Chroma vs Lians Agent Memory
Chroma is an MCP server published by chroma-core. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Lians Agent Memory is an MCP server published by ebeirne. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-14. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  Chroma |  Lians Agent Memory |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:c050ca8e1d4e Forks (GitHub): 117 Pulls (Docker Hub): 59 247 Stars (Docker Hub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 600 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.5.0 Downloads/month (PyPI): 222 Downloads/week (PyPI): 58 Forks (GitHub): 6 Stars (GitHub): 16 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | Chroma | Lians Agent Memory |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 600 (better) | 16 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 59 247 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 117 (better) | 6 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/chroma) | On your machine (lians-sdk) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 13 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 1, secrets among them: 1 | 5, secrets among them: 1 |
| Licence (differs) | Apache-2.0 | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/chroma-core/chroma-mcp | github.com/lians-ai/lians |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
Chroma
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation that provides database capabilities for Chroma.
Lians Agent Memory
Bitemporal memory for AI agents with point-in-time recall and tamper-evident audit history.
How to run each
Chroma As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "CHROMA_API_KEY=<YOUR_CHROMA_API_KEY>" --transport stdio chroma -- docker run -i --rm -e CHROMA_API_KEY mcp/chromaRequires: CHROMA_API_KEY (secret)
Lians Agent Memory As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "LIANS_API_KEY=<YOUR_LIANS_API_KEY>" --transport stdio lians -- uvx --from "lians-sdk[mcp]" lians-mcp lians-sdkRequires: LIANS_API_KEY (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of Lians Agent Memory publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Only Chroma asks for
CHROMA_API_KEY (secret)
Only Lians Agent Memory asks for
LIANS_AGENT_IDLIANS_API_KEY (secret)LIANS_LOCAL_DBLIANS_NAMESPACELIANS_URL
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Chroma · What it can do: Lians Agent Memory · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.