Basic Memory vs Context Portal MCP (ConPort) MCP Compared

Basic Memory vs Context Portal MCP (ConPort): verdict

Basic Memory gives AI clients persistent knowledge stored as Markdown that people can also edit. It combines linked notes, semantic search, and optional cloud collaboration.

Context Portal stores structured project memory for AI assistants in a workspace-specific SQLite database. It tracks decisions, progress, architecture, and custom context, with relationships and semantic search for retrieval.

Basic Memory and Context Portal MCP (ConPort) have no exact tool-name overlap in their recorded lists. Context Portal MCP (ConPort) lists 1 name absent from Basic Memory, including get_conport_schema. Moving from Basic Memory to Context Portal MCP (ConPort) would also mean rechecking workflows using edit_note, fetch, schema_diff, which appear only in Basic Memory's list. Basic Memory and Context Portal MCP (ConPort) both list python / stdio. Basic Memory is listed under AGPL-3.0, versus Apache-2.0 for Context Portal MCP (ConPort). Context Portal MCP (ConPort)'s repository has 3,496 fewer stars than Basic Memory (767 versus 4,263). Last pushes: Basic Memory 2026-10-16; Context Portal MCP (ConPort) 2026-01-27.

Basic Memory and Context Portal MCP (ConPort) overlap on tags knowledge-graph, semantic-search. Basic Memory-only tags: local-first, markdown. Context Portal MCP (ConPort)-only tags: project-memory, rag, sqlite.

Basic Memory vs Context Portal MCP (ConPort): features compared

Basic Memory vs Context Portal MCP (ConPort): shared and unique tools

Exact names, not equivalent behavior.

Basic Memory vs Context Portal MCP (ConPort): setup and configuration

Basic Memory and Context Portal MCP (ConPort) examples both use stdio local processes.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basic-memory": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "basic-memory",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context-portal": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "context-portal-mcp",
        "conport-mcp",
        "--mode",
        "stdio",
        "--log-file",
        "./logs/conport.log",
        "--log-level",
        "INFO"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}