honeycomb
- who owns the data
- + you
- cost to keep memory
- + near zero storage you own
- where it lives
- + deeplake your own cloud
- how you start
- + one command no account
- open source
- + yes agpl-3.0
compare
honeycomb and honcho
How does honeycomb compare to honcho? honcho is a genuinely good open-source memory library with a managed option. Close, and the difference is where your data lives and what it costs to keep memory around. Less a rival than a different answer to the same question.
What honcho is
honcho, from Plastic Labs, is an open-source memory library with a managed cloud option. The managed service is priced by usage, roughly two dollars per million tokens ingested plus per-query fees, and it can be self-hosted to remove that bill. It is a capable, well-regarded tool, and we credit it plainly.
Where honeycomb is different
| honeycomb | honcho | |
|---|---|---|
| who owns the data | yes. you | partial. the vendor unless self-hosted |
| cost to keep memory | honeycomb advantage. near zero storage you own | partial. usage-based per token plus per query |
| where it lives | yes. deeplake your own cloud | partial. vendor cloud or self-hosted |
| how you start | yes. one command no account | partial. sign up or self-host |
| open source | yes. yes agpl-3.0 | yes. yes library plus managed saas |
Capability comparison, not a benchmark. Competitor facts captured 2026-06.
The cost of keeping memory around.
The design difference shows up on your bill. honeycomb keeps memory in Deeplake, which runs analytics directly over low-cost object storage in your own cloud, so holding notes around does not run up a charge. A usage-priced service grows with how much you use it, per token ingested and per query. honcho can be self-hosted to remove that bill, and if you want a managed library it is a fine choice.
See security27.5%
reduction in token spend
1.4x
faster LLM responses
6+
harnesses supported
based on Hivemind benchmarks
Common questions
What is honcho?
An open-source memory library from Plastic Labs with a managed cloud option, priced by usage, about two dollars per million tokens ingested plus per-query fees, and self-hostable.
How is honeycomb different from honcho?
Cost and setup. honeycomb keeps memory on Deeplake over low-cost object storage in your own cloud, so keeping notes costs almost nothing, and it installs in one command with no account.
Is honcho worth using?
Yes. It is a genuinely good library and can be self-hosted to keep data in your hands and remove the per-usage bill. The cost difference is about the managed shape.
Keep memory around for almost nothing.
honeycomb keeps your memory on storage you own. Install it in one command.
Windows (PowerShell): irm https://get.theapiary.sh/install.ps1 | iex
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