Mem vs Knowl
Mem is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Cursor. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Cursor: cursor/plugins). Knowl is an MCP server published by dat999zx. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-13. 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 |  Knowl | |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor: cursor/plugins | Listed Version: 1.0.0 Forks (GitHub): 1 066 Stars (GitHub): 11 026 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 5.25.1 Downloads/month (npm): 1 623 Downloads/week (npm): 335 Forks (GitHub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 89 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 | Mem | Knowl |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 11 026 (better) | 89 (worse) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 1 066 (better) | 7 (worse) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-12 |
| Where it runs (differs) | Remote server (mcp.mem.ai/mcp) | Remote server or your machine |
| Transport | Streamable HTTP | Streamable HTTP |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle | 1 | 1 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/cursor/plugins | github.com/dat999zx/knowl |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 3 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | not checked yet | Responded 17 h ago, requires a key |
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
Mem
Capture, search, and organize notes and collections.
Knowl
Persistent memory for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. Facts retire when they change.
How to run each
Mem
No data for an automatic command: what its marketplaces declare does not say unambiguously how to connect it.
Knowl As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http knowl https://api.knowl.cloud/mcp/Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only Knowl has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: Mem · What it can do: Knowl · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/cursor/plugins/blob/HEAD/.cursor-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.