Cognee vs Vald
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
Vald
Cloud-native distributed vector search engine
| Feature | Cognee | Vald |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Search Engines |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | kubernetes, helm, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,850 | ★ 1,716 |
| First released | 2023 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Mem0, Pinecone | Pinecone, Elasticsearch |
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 Vald if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Cognee or Vald better?
Cognee is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Vald if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Cognee and Vald free and open-source?
Yes. Cognee is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Vald under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cognee and Vald with Docker?
Cognee: yes. Vald: yes.