MemMachine vs Zep
A side-by-side comparison of MemMachine and Zep, two Memory tools, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
At a glance
| Attribute | MemMachine | Zep |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Memory | Memory |
| Pricing (differs) | FREE | FREEMIUM |
| License (differs) | Open source | Proprietary |
| Deployment (differs) | Self-host | Cloud |
| Platforms (differs) | API, CLI | API |
| Model support (differs) | Model-agnostic | Multi-model |
| Vendor (differs) | MemMachine | Zep |
| Capabilities (differs) |
|
|
The honest brief
MemMachine
Pairs episodic (conversational) and profile (long-term user-fact) memory in one model-agnostic, self-hostable layer.
- Fully open source (Apache-2.0)
- Recall persists across sessions
- Model-agnostic across providers
- Self-hostable, Python-first
- Younger than Mem0/Zep
- Self-hosting and ops on you
- Managed enterprise tier not yet GA
Zep
Stores a temporal knowledge graph (via OSS Graphiti) that versions how facts change over time, not flat snapshots.
- Open-source Graphiti engine (Apache-2.0)
- Managed Zep Cloud option
- Pulls in chat + business data
- Long-term context for agents
- Graph approach has learning curve
- Cloud is credit-based pricing
- Heavier than simple vector memory
- Newer ecosystem
When to pick which
Both cover Agent memory.
Pick MemMachine if you need MCP server.
- MCP server (secondary capability)
Pick Zep if you need Knowledge graph.
- Knowledge graph (secondary capability)
They also differ on:
- Pricing
- FREE · FREEMIUM
- License
- Open source · Proprietary
- Deployment
- Self-host · Cloud
- Platforms
- API, CLI · API