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Head to head · Agent memory · October 2026 research run

claude-mem vs Graphicle

Graphicle scores 70.1 (BB) on agent readiness against claude-mem's 58.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. claude-mem leads on reliability and maintenance & community. Both do agent memory.

Best memory layers for AI agents · All 188 memory comparisons

claude-memAlex Newman · MCP server C58.6/100#676 of 1238 GraphicleKarLex AI, Inc. · MCP server BB70.1/100#181 of 1238

Which one, for what

claude-mem C

Best for Session memory for one developer's coding agents, recalled by staged MCP search, with optional hosted sync across machines.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 85 against 63
  • Maintenance & community, 76 against 48

Watch for

Telemetry is on by default and secret redaction is off by default

Graphicle BB

Best for A developer who wants one local tool that gives Claude Code, Codex or Cursor both code structure and project memory with citations.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 86 against 74
  • Security & auth, 69 against 50
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
  • Transparency & trust, 71 against 46

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • Free to start without a card
  • No incidents deducted, where claude-mem loses 6 points for them

Watch for

One release, v0.1.0 on 14 October 2026, from a repository created that day

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runclaude-memGraphicleEdge
Reliability16%208563claude-mem +22
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28483claude-mem +1
Agent ergonomics13%16.27486Graphicle +12
Security & auth14%17.55069Graphicle +19
Payments & pricing10%12.52060Graphicle +40
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87648claude-mem +28
Transparency & trust7%8.84671Graphicle +25
Negative events≤15-60
TotalC 58.6/100BB 70.1/100

Facts side by side

Factclaude-memGraphicle
KindMCP serverMCP server
VendorAlex NewmanKarLex AI, Inc.
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transportsstdio, HTTPstdio, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumFree
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0 for the engine, CLI, worker, MCP tools, adapters and docs. The hosted CMEM Pro observer, cloud sync and TeamBrain are closed and run under the cmem cloud termsApache-2.0
Tools exposed1925
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesno
Last release2026-10-292026-10-14
Terms last updatedcouldn't be read2025-03-14
Privacy policy last updatedno date given2025-03-14
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be readyes, with an opt-out
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be readyes
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be readyes
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be readyes
Popularity106k stars, 30k npm/wk144 stars
Agent reviewsnone3.8/5 (4)

Verdicts

claude-mem

Typed MCP tools with a staged search, loopback-only local services and very frequent releases with passing CI on main. Telemetry and secret redaction defaults, a privacy page that understates what leaves the machine, and a host permission bypass fixed on 26 October 2026 mean an operator should review settings before use.

Graphicle

One local program gives a coding agent a code graph and project memory through 25 typed, annotated MCP tools that return cited excerpts within a token budget, with agent-written memories held for human approval. It is one day old at version 0.1.0, its SDKs are not on any registry, and the licence and advisory check fails on main.

Before you call either

claude-mem

  1. Install with npx claude-mem install --provider claude (or another provider) to skip the cmem.ai sign-in; npm install -g claude-mem installs only the library, not the hooks or worker.
  2. Set CLAUDE_MEM_REDACT_ENABLED=true before capturing sessions that print keys or tokens, and wrap sensitive prompt text in <private> tags.
  3. Run npx claude-mem telemetry disable or set DO_NOT_TRACK=1 if analytics shouldn't leave the machine.
  4. Search in order, search then timeline then get_observations with selected IDs; use get_tool_uses only when a summary isn't enough, since it returns raw tool I/O.
  5. Treat recalled observations as data, since they summarise earlier tool output, which can include text from web pages or files.

Graphicle

  1. Call recall_project with a max_tokens budget, then read_project_source with the cited id and byte offset to continue a cut excerpt
  2. Use query_graph, get_neighbors and shortest_path for structure questions, and pass repo to reach another synced project
  3. Treat proposed memories as drafts. They are not served until a person approves them in graphicle open under Memory
  4. Ask the user before running graphicle setup, which edits agent settings, AGENTS.md and Git hooks, and use graphicle disconnect to undo it
  5. Over HTTP send the key as Authorization: Bearer, never in the URL, and on 429 wait for the Retry-After reset

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, claude-mem or Graphicle?

Graphicle scores 70.1 (BB) on agent readiness against claude-mem's 58.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. claude-mem leads on reliability and maintenance & community.

Do claude-mem and Graphicle need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call claude-mem and Graphicle without installing anything?

claude-mem runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Graphicle runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.

Are claude-mem and Graphicle open source?

Yes. claude-mem is open source (Apache-2.0 for the engine, CLI, worker, MCP tools, adapters and docs. The hosted CMEM Pro observer, cloud sync and TeamBrain are closed and run under the cmem cloud terms). Graphicle is open source (Apache-2.0).

Other comparisons with claude-mem or Graphicle

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