Basic Memory vs Hindsight

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.

Hindsight 27

Vectorize's footer now links a status page at status.hindsight.vectorize.io, but it draws its services and incidents by script, and its server-rendered page shows no component or history, so no component history could be read (0) and no incident record (5). No rate limits found in the docs, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 4 November (docs.hindsight.vectorize.io answers robots.txt with its app page) (0). The Hindsight Cloud 0.10.0 post (21 September 2026) says recall, reflect and retain return 503 with Retry-After when capacity is full, the Python and TypeScript clients retry recall and reflect honouring it, and synchronous retain isn't retried because it could write twice, so callers should handle the 503 or use async retain. Overload handling with safe-retry guidance and no idempotency keys (12). The pricing page lists a 99.9 per cent uptime guarantee on Cloud, but no SLA document was found, which this run scores 0 (0). Hindsight Cloud is sold as a generally available service (10).

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.

Hindsight 50

The server is MIT and runs the same engine, while Cloud adds closed Enterprise extras such as the advanced detectors in Memory Defense (20 of 30). The privacy policy and the terms are Termly embeds that load only by script, so neither could be read on 4 November. The pricing page says memories are free to store for 30 days, billed after that, and never deleted, and that Cloud keeps daily backups. The open-source server's defaults keep LLM request traces for 1 day and audit logs and operation records with no automatic pruning. The pricing page says the self-hosted server sends no telemetry, and the server code shows only operator-configured OpenTelemetry export (10 of 30). No deprecation policy found. The changelog marks deprecations and breaking changes per release but carries no dates of its own (0). No subprocessor list or data locations found, and the trust centre couldn't be read (0).

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.

Hindsight 57

27 MCP tools on a bank-scoped URL and 30 at the root (15), with no documented way to load a subset or a read-only set. List and recall calls exist with bank scoping, and we didn't confirm page-size or token-budget limits (12 of 20). 402 tells an agent it's out of credit and 403 that the key can't reach the bank (12 of 20). No idempotency keys and no readOnlyHint or destructiveHint on the MCP tools, though retain can run asynchronously (3 of 20). Clients for Python, TypeScript and Go, and one URL per bank keeps calls simple (15). MCP and key docs per the 1 October check, not re-read on 4 November (docs.hindsight.vectorize.io answers robots.txt with its app page).

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.

Hindsight 30

No x402, MPP or L402. Calls on an empty balance return 402 with no payment payload (0). Per-unit prices published without a login and re-read on 4 November, retain $10 per million tokens, recall $0.75 per million, reflect $0.05 a call, Iris Extract $7.50 per million, mental model retrieval $0.25 per million and refresh $0.05 a call, storage $0.25 per million tokens a month after the first 30 days (20). The pricing page says new accounts start with $5 of free credit; whether a card is needed isn't stated (10 of 20). A person signs up in the browser to get a key (0).

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.

Hindsight 78

OpenAPI spec at hindsight.vectorize.io/openapi.json, linked from the open-source docs' llms.txt (25). llms.txt and llms-full.txt on hindsight.vectorize.io, with links to the quick start, SDKs, API reference, OpenAPI file and MCP page (10). Tool names follow the three verbs (retain, recall, reflect) and the docs explain each, but with 27 tools the when-not-to-use guidance is thin (12 of 20). Typed inputs, with an async flag on retain, and we didn't audit enums across the spec (10 of 15). 402 and 403 are documented with their causes, and examples sit in the guides (9 of 15). A changelog at hindsight.vectorize.io/changelog with Breaking Changes sections per release, and versioned /v1 paths (12 of 15). Cloud docs per the 1 October check, not re-read on 4 November (docs.hindsight.vectorize.io answers robots.txt with its app page).

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.

Hindsight 80

Tag v1.2.0 on 3 November 2026, the day before the check (30). Ten core releases since 6 August, v0.9.0 (7 August), v0.9.1 (14 August), v0.9.2 (25 August), v0.10.0 to v0.10.3 (14 September to 8 October), v1.0.0 (13 October), v1.1.0 (21 October) and v1.2.0 (20). We didn't check issue reply times on GitHub (10 of 25). Current clients for Python, TypeScript and Go, though the hosted MCP isn't in the official registry (15). Python 3.11 or later, and a test workflow in the repository whose result we couldn't read (5 of 10).