Cognee vs Qdrant
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Cognee
Memory and knowledge graph engine for AI agents
VS
Qdrant
High-performance open-source vector search engine
| Feature | Cognee | Qdrant |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Search Engines |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,850 | ★ 33,837 |
| First released | 2023 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Mem0, Pinecone | Pinecone, Algolia |
Why pick each one
Choose Cognee if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 29.9k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Cognee or Qdrant better?
Neither is universally better. Qdrant has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cognee and Qdrant free and open-source?
Yes. Cognee is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Qdrant under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cognee and Qdrant with Docker?
Cognee: yes. Qdrant: yes.