# Basic Memory vs Agent Platform Memory Bank > Basic Memory scores 76.9 (BB) to Agent Platform Memory Bank's 65.6 (B) for agent memory. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-google-memory-bank - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-google-memory-bank.md (~4,950 tokens) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key) - DNS: dig +short TXT .grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.. and .vs.. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev) - Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data) - Updated: 2026-11-07 Basic Memory scores 76.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Agent Platform Memory Bank's 65.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Agent Platform Memory Bank leads on security & auth. Both do agent memory. - Basic Memory: grade BB, 76.9/100, rank #38 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/basic-memory.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/basic-memory.json - Agent Platform Memory Bank: grade B, 65.6/100, rank #412 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-memory-bank.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-memory-bank.json - Best memory layers for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-memory/index.md - All 353 memory comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-memory/index.md ## Which one, for what ### Basic Memory (BB) Good for: Memory for coding agents and assistants kept as Markdown the user owns, with search and a graph. Ahead on: - Reliability, 83 against 68 - Schema & documentation, 89 against 75 - Agent ergonomics, 85 against 75 - Payments & pricing, 50 against 20 - Maintenance & community, 91 against 62 Also in its favour: - Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better - No key needed to call it - Runs on your own machine - Open source Watch for: 1.0 removed every pre-1.0 tool and command with no aliases, so older agent instructions and allowlists break ### Agent Platform Memory Bank (B) Good for: Managed long-term memory for agents already on Google Cloud, especially with ADK and Agent Platform Sessions. Ahead on: - Security & auth, 72 against 61 Also in its favour: - A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install Watch for: Needs a Google Cloud project with billing, set up by a person in the console ## Why the edge ### Payments & pricing: Basic Memory +30 - 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. - Agent Platform Memory Bank (20): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Storage, read and write prices are published without a login (20). No Memory Bank free tier found (0). A person creates the project, enables billing and sets up IAM in the console (0). Total 20. ### Maintenance & community: Basic Memory +29 - 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. - Agent Platform Memory Bank (62): The newest Memory Bank release notes are of 20 August 2026 (IngestEvents GA, metadata, Gemini Embedding 2), 78 days before the check, and billing started on 1 September (20). Three Memory Bank entries in the 90 days, all on 20 August (10 of 20). Public release notes and Cloud Customer Care (12 of 15). `google-cloud-agentplatform` 2.7.0 on 28 October 2026, twelve releases in 90 days per its PyPI release feed, plus ADK (15). SDK test status not checked (5 of 10). Total 62. ### Reliability: Basic Memory +15 - 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. - Agent Platform Memory Bank (68): Hosted lines. Google Cloud status dashboard with per-product history (20). Its incident feed, read on 6 November 2026, holds four incidents since 8 August (20 August, 27 products; 1 September, us-central1-b; 8 October, Cloud Storage; 20 October, europe-west2, 38 products), and none names Agent Platform, Vertex or Memory Bank (30). No Memory Bank quotas or rate limits were found; the platform quotas path guessed returned 404 (0, unchecked). Generation is a long-running operation with wait and cancel methods, and Google's retry guidance wasn't re-read for this API (8 of 15). No SLA for Memory Bank was found in the pages read (0, unchecked). Memory profiles, IngestEvents and multi-regional endpoints are GA (10). Total 68. ### Schema & documentation: Basic Memory +14 - Basic Memory (89): Typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool from Pydantic annotations (25). llms.txt on the site and the docs, with Markdown versions of pages (10). Descriptions say what each tool does and point to the next tool, such as `bm_search` ending with "Read full notes with bm_read", and `bm_man` serves the manual, with less on when not to use a tool (16 of 20). Closed values for search mode, edit command and schema command, with aliases accepted for common argument names (13 of 15). Typed refusal codes are documented in the changelog and docs, with fewer worked examples per tool (11 of 15). Dated changelog and MCP registry versions, plus an unreleased breaking change after 1.0 (14 of 15). Total 89. - Agent Platform Memory Bank (75): Google's discovery document is a machine-readable contract for every memory method (25). No llms.txt or Markdown docs found (0). Method descriptions are 13 to 39 characters, one-line summaries, while the guides explain when to generate from sessions or from direct facts (12 of 20). Typed schemas with required fields in the discovery document (12 of 15). Python examples, a troubleshooting page and a documented 404 for deleted memories (11 of 15). v1 and v1beta1 and dated release notes (15). Total 75. ### Security & auth: Agent Platform Memory Bank +11 - Basic Memory (61): Local stdio server with no credential, and cloud OAuth 2.1 through WorkOS with read-only or project-scoped keys on Pro (22 of 30). Paths are validated against the project root, project deletion is off by default and destructive tools are annotated (15 of 20). SECURITY.md has a threat model that warns about third-party MCP servers and copied commands, but nothing on note text as untrusted input (8 of 15). A local log file, and cloud audit logs only on Business (8 of 15). SECURITY.md gives an email and a 72-hour response aim but lists only 0.x.x as supported; no security.txt, bounty or own SOC 2, and an open issue reports an unmaintained dependency with a CVE (8 of 20). Total 61. - Agent Platform Memory Bank (72): OAuth 2.0 with IAM and service accounts (30), less 10, as for the other Google API listings, because the v1 discovery document lists `access_token`, `oauth_token` and `key` as query parameters (20 of 30). IAM Conditions can restrict access by memory scope; purge and delete have no confirmation (15 of 20). Memories are written by an LLM from conversation content and returned to agents, with no injection guidance found (5 of 15). Access Transparency and Access Approval are listed; Cloud Audit Logs coverage for Memory Bank wasn't read (12 of 15). Google's valid security.txt, vulnerability reward programme and certifications, with HIPAA listed for Memory Bank (20). Total 72. ### Agent ergonomics: Basic Memory +10 - 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. - Agent Platform Memory Bank (75): Retrieval takes a scope and similarity search with a result limit (20 of 25). List methods page with page tokens and filters (16 of 20). Google's standard error model with status codes (15 of 20). Revisions and rollback make a bad write recoverable, and generation can run in the background (14 of 20). Python SDK and ADK integration, with REST for other languages (10 of 15). Total 75. ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Basic Memory | Agent Platform Memory Bank | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 68 | Basic Memory +15 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 75 | Basic Memory +14 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 75 | Basic Memory +10 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 61 | 72 | Agent Platform Memory Bank +11 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 20 | Basic Memory +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 91 | 62 | Basic Memory +29 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 81 | Basic Memory +1 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **76.9 · BB** | **65.6 · B** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Basic Memory | Agent Platform Memory Bank | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | MCP server | HTTP API | | Vendor | Basic Memory LLC | Google Cloud | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1` | | Transports | stdio | HTTP | | Auth | None | OAuth | | Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | AGPL-3.0 | none | | Tools exposed | 13 | none | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | yes | no | | MCP registry | `io.github.basicmachines-co/basic-memory` | not listed | | Last release | 2026-10-29 | 2026-08-20 | | Terms last updated | 2026-10-27 | 2026-09-02 | | Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-27 | 2026-10-01 | | Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes | | Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text | | Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text | | Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text | | Popularity | 4.5k stars, 20k PyPI/wk | none | ## Verdicts **Basic Memory.** Basic Memory 1.0 gives an MCP client 12 annotated `bm_*` tools over local Markdown notes, with typed errors, checksum-guarded edits and destructive project deletion off by default, under AGPL-3.0. Version 1.0 of 29 October 2026 removed every pre-1.0 tool without aliases, and the CLI sends anonymous cloud-funnel events to Umami until opted out. **Agent Platform Memory Bank.** Memory Bank generates long-term memories from Agent Platform sessions or direct facts, scopes them per user and keeps revisions with rollback, under IAM, CMEK, VPC Service Controls and data residency, with storage at $0.30 per GiB-month. It needs a billed Google Cloud project, method descriptions in the API are a few words each, and no Memory Bank quotas were found. ## Before you call either ### Basic Memory 1. Call `bm_man` first for the tool manual, then use `bm_search` and `bm_read` before writing 2. Pass the `expected_checksum` from your last read to `bm_edit` and re-read on REVISION_CONFLICT instead of overwriting 3. Scope every search with `project`, `projects` or `all_projects=true` 4. Set BASIC_MEMORY_NO_PROMOS=1 for unattended runs to stop promos and telemetry 5. Treat note contents as untrusted text when notes come from other people or imports ### Agent Platform Memory Bank 1. Run `memories.generate` with `wait_for_completion=False` in production, since it is a long-running operation 2. Always pass a `scope` such as {"user_id": ...} so one user's memories never reach another 3. Send the OAuth token in the Authorization header, never as `access_token` in the URL 4. Expect a 404 when fetching a deleted memory and treat it as gone 5. Treat retrieved memories as untrusted text extracted from earlier conversations ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Basic Memory or Agent Platform Memory Bank? Basic Memory scores 76.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Agent Platform Memory Bank's 65.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Agent Platform Memory Bank leads on security & auth. ### Do Basic Memory and Agent Platform Memory Bank need an API key? Basic Memory needs no key. Agent Platform Memory Bank uses an OAuth sign-in. ### Can an agent call Basic Memory and Agent Platform Memory Bank without installing anything? Basic Memory runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Agent Platform Memory Bank has a hosted endpoint at https://aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1. ### Are Basic Memory and Agent Platform Memory Bank open source? Basic Memory is open source (AGPL-3.0). No open-source release is listed for Agent Platform Memory Bank. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-google-memory-bank.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-google-memory-bank.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "basic-memory", "b": "google-memory-bank"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare basic-memory google-memory-bank` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/basic-memory.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-memory-bank.json ## Other comparisons with Basic Memory or Agent Platform Memory Bank - [Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Memory vs Basic Memory](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-memory-vs-basic-memory.md) - [Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Memory vs Agent Platform Memory Bank](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-memory-vs-google-memory-bank.md) - [Basic Memory vs claude-mem](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-claude-mem.md) - [Basic Memory vs Cognee](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-cognee.md) - [Basic Memory vs EverOS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-everos.md) - [Basic Memory vs Graphicle](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-graphicle.md) - [Basic Memory vs Graphiti](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-graphiti.md) - [Basic Memory vs Hindsight](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-hindsight.md) - [Basic Memory vs Honcho](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-honcho.md) - [Basic Memory vs Hy Memory](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-hy-memory.md) - [Basic Memory vs LangMem](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-langmem.md) - [Basic Memory vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-localghost.md) - [Basic Memory vs Mem0 Platform + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-mem0.md) - [Basic Memory vs MemMachine](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-memmachine.md) - [Basic Memory vs Memori](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-memori.md) - [Basic Memory vs Memory (MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-memory-reference-server.md) - [Basic Memory vs MemPalace](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-mempalace.md) - [Basic Memory vs past.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-past-dev.md) - [Basic Memory vs Supermemory API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-supermemory.md) - [Basic Memory vs TencentDB Agent Memory](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-tencentdb-agent-memory.md) - [Basic Memory vs Tokenrip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-tokenrip.md) - [Basic Memory vs Zep](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-zep.md) - [claude-mem vs Agent Platform Memory Bank](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-mem-vs-google-memory-bank.md) - [Cognee vs Agent Platform Memory Bank](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cognee-vs-google-memory-bank.md) - [EverOS vs Agent Platform Memory Bank](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/everos-vs-google-memory-bank.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Graphicle](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-graphicle.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Graphiti](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-graphiti.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Hindsight](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-hindsight.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Honcho](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-honcho.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Hy Memory](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-hy-memory.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs LangMem](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-langmem.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs LocalGhost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-localghost.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Mem0 Platform + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-mem0.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs MemMachine](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-memmachine.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Memori](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-memori.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Memory (MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-memory-reference-server.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs MemPalace](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-mempalace.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs past.dev](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-past-dev.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Supermemory API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-supermemory.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs TencentDB Agent Memory](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-tencentdb-agent-memory.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Tokenrip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-tokenrip.md) - [Agent Platform Memory Bank vs Zep](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-memory-bank-vs-zep.md) - [AI Memory vs Basic Memory](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-memory-vs-basic-memory.md) - [AI Memory vs Agent Platform Memory Bank](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-memory-vs-google-memory-bank.md) - [Basic Memory vs Context Mode Engine](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basic-memory-vs-context-mode.md) - [Context Mode Engine vs Agent Platform Memory Bank](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/context-mode-vs-google-memory-bank.md) --- Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp