---
title: "Overview"
description: "Self-host Mem0 with full control over your infrastructure and data"
icon: "house"
---

# Mem0 Open Source Overview

Mem0 Open Source delivers the same adaptive memory engine as the platform, but packaged for teams that need to run everything on their own infrastructure. You own the stack, the data, and the customizations.

## What Mem0 OSS provides

- **Full control**: Tune every component, from LLMs to vector stores, inside your environment.
- **Offline ready**: Keep memory on your own network when compliance or privacy demands it.
- **Extendable codebase**: Fork the repo, add providers, and ship custom automations.

<Info>
  Two ways to run Mem0 OSS: as a **library** inside your app (Python or Node), or as a **self-hosted server** with a dashboard, per-user API keys, and a request audit log.
</Info>

## Choose your path

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Self-hosted setup" icon="rocket-launch" href="/open-source/setup">
    Run `make bootstrap` to launch the server + dashboard, create an admin, and issue your first API key.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Python Quickstart" icon="python" href="/open-source/python-quickstart">
    Bootstrap CLI and verify add/search loop.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Node.js Quickstart" icon="node" href="/open-source/node-quickstart">
    Install TypeScript SDK and run starter script.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Configure Components" icon="sliders" href="/open-source/configuration">
    LLM, embedder, vector store, reranker setup.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Tune Retrieval & Rerankers" icon="sparkles" href="/open-source/features/reranker-search">
    Hybrid retrieval and reranker controls.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Memory Evaluation" icon="chart-line" href="/core-concepts/memory-evaluation">
    Benchmarks and how Mem0 is tested.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Tip>
  Need a managed alternative? Compare hosting models in the <Link href="/platform/platform-vs-oss">Platform vs OSS guide</Link> or switch tabs to the Platform documentation.
</Tip>

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What you get with Mem0 OSS" icon="code-branch">

    | Benefit | What you get |
    | --- | --- |
    | Full infrastructure control | Host on your own servers with complete access to configuration and deployment. |
    | Complete customization | Modify the implementation, extend functionality, and tailor it to your stack. |
    | Local development | Perfect for development, testing, and offline environments. |
    | No vendor lock-in | Keep ownership of your data, providers, and pipelines. |
    | Community driven | Contribute improvements and tap into a growing ecosystem. |
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Default components

<Note>
  **Library defaults** (when you `import` Mem0 and call `Memory()` directly):
  - LLM: OpenAI `gpt-5-mini` (via `OPENAI_API_KEY`)
  - Embeddings: OpenAI `text-embedding-3-small`
  - Vector store: Local Qdrant at `/tmp/qdrant`
  - History store: SQLite at `~/.mem0/history.db`
  - Reranker: Disabled until configured

  Override any component with <Link href="/open-source/configuration">`Memory.from_config`</Link>.
</Note>

<Note>
  **Self-hosted server defaults** (the `server/` Docker Compose stack):
  - LLM: OpenAI `gpt-4.1-nano-2025-04-14` (override with `MEM0_DEFAULT_LLM_MODEL`)
  - Embeddings: OpenAI `text-embedding-3-small` (override with `MEM0_DEFAULT_EMBEDDER_MODEL`)
  - Vector store: Postgres + pgvector
  - Bundled providers: `openai`, `anthropic`, `gemini`: switch from the Configuration page

  See <Link href="/open-source/setup#supported-providers">Self-Hosted Setup</Link> for the full provider list and how to extend it.
</Note>

## Keep going

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card
    title="Review Platform vs OSS"
    description="Confirm whether managed infrastructure or self-hosting better suits your workload."
    icon="arrows-left-right"
    href="/platform/platform-vs-oss"
  />
  <Card
    title="Run the Python Quickstart"
    description="Clone the repo, install dependencies, and persist your first local memory."
    icon="terminal"
    href="/open-source/python-quickstart"
  />
</CardGroup>