head to head · open source
headroom vs Mem0
headroom has 78,657 GitHub stars, 6,141 forks, 643 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mem0 has 68,288 stars, 8,104 forks, 742 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. headroom leads on adoption by 15% (78,657 vs 68,288 stars). headroom is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Mem0 is written in Python under Apache-2.0. headroom has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Mem0 12%. headroom was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, llm), 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
| headroom | Mem0 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 68K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.1K | ⑂ 8.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick headroom if
- You weight community size — 79K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Mem0 if
- You want the Mem0 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Mem0 fits your workflow better
About headroom
Quickstart · Install · Proof · Agents · Docs · Discord · llms.txt AI agents / LLMs: read /llms.txt here, or fetch the live index · full docs blob . Headroom compresses everything your AI agent reads — tool outputs, logs, RAG chunks, files, and conversation history — before it reaches the LLM. Same answers, fraction of the tokens. Compression runs on your machine; no prompt or file content is sent anywhere to be compressed. 10,144 → 1,260 tokens. The same FATAL found. What it does Library — compress(messages) in Python or TypeScript, inline in any app. Proxy — headroom proxy port 8787 , zero code changes, any…
read the full headroom overview →
About Mem0
Learn more · Join Discord · Demo 📄 Benchmarking Mem0's token efficient memory algorithm → New Memory Algorithm (April 2026) All benchmarks run on the same production representative model stack. Single pass retrieval (one call, no agentic loops) at a top 200 retrieval budget. Scores reflect Mem0's managed platform, which includes proprietary optimizations not available in the open source SDK; open source users should expect directionally similar gains but not identical numbers. What changed: Single pass ADD only extraction one LLM call, no UPDATE/DELETE. Memories accumulate; nothing is overwritten. Agent…
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Frequently asked questions
Is headroom or Mem0 more popular?
headroom has 78,657 GitHub stars and Mem0 has 68,288. headroom has the larger community by that measure.
Are headroom and Mem0 free?
Both are open source. headroom is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Mem0 under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between headroom and Mem0?
headroom is written in Python and Mem0 in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, headroom or Mem0?
Choose headroom if you want the larger community (78,657 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Mem0 if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.