kitio.aillama.cpp vs cognee
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. llama.cpp is completely free, while cognee is freemium.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- GGUF format
- Low-bit quantization
- Many GPU backends
- OpenAI-compatible server
- Built-in web UI
- Graph and vector retrieval
- Python SDK
- MCP and Claude Code integration
- Slack, GitHub and Notion connectors
- Ontology generation
- Self-hosting
| Feature | llama.cpp | cognee |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | C/C++ engine for running LLMs efficiently on CPUs and GPUs | Open-source memory layer for AI agents and teams |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium |
| Starting price | Free | See pricing page |
| Free plan | Yes, fully free | Yes |
| Made by | ggml-org | cognee |
| Based in | – | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
llama.cpp is completely free, while cognee is freemium.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
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
llama.cpp
- Runs on modest hardware
- Very fast new-model support
- Foundation of many apps
- Command-line heavy
- Build options can confuse
- Less suited to high-concurrency serving
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 llama.cpp if you want:
- Runs on modest hardware
- Very fast new-model support
- Foundation of many apps
Watch out: command-line heavy.
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.
llama.cpp vs cognee FAQ
What is the difference between llama.cpp and cognee?
llama.cpp: C/C++ engine for running LLMs efficiently on CPUs and GPUs. cognee: Open-source memory layer for AI agents and teams. Both are models & apis tools.
Is llama.cpp or cognee cheaper?
llama.cpp is completely free, while cognee is freemium.
Do llama.cpp and cognee have free plans?
llama.cpp: Yes, fully free. cognee: Yes.
Who makes llama.cpp?
llama.cpp is made by ggml-org.
Who makes cognee?
cognee is made by cognee.
Which should I choose, llama.cpp or cognee?
Choose llama.cpp if you value runs on modest hardware and very fast new-model support. Choose cognee if you value open source and self-hostable and free cloud tier with 1m tokens.