Cognee vs Zep
Agent-native side-by-side. Scores are curated estimates on a 0–10 scale. Lock-in: higher = worse. Prefer JTBD picks via /api/decide when choosing for a job.
| Dimension | Cognee | Zep |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 8.1 | 7.4 |
| Capability fit | 8.4 | 8.2 |
| Price / performance | 8.8 | 7.0 |
| Latency / reliability | 7.6 | 7.6 |
| Developer & agent DX | 8.2 | 7.8 |
| Privacy / data retention | 8.5 | 7.8 |
| Lock-in risk (higher = worse) | 3.0 | 5.2 |
| Maturity / track record | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Pricing | As of 2026-09-14 (cognee.ai/pricing): Free $0 (1 workspace, 1M tokens). Standard $1.00/1M tokens + $5/extra workspace/mo. Enterprise BYOC engagement (6–24 mo packages, startup discount). Apache-2.0 OSS with SQLite/LanceD… | As of 2026-10-24 (getzep.com/pricing, fetched 2026-10-24): Temporal knowledge-graph memory (Graphiti). 'Self-serve plans are credit based.' Free: 'Start free with 10,000 credits a month.' ('No rollover or auto-topup.'). … |
| Tagline | Graph memory when documents→ontology matter. Zep for temporal bipartite graphs; Mem0 for simplest hosted… | Pick when agents need temporal/entity graph memory, not just vector snippets. Mem0 for simpler recall. |
Cognee
Graph memory when documents→ontology matter. Zep for temporal bipartite graphs; Mem0 for simplest hosted memory; Letta for stateful runtime (ex-MemGPT). Strengths: Graph-native ECL memory; Generous free + cheap token meter; EU company + OSS self-host.
Strengths
- Graph-native ECL memory
- Generous free + cheap token meter
- EU company + OSS self-host
Weaknesses
- Enterprise is services-heavy BYOC
- Not a drop-in Mem0 API clone
- Young commercial cloud
Zep
Pick when agents need temporal/entity graph memory, not just vector snippets. Mem0 for simpler recall. Strengths: Temporal graph memory; Strong for relational recall; OSS Graphiti path.
Strengths
- Temporal graph memory
- Strong for relational recall
- OSS Graphiti path
Weaknesses
- Credit model needs modeling
- Heavier than Mem0 for simple recall
- Graph ops complexity if self-host
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