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Head to head · Memory search · October 2026 research run

Context Mode Engine vs Hy Memory

Hy Memory scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Context Mode Engine's 45.8 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Context Mode Engine leads on schema & documentation and agent ergonomics. Both do memory search.

Best memory layers for AI agents · All 103 memory comparisons

Context Mode EngineMKSF LTD · MCP server E45.8/100#993 of 1171 Hy MemoryTencent Hunyuan · SDK + MCP C57.7/100#669 of 1171

Which one, for what

Context Mode Engine E

Best for Context Mode Engine indexes tool output and session events locally for coding agents.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 65 against 55
  • Agent ergonomics, 65 against 60

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine
  • Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.5 out of 5

Watch for

Hosted-service restrictions under Elastic License 2.0

Hy Memory C

Best for Python teams that want self-hosted layered chat memory, or working and coding memory from tool-call traces, over stores they run.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 65 against 45
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
  • Maintenance & community, 76 against 10
  • Transparency & trust, 62 against 42

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card
  • Open source

Watch for

delete() leaves the source conversation, the deleted text in history.db and extraction prompts in cache.db, and can reactivate a superseded fact

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runContext Mode EngineHy MemoryEdge
Reliability16%204565Hy Memory +20
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26555Context Mode Engine +10
Agent ergonomics13%16.26560Context Mode Engine +5
Security & auth14%17.53537Hy Memory +2
Payments & pricing10%12.54060Hy Memory +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.81076Hy Memory +66
Transparency & trust7%8.84262Hy Memory +20
Negative events≤1500
TotalE 45.8/100C 57.7/100

Facts side by side

FactContext Mode EngineHy Memory
KindMCP serverSDK + MCP
VendorMKSF LTDTencent Hunyuan
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transportsstdio
AuthNoneNone
PricingFreemiumFree
x402nono
LicenceElastic License 2.0, source available with restrictions on hosted or managed services.Apache-2.0 (PyPI metadata for the 1.x releases and 2.0.1 says MIT; 2.0.2 carries Apache-2.0)
Tools exposed11none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnono
Last release2026-06-292026-10-16
Terms last updatedno date givenno document linked
Privacy policy last updatedno date givenno document linked
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the text
Popularity31k stars27 stars, 147 PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3.5/5 (4)2.5/5 (4)

Verdicts

Context Mode Engine

Local indexing and selective retrieval. Hosted-service restrictions under Elastic License 2.0.

Hy Memory

An Apache-2.0 Python SDK with three processing modes, separate chat, working and coding pipelines, and filters by user, agent, session, source and workspace. Deletion does not stick everywhere. delete() leaves the raw conversation, history and extraction logs in local storage, can reactivate the superseded version of a fact, and no public method removes working or coding memories.

Before you call either

Context Mode Engine

  1. Choose the installation guide for the exact coding client.
  2. Check host permissions before enabling code execution.
  3. Review the Elastic licence before hosting Engine for others.

Hy Memory

  1. Pass user_id on every add() and user_ids on every search(). Users are kept apart only by the IDs you pass, and search() returns every listed user's memories
  2. Choose the mode before writing. lite makes no LLM calls and stores raw text. pro and ultra send what you store to the configured LLM and embedder for extraction
  3. Don't rely on delete() to erase a fact. The raw conversation, history.db and cache.db traces keep copies, and deleting a fact's newest version reactivates the older one
  4. Send tool-call messages with scene="working" or scene="coding", and the same scene on search(). Without tool messages a write falls back to chat memory
  5. Keep python -m hy_memory.server on 127.0.0.1. It has no authentication and allows any web origin

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Context Mode Engine or Hy Memory?

Hy Memory scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Context Mode Engine's 45.8 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Context Mode Engine leads on schema & documentation and agent ergonomics.

Can an agent call Context Mode Engine and Hy Memory without installing anything?

Context Mode Engine runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. No hosted endpoint is listed for Hy Memory.

Are Context Mode Engine and Hy Memory open source?

No open-source release is listed for Context Mode Engine. Hy Memory is open source (Apache-2.0 (PyPI metadata for the 1.x releases and 2.0.1 says MIT; 2.0.2 carries Apache-2.0)).

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