Hugging Face vs cognee
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Hugging Face starts at $9/mo and cognee starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Model and dataset hub
- Spaces demo apps
- Inference Providers
- Inference Endpoints
- Transformers library
- Graph and vector retrieval
- Python SDK
- MCP and Claude Code integration
- Slack, GitHub and Notion connectors
- Ontology generation
- Self-hosting
| Feature | Hugging Face | cognee |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | The main hub for open models, datasets and AI demo apps | Open-source memory layer for AI agents and teams |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $9/mo | See pricing page |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | Hugging Face | cognee |
| Based in | United States | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Hugging Face starts at $9/mo and cognee starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
4 plans
Free
Free
- Host unlimited public models and datasets
- Free CPU Spaces
PRO
$9/mo
- 10x private storage
- $2 inference credits monthly
- 8x ZeroGPU quota
- Spaces Dev Mode
Team
$20/mo
- Per user
- SSO (SAML and OIDC)
- Audit logs and resource groups
- Storage regions
Enterprise
$50/mo
- Per user
- Highest storage and rate limits
- SCIM provisioning
- Managed billing
3 plans
Free
Free
- 1 workspace
- 1M tokens included
- Unlimited users and API calls
Standard
$1.00 / 1M tokens
- $5 per extra workspace a month
- Slack, Notion, Linear, Drive
- Code indexing
Enterprise
Contact sales
- Bi-temporal memory
- Provenance on every answer
- Bring your own cloud
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Hugging Face
- Largest open model catalog
- Free hosting for demos
- Huge community
- Model quality varies widely
- Inference credits are small on free
- Can overwhelm newcomers
cognee
- Open source and self-hostable
- Free cloud tier with 1M tokens
- Answers keep source citations
- Needs developer setup
- Data connectors only on paid cloud plans
- Token-based billing can be hard to predict
Which one should you choose?
Choose Hugging Face if you want:
- Largest open model catalog
- Free hosting for demos
- Huge community
Watch out: model quality varies widely.
Choose cognee if you want:
- Open source and self-hostable
- Free cloud tier with 1M tokens
- Answers keep source citations
Watch out: needs developer setup.
Hugging Face vs cognee FAQ
What is the difference between Hugging Face and cognee?
Hugging Face: The main hub for open models, datasets and AI demo apps. cognee: Open-source memory layer for AI agents and teams. Both are models & apis tools.
Is Hugging Face or cognee cheaper?
Hugging Face starts at $9/mo and cognee starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do Hugging Face and cognee have free plans?
Hugging Face: Yes. cognee: Yes.
Who makes Hugging Face?
Hugging Face is made by Hugging Face, based in United States.
Who makes cognee?
cognee is made by cognee.
Which should I choose, Hugging Face or cognee?
Choose Hugging Face if you value largest open model catalog and free hosting for demos. Choose cognee if you value open source and self-hostable and free cloud tier with 1m tokens.