Agent Infrastructure · Head-to-head
Cognee vs Graphiti
Cognee and Graphiti are both agent infrastructure. Cognee is An open-source memory platform that turns documents, code and conversations into a knowledge graph for agents, while Graphiti is a framework for building temporal context graphs that give AI agents memory of how facts change. Here's an independent, side-by-side look at how they compare — and which fits.
An open-source memory platform that turns documents, code and conversations into a knowledge graph for agents.
Visit Cognee →
A framework for building temporal context graphs that give AI agents memory of how facts change.
Visit Graphiti →Cognee and Graphiti are both open-source agent infrastructure you can self-host for free. They're closely matched, so the choice comes down to language, license, and which approach fits your workflow. Neither is universally better — pick by fit.
Side by side
| Spec | Cognee | Graphiti |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Infrastructure | Infrastructure |
| Model | Open source | Open source |
| Pricing | Open source | Open source |
| GitHub stars | 30,933 | 31,089 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Last activity | Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
Agents whose memory should be structured around entities and relationships rather than a flat vector store.
Agents whose memory must reflect changing facts, such as customer or project state over time.
About Cognee
Cognee gives AI agents persistent long-term memory by turning documents, code and conversations into a self-hosted knowledge graph they can search and reuse across sessions. It can start locally without an OpenAI or Anthropic key, using local extraction and embedding models, supports custom data models and ontologies, and targets uses from a shared company-wide memory to memory that carries between agent runs.
Full Cognee profile →About Graphiti
Graphiti, from Zep, builds and queries temporal context graphs for AI agents. Unlike static knowledge graphs it tracks how facts change over time, keeps provenance to source data and supports prescribed and learned ontologies, integrating user interactions and structured and unstructured data incrementally. It works with graph databases including Neo4j, FalkorDB, Kuzu and Amazon Neptune; Zep offers a managed service built on it.
Full Graphiti profile →Frequently asked
- What's the main difference between Cognee and Graphiti?
- Both are agent infrastructure built for a similar job; the differences are subtle — compare them on adoption, language, and license in the table above.
- Is Cognee or Graphiti better?
- Neither is universally better. Cognee is the stronger fit for Agents whose memory should be structured around entities and relationships rather than a flat vector store; Graphiti for Agents whose memory must reflect changing facts, such as customer or project state over time. Use the side-by-side specs to decide by your own constraints.
- Is Cognee or Graphiti free?
- Cognee is free to run and self-host; Graphiti is free to run and self-host. Both are free to self-host — you only pay for the infrastructure and any model or API usage.
- Which is more popular, Cognee or Graphiti?
- By GitHub stars — a proxy for open-source adoption — Graphiti is ahead (31k vs 31k). Stars measure attention, not necessarily the better fit for you.
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