Version 3.3.3 (15). 20+15+0+15+15 = 65.); Basic Memory 83 (Local-software lines, as a stdio MCP server the owner runs. `basic-memory` on PyPI with Python 3.12 or newer stated, installed with uv (20). Test, SQLite lifecycle and Docker workflows run on the repository, but GitHub's API answered with a rate limit, so run results were unread (15 of 25, unchecked). 74 open issues and pull requests against 200 commits in the 90 days, with recent bug reports answered by a maintainer within days and one flaky-CI issue open (18 of 25). The changelog calls out breaking changes in their own sections (15). v1.0.0 on 29 October 2026 (15). Total 83.)
- Payments & pricing, AI Memory +10: AI Memory 60 (Free self-hosted MIT software with nothing to buy (20 clear zero price, 20 free access, 20 no account). No machine payment protocol (0). Optional cloud embedding or LLM providers bill separately. 0+20+20+20 = 60.); Basic Memory 50 (Self-hosted rule, with the price lines read for the cloud. No x402, MPP or L402 (0 of 40). Cloud plans are public, and credits are $0.01 each, but what a credit buys isn't priced per unit (10). The open-source server is free with no card (20). An agent can install it from PyPI and run it with no account (20). Total 50.)