# claude-mem vs MemMachine (slim)

> MemMachine scores 58 (C) to claude-mem's 54.6 (C) for agent memory. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- 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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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.

- claude-mem: C 54.6, rank #906 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/claude-mem.min.md
- MemMachine: C 58, rank #771 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/memmachine.min.md
- claude-mem, good 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.
- MemMachine, good 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 No key needed to call it; No incidents deducted, where claude-mem loses 8 points for them.

| Category | claude-mem | MemMachine |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 75 | 51 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 84 | 79 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 74 | 65 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 50 | 41 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 20 | 40 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 76 | 83 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 46 | 57 |

| Fact (where they differ) | claude-mem | MemMachine |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Alex Newman | MemVerge, Inc. |
| Transports | stdio, HTTP | HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Licence | 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 | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 19 | 3 |
| Last release | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-05-20 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 106k stars, 30k npm/wk | 3.1k stars, 28 npm/wk, 581 PyPI/wk |

Why the edge:
- 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.)