- Compare
- Bilinc vs Cognee
Cognee turns data into agent memory. Bilinc gives that memory an operational record.
Both let an agent remember across sessions. They differ in what happens around the write: who made it, where it came from, what it replaced, and how to undo it.
Different jobs, not a ranking.
Each side in its own words, with the license as published.
“Cognee is the open-source AI memory platform for agents. Give your AI agents persistent long-term memory with small models for free”
License: Apache-2.0. Verified 2026-10-23 from the public repository.
Hosted memory infrastructure for AI agents: commit, recall, and inspect agent state through one API key, with a source, a history, and recovery around every write.
License: BUSL-1.1, source-available. Public package bilinc 2.6.0, cloud-only.
What each layer is responsible for.
| Criterion | Cognee | Bilinc Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Stated purpose | An AI memory platform for agents that turns documents and conversations into memory agents can recall. | Hosted agent-state infrastructure: commit, recall, and inspect through one API key. |
| License | Apache-2.0. | BUSL-1.1, source-available. The public package is a cloud-only SDK, CLI, and MCP adapter. |
| Hosting model | A Python library that runs on your own machine or infrastructure, with Cognee Cloud as a hosted option. | Hosted Bilinc Cloud. Local storage and runtime internals are not shipped in the public package. |
| Agent integration | Python library, CLI, HTTP API, and an MCP server, plus TypeScript and Rust SDKs. | Python SDK, CLI, a Cloud MCP adapter over stdio, and a remote MCP server signed in with OAuth. |
| What Bilinc adds | — | A source and a history for every change, snapshots, diff, and rollback after a bad run. |
When each one fits.
When Cognee is the better fit
- You want an Apache-2.0 licensed project you can read, fork, and self-host end to end.
- You want to build memory from documents and conversations, on your own machine or infrastructure.
- You want a self-hosted library and a hosted cloud from the same project.
- Your primary need is building and retrieving memory, and you already have your own auditing around it.
When Bilinc is the better fit
- You need to answer "which run wrote this state?" without building the audit trail yourself.
- A bad agent run must be recoverable through snapshots and rollback, not manual cleanup.
- You want every earlier version of a memory kept in its history instead of overwritten.
- You prefer a hosted key-scoped surface with usage visibility over operating the storage layer.
Short answers.
Is Bilinc a drop-in replacement for Cognee?
No. Both provide durable memory for agents, but they draw the boundary differently. Cognee is an Apache-2.0 memory platform you can run yourself or use through Cognee Cloud. Bilinc is a hosted state plane whose public package is cloud-only, and it focuses on the record around each write: where it came from, what it replaced, and how to roll it back.
Can I use Cognee and Bilinc together?
Yes. They are not mutually exclusive. Building and retrieving memory and keeping an operational record are different jobs: you could keep one layer for retrieval and use Bilinc for the state that has to be auditable and recoverable.
Which one can I run myself?
Cognee is Apache-2.0 and runs on your own machine or infrastructure. Bilinc is BUSL-1.1, source-available, and its public package is a cloud-only SDK, CLI, and MCP adapter; local storage and runtime internals are not shipped. If an OSI-approved license and full self-hosting are hard requirements, Cognee fits that constraint and Bilinc Cloud does not.
Do both work with Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients?
Both publish MCP servers, and any MCP-compatible client can connect to either. Bilinc documents setups for Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and other clients, through a remote server signed in with OAuth or the local adapter in the bilinc package.
How do I try Bilinc?
Install the package with pip install -U bilinc, run bilinc login to sign in from your browser (the free tier needs no card), then verify hosted commit and recall with bilinc quicktest.
Place Bilinc against the rest.
The memory guides answer the questions underneath: what agent memory is, where vector search stops, and how rollback and audit work.