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Anvil docs · Compared with Mem0

Anvil and Mem0, side by side.

Mem0 is a well-known memory layer for AI agents and apps. It runs as a hosted service, Mem0 Platform, or as open source on your own infrastructure, and its guides for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex start with a Mem0 Platform account and API key. Vitkilabs Anvil is a desktop app for people who use coding assistants. It keeps one memory in an encrypted database on your own computer, needs no account on its free plan, and connects to Claude Code, Codex and ChatGPT, and GitHub Copilot through MCP. Building memory into your own app? Look at Mem0. Want your assistants' memory on your own machine? Look at Anvil.

Download Anvil, free Getting started guide

What Mem0 does well

A memory layer for builders.

Mem0 and Anvil share the same starting point: an assistant shouldn't begin every session from zero. Mem0 has real strengths, and they are worth knowing.

Built for developers. Python and JavaScript SDKs and a REST API, for adding memory to your own AI apps and agents.^[1]
Two ways to run it. Mem0 Platform is managed: Mem0 runs and tunes the vector store, model and embedder, and you start with an API key. The open-source version, under the Apache-2.0 licence, runs on your own infrastructure, where you choose and run each part.^[1]^[4]
Plugins for coding assistants. Its Claude Code plugin captures your sessions in the background and recalls relevant memories when a new session starts. Mem0 also has guides for Cursor and Codex, and integrations with frameworks such as LangChain, CrewAI and LlamaIndex.^[2]^[3]
Hosted extras. On the Platform: graph memory, memory decay, temporal reasoning, webhooks, and organisations with member roles and a web dashboard.^[1]
A free plan. The Hobby plan is free, with 10,000 add requests and 1,000 retrieval requests a month. Paid plans start at $19 a month.^[5]
Published benchmarks. Mem0 publishes its scores on LoCoMo and LongMemEval, measured on its managed platform.^[4]

Mem0 also offers OpenMemory, which its site describes as an MCP memory layer for Cursor, VS Code, Claude and other coding agents.^[6] This page compares against Mem0's documented plugins and its open-source library.

Where Anvil differs

A memory that sits on your own computer.

Your memory stays on your machine. Anvil keeps it in an encrypted database (SQLCipher) in one folder in your home directory. There's no server or database for you to run, and no inbound network port opened. Mem0's Claude Code plugin records your session locally and sends it to Mem0 in batches, where memories are extracted.^[2]
No account on the free plan. Anvil's Free plan needs no account. Mem0's guides for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex each start with a Mem0 Platform account and API key.^[2]^[3]
It thinks with what you already have. For its own work, Anvil uses your Claude or ChatGPT sign-in, your own API key, or a local model through Ollama, llama.cpp, MLX or vLLM. Anvil doesn't sell model access, so you keep the assistants you already pay for. Your keys and sign-ins stay in the vault on your machine and are never sent to Vitkilabs.
One app across your assistants. Anvil connects to Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex and the ChatGPT desktop app, GitHub Copilot, LM Studio, Cline and opencode, and they share one memory. Mem0 works across several assistants too. The difference is where that shared memory lives.
Recall in every assistant you connect. In Claude Code, Anvil's hooks hand the assistant up to eight matching memories before each prompt, warn before it repeats a known mistake, and ask it to save what's worth keeping before it stops. Codex, the ChatGPT desktop app and Copilot don't offer those hooks, so Anvil adds standing instructions that ask them to check Anvil first and save lasting facts as they work. Either way, the assistant decides what to do with what it's given.
Memory you can check. Anvil flags a new fact that clashes with an old one, shows where each memory came from, and lets you expire memories or delete them for good.

At a glance

The facts, side by side.

	Vitkilabs Anvil	Mem0
What it is	A desktop app for people who use coding assistants	A memory layer for AI agents and apps, with SDKs and an API^[1]
Where memory is stored	An encrypted database on your computer	Mem0 Platform (hosted), or your own infrastructure with the open-source version^[1]
Account	None on the Free plan	A Mem0 Platform account and API key for its Claude Code, Cursor and Codex guides^[2]^[3]
Recall	Claude Code: before every prompt, up to eight memories. Codex, ChatGPT and Copilot: standing instructions ask the assistant to check Anvil first	Claude Code: when a new session starts, up to five memories, plus search on request^[2]
Model for memory work	Your Claude or ChatGPT sign-in, your own API key, or a local model	Run by Mem0 on the Platform; your choice when self-hosting^[1]
Assistants	Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex and ChatGPT desktop, GitHub Copilot, LM Studio, Cline, opencode. Other MCP apps, such as Cursor, by adding Anvil's MCP server yourself.	Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more, plus many agent frameworks^[3]
Runs on	macOS (Apple silicon), Windows 10 and 11, Linux	Hosted, or as a library or Docker stack you run^[1]^[3]
Price	Free plan	Free Hobby plan with monthly request limits; paid plans from $19 a month^[5]

Which to pick

Different jobs, both good at theirs.

Pick Mem0 if

you're building an AI app or agent and want a memory API; you want a managed service with a web dashboard; or you want to run memory on your own servers for many users.

Pick Anvil if

you want the memory of the assistants you already use to stay on your own computer, encrypted, with no account, and shared between Claude Code, Codex and Copilot.

Questions

Short answers.

Is Vitkilabs Anvil a Mem0 alternative?

For coding assistants, yes. Both give assistants such as Claude Code and Codex a memory that lasts between sessions. Anvil keeps it in an encrypted database on your own computer and needs no account on its free plan. Mem0 is built for developers adding memory to their own AI apps, as a hosted service or open source.

Does Mem0 store memories locally?

Mem0 Platform is a hosted service. Mem0's open-source version runs on your own infrastructure, where you choose and run the vector store, model and embedder.

Does Anvil need a server or Docker?

No. Anvil is a desktop app for macOS (Apple silicon), Windows and Linux. Its background service runs on your computer and opens no inbound network ports.

Is Anvil free?

Yes. The Free plan needs no account and includes the whole memory brain, with one active model provider.

Sources

Where the facts about other products come from.

Each was checked on its maker's own site on 18 October 2026. Products change: if one of these no longer matches, tell us and we'll correct it.

Mem0 docs: Platform vs Open Source (hosted and self-hosted, what each runs, Platform-only features, SDKs and REST API).
Mem0 docs: Claude Code (account and API key prerequisite, local capture, batches sent to Mem0, recall of up to five memories at session start).
Mem0 docs: Cursor and Codex (Mem0 Platform account and API key prerequisite), and the docs index (list of coding-agent and framework integrations).
Mem0 on GitHub: mem0ai/mem0 (Apache-2.0 licence, benchmark scores measured on the managed platform).
Mem0: Pricing (Hobby plan limits, Starter from $19 a month).
Mem0: OpenMemory (how Mem0 describes it).