head to head · open source
codebase-memory-mcp vs bb
codebase-memory-mcp has 48,506 GitHub stars, 4,016 forks, 553 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bb has 5,334 stars, 779 forks, 463 open issues and last shipped yesterday. codebase-memory-mcp leads on adoption by 809% (48,506 vs 5,334 stars). codebase-memory-mcp is written in C under MIT; bb is written in TypeScript under MIT. codebase-memory-mcp has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, bb 15%. bb was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (claude-code, codex), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| codebase-memory-mcp | bb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 49K | ★ 5.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 779 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick codebase-memory-mcp if
- You weight community size — 49K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bb if
- You want the bb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and bb fits your workflow better
About codebase-memory-mcp
codebase memory mcp: local code intelligence for AI agents via MCP Understand your repository, from source code to the systems around it. codebase memory mcp is an MCP server that connects code, documentation, configuration, and infrastructure in a persistent local knowledge graph. Use it to find an unfamiliar feature, follow a call across services, trace a deployment back to its source, or assess which parts of a project a change could affect. Give your coding agent structural context through Model Context Protocol (MCP), or query the graph directly from the CLI. The MCP server is the core of the project. Its…
read the full codebase-memory-mcp overview →
About bb
bb bb is an agentic IDE that builds itself. It can control, customize, and automate itself, laying the groundwork for your own software factory. Every surface — the desktop app, web app, CLI, and HTTP API — is a first class way to drive bb. Work runs in threads you can follow live, steer at any point, or hand off to another agent. [!NOTE] bb is in active development. Core architecture is stable, but workflows and surfaces are still evolving. Use bb Download the desktop app The recommended way to start using bb is the desktop app: Download the latest desktop app The desktop app supports macOS on Apple Silicon…
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Frequently asked questions
Is codebase-memory-mcp or bb more popular?
codebase-memory-mcp has 48,506 GitHub stars and bb has 5,334. codebase-memory-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are codebase-memory-mcp and bb free?
Both are open source. codebase-memory-mcp is licensed under MIT and bb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between codebase-memory-mcp and bb?
codebase-memory-mcp is written in C and bb in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, codebase-memory-mcp or bb?
Choose codebase-memory-mcp if you want the larger community (48,506 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose bb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.