Head to head · Agent memory · October 2026 research run

claude-mem vs MemMachine

MemMachine scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against claude-mem's 54.6 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. claude-mem leads on reliability, schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and security & auth. Both do agent memory.

Best memory layers for AI agents · All 353 memory comparisons

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, 75 against 51
  • Schema & documentation, 84 against 79
  • Agent ergonomics, 74 against 65
  • Security & auth, 50 against 41

Watch for

Setup uploaded the last 30 days of prompts to cmem.ai without asking from 15.2.0 until 15.8.3 (25 October to 2 November 2026)

MemMachine C

Best for Self-hosted memory for agent frameworks that want episodic and profile memory with many integrations.

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 83 against 76
  • Transparency & trust, 57 against 46

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it
  • No incidents deducted, where claude-mem loses 8 points for them

Watch for

Version 0.4.0 of 6 October 2026, pre-1.0, with no changelog file in the repository

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Reliability claude-mem +24

claude-mem 75

Scored as local software. Official npm package claude-mem installed through npx claude-mem install, with Node ^20.19.0 or 22.12 and later and Bun 1.1.31 or later stated in package.json (20). ci.yml runs on pushes to main and runs the test lanes (fast and integration), the OpenClaw, My Work, Cowork and Hermes suites, beside Windows, media-runtime and ods-native workflows. The 29 October push runs passed per the 30 October reading of GitHub's API, which answers 403 in this session, so today's result is unread (15 of 25). The 30 October reading counted 129 open issues and pull requests combined, and the changelog records a July 2026 worker restart loop fixed in 13.12.1; reply times weren't re-read (10 of 25). Majors carry breaking changes with migration notes, such as 15.0.0 removing mem_search and flash_search, and 15.7.0 to 15.9.0 list none (15). Version 15.9.0 (15).

MemMachine 51

Local-software lines, as a server the owner runs. memmachine-server and memmachine-client on PyPI with Python versions stated, a Docker image and a compose script (20). pytest, integration and installation-test workflows exist, but GitHub's API answered with a rate limit, so run results were unread (15 of 25, unchecked). 292 open issues and pull requests; the newest bug reports, including a 429 from a provider surfacing as a 500 and a 0.4.0 configuration that no longer starts, have zero to two replies (10 of 25). No changelog file, release notes only on GitHub, which weren't read, and pre-1.0 tags (6 of 15). Version 0.4.0 (0). Total 51.

Payments & pricing MemMachine +20

claude-mem 20

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Scored on the hosted option, as the brief says for open-source software with a paid service. CMEM Pro $30, Heavy $70 and CMEM Max $100 a month are public, but the included usage is shown only at checkout (10 of 20). The engine is free with no card, but the pricing page says the CMEM Pro trial needs a credit or debit card while the README says sign-in needs none (10 of 20). The hosted service needs a browser sign-in by magic link (0).

MemMachine 40

Self-hosted rule, with the price lines read for the hosted platform. No x402, MPP or L402 (0 of 40). No hosted prices found on the site or docs (0). Free to self-host with no card (20). An agent can install it from PyPI with no account (20). Total 40.

Transparency & trust MemMachine +11

claude-mem 46

Apache-2.0 engine with the hosted observer, sync and team functions reserved as closed, per docs/ip-boundary.md (25 of 30). SECURITY.md lists every route by which data leaves the machine, but the cmem.ai privacy page, re-read on 4 November, still says "Nothing leaves your device unless you explicitly turn on cloud sync" and that sensitive details are filtered before storage, while secret redaction defaults to off, doesn't cover the hosted observer, and names no retention periods, subprocessors or legal entity. Locally, raw tool uses are kept forever by default (CLAUDE_MEM_TOOL_USES_RETENTION_DAYS 0) and daily logs 30 days since 15.7.0 (12 of 30). Release notes date breaking changes with migration steps, such as 15.0.0 and the removal of Gemini CLI support in 13.10.0, but no written deprecation policy (8 of 20). Telemetry is on by default, documented field by field (including PostHog's city-level location from the sender's IP) with telemetry disable, DO_NOT_TRACK and a separate error-reporting switch, and the installer asks once; the README doesn't mention it (16 of 20).

MemMachine 57

Apache-2.0 (30). The terms say hosted customer data is destroyed on termination, with no period, and use usage data only in aggregate; the privacy policy wasn't read (12 of 30). No deprecation policy or notices found (3 of 20). No telemetry calls found in the server or client source, and the docs don't address it (10 of 20). Total 55.

Agent ergonomics claude-mem +9

claude-mem 74

19 tools advertised by default with about 10,000 characters of descriptions across all 26 by our count (15), plus 3 back because TeamBrain and server-only tools stay hidden until used and the work-state tools can be switched off (18 of 25). search takes limit, offset, project, platform source, type, observation type, date range and order, and timeline and get_observations take depth and limit (20). Worker errors are JSON with 400 and 404 documented, and MCP errors name the fix ("Join a team with npx claude-mem teambrain join"), but no error catalogue (14 of 20). 17 tools carry readOnlyHint, none carries destructiveHint or idempotentHint, and work_state_write appends on each call (12 of 20). Most parameters are optional with stated defaults; the only official library is the TypeScript npm package (10 of 15).

MemMachine 65

Searches take limit and filter options for episodic and semantic results (20 of 25). Memories can be listed and filtered by scope (15 of 20). Validation errors are typed; other failures are less clear, as the 429-to-500 issue shows (10 of 20). No idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance found (5 of 20). Python and TypeScript clients and a five-line quick start, once the import is fixed (15). Total 65.

Security & auth claude-mem +9

claude-mem 50

The worker and MCP HTTP transport bind to loopback and check Host and Origin, with no credential (20), the server beta's cmem_ keys are scoped and stored hashed (5), and the hosted private MCP link is a bearer secret in the URL per the privacy page (less 10), 15 of 30. Plan mode prompts before the writing tools, <private> tags keep content out of storage and work state can be disabled, but hooks capture all tool input and output by default and the Antigravity adapter answered allow to every agy tool call until 26 October 2026 (10 of 20). Stored observations summarise tool output that can carry injected text and are injected at the next SessionStart; we found no guidance on that, and redaction of secrets is off by default (3 of 15). Local logs, the My Work viewer, an SSE event stream and raw tool I/O through get_tool_uses (12 of 15). SECURITY.md (moved to .github/SECURITY.md in 15.8.1) with a private advisory route, a 48-hour acknowledgement and a published fix history; no security.txt, bug bounty or certification (10 of 20).

MemMachine 41

Framework reading for software the owner runs. The server has no authentication and no security scheme in its OpenAPI document (15 of 30). No read-only mode or confirmation for deletes (5 of 20). No guidance on recalled memories as untrusted text (4 of 15). No audit log on the self-hosted server; the hosted console shows usage (5 of 15). SECURITY.md with GitHub private reporting and a two-business-day acknowledgement, with security-audit and SBOM workflows; no security.txt or certification (12 of 20). Total 41.

Maintenance & community MemMachine +7

claude-mem 76

v15.9.0 tagged on 2 November 2026, with its changelog entry dated the same day (30). Tags v15.0.0 (20 October) to v15.9.0 in the shallow clone alone, 16 in two weeks, and 78 GitHub releases from 1 August to 29 October per the 30 October reading (20). Issue #5078, reported on 26 October 2026, was fixed by a contributor's pull request and released in 15.3.0 the same day; the 15.9.0 notes thank 25 outside contributors; reply times weren't re-read (18 of 25). Not in the official MCP registry per the 30 October search (0). CI configured on main, Dependabot per SECURITY.md, two runtime dependencies in the published package (8 of 10).

MemMachine 83

v0.4.0 on PyPI on 8 October 2026, 29 days before the check (30). v0.3.9-post1, v0.4.0, v0.4.1-dev0 and v0.4.1-a1 in 90 days (20). Many open issues and recent reports with few replies (12 of 25). Python and TypeScript clients, both current (12 of 15). uv lock checks, security audit, SBOM and stale-issue workflows (9 of 10). Total 83.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runclaude-memMemMachineEdge
Reliability16%207551claude-mem +24
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28479claude-mem +5
Agent ergonomics13%16.27465claude-mem +9
Security & auth14%17.55041claude-mem +9
Payments & pricing10%12.52040MemMachine +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87683MemMachine +7
Transparency & trust7%8.84657MemMachine +11
Negative events≤15-80
TotalC 54.6/100C 58/100

Facts side by side

Factclaude-memMemMachine
KindMCP serverHTTP API
VendorAlex NewmanMemVerge, Inc.
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transportsstdio, HTTPHTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyNone
PricingFreemiumFreemium
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 exposed193
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-11-022026-10-08
Terms last updatedcouldn't be readno date given
Privacy policy last updatedno date given2026-05-20
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be readyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be readyes
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be readnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be readyes
Popularity106k stars, 30k npm/wk3.1k stars, 28 npm/wk, 581 PyPI/wk

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

claude-mem

Typed MCP tools with a staged search, loopback-only local services and releases most days, with tests in CI. The 15.8.3 notes say setup uploaded 30 days of prompt text to cmem.ai without asking from 25 October to 2 November, and the privacy page still says nothing leaves the device without cloud sync.

MemMachine

MemMachine is an Apache-2.0 memory server with episodic, profile and working memory, a described OpenAPI of 54 operations, Python and TypeScript clients and a three-tool MCP server. It is version 0.4.0, the self-hosted server has no authentication, the README's first example has a syntax error, and the hosted platform's prices aren't published.

Before you call either

claude-mem

  1. Install 15.8.3 or later with npx claude-mem install --provider claude (or another provider) to skip the cmem.ai sign-in; earlier setups uploaded recent prompts without asking.
  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.

MemMachine

  1. Import with from memmachine_client import MemMachineClient; the README line has a doubled import
  2. Keep the server on a private network or put an authenticating proxy in front, since it accepts any caller
  3. Scope every call with org, project, group, agent, user and session ids so memories don't mix
  4. Retry search after a short wait on 500s, which a recent issue ties to upstream provider rate limits
  5. Treat recalled episodes as untrusted text from past conversations

Questions

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

MemMachine scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against claude-mem's 54.6 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. claude-mem leads on reliability, schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and security & auth.

Do claude-mem and MemMachine need an API key?

claude-mem takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. MemMachine needs no key.

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

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

Are claude-mem and MemMachine 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). MemMachine is open source (Apache-2.0).

Other comparisons with claude-mem or MemMachine

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