Basic Memory vs Graphlit
A side-by-side comparison of Basic Memory and Graphlit, two Memory tools, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
Basic Memory
MemoryPersistent, local knowledge graph for AI tools — stored as plain Markdown.
View Basic MemoryAt a glance
| Attribute | Basic Memory | Graphlit |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Memory | Memory |
| Pricing | FREEMIUM | FREEMIUM |
| License (differs) | Open core | Proprietary |
| Deployment (differs) | Hybrid | Cloud |
| Platforms (differs) | CLI, macOS, Windows, Linux | API, Web |
| Model support (differs) | Model-agnostic | Multi-model |
| Vendor (differs) | Basic Machines | Graphlit |
The honest brief
Basic Memory
Unlike cloud memory stores, your graph stays in editable local Markdown you can open in Obsidian — portable and inspectable, not locked in a DB.
- Plain-Markdown, local-first storage
- Obsidian-compatible knowledge graph
- Works across Claude, Cursor, VS Code via MCP
- Open-source, no vendor lock-in
- AGPL-3.0 may not suit every team
- Cross-device sync is a paid cloud add-on
- Setup needs a local CLI install
Graphlit
Graph-native context layer that links ingested content into an entity graph plus stateful memory, not just vector chunks.
- One API for ingest, extract, store, retrieve
- Multimodal (docs, audio, video, images)
- Graph-based entity linking + hybrid search
- Event-driven webhooks for reactive agents
- More infra/overhead than plain RAG
- Overkill for simple doc Q&A
- Cloud-only managed service
- Graph/timeline modeling adds complexity