Cognee vs txtai
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — 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
txtai
All-in-one embeddings database for semantic search and RAG
| Feature | Cognee | txtai |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,850 | ★ 12,813 |
| First released | 2023 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Mem0, Pinecone | Pinecone |
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
Choose txtai if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 12.8k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Cognee or txtai better?
Neither is universally better. Cognee has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cognee and txtai free and open-source?
Yes. Cognee is licensed under Apache-2.0 and txtai under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cognee and txtai with Docker?
Cognee: yes. txtai: yes.