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Zep
Zep vs. AWS AgentCore Memory

The AgentCore Memory alternative for multi-cloud teams

AWS Bedrock AgentCore Memory is a managed memory service for agents inside the AWS ecosystem.

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Key takeaways

  • AWS AgentCore Memory (docs) is bound to the AWS/Bedrock ecosystem; Zep is a neutral, multi-LLM, multi-cloud Context Lake.
  • The decision is lock-in vs. neutrality — S&P Global Market Intelligence named the neutral, multi-LLM memory layer as Zep's opportunity (coverage).
  • Zep runs managed, BYOK, or BYOC on AWS/GCP/Azure, builds bi-temporal context graphs, and reports 94.7% LoCoMo accuracy at sub-200ms (results).
The distinction

An AWS primitive vs. a neutral layer

What AWS AgentCore Memory is. AgentCore Memory is part of Amazon Bedrock AgentCore — AWS's managed building blocks for agents. It provides short- and long-term memory for agents running in the AWS/Bedrock environment, integrated with the rest of the AWS agent stack. For teams all-in on AWS, that integration is the appeal.

What Zep is. Zep is a dedicated, neutral memory layer — the Context Lake for AI agents. It builds bi-temporal context graphs from chat, business data, and documents (via open-source Graphiti on Konig, Zep's proprietary graph database service), serves token-efficient context in sub-200ms p95, and runs as managed cloud, with your own keys (BYOK), or inside your VPC (BYOC) on the cloud you choose. It's model- and framework-agnostic by design.

Agent Runtime

LangGraph·Vercel AI SDK·Pydantic AI·Google ADK·custom

Use the Zep SDK with your agent framework or custom application.

Ingestion

chat·JSON·documents·app events

Add conversations, JSON data, documents, and application events.

entity extraction·relationships·ontology·invalidation

Graphiti extracts facts and relationships to construct Context Graphs.

Context Assembly

context blocks·templates·token-efficient

Zep selects context and assembles it into blocks for agent prompts.

Retrieval

sub-200ms·auto-optimized·provenance-linked·policy-filtered

Zep selects context for the task within the specified token budget.

Governance

ABAC·multi-tenant isolation·customer key encryption·retention policies·audit·provenance

Zep applies access policies to reads and writes. It records source information and applies retention policies.

Konig

entities·facts & edges·decision traces·episodes

Konig serves Context Graphs with source information and records of changes over time.

How they compare

AgentCore Memory vs. Zep, side by side

AWS AgentCore MemoryZep
EcosystemBound to AWS / BedrockNeutral — any model, any cloud
Model providersAWS-centricOpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, others
Memory modelManaged short-term (session events) + long-term (async-extracted insights), semantic retrievalBi-temporal context graph (provenance + validity)
Temporal reasoningNo — extraction-based; no temporal graph“What's true now / what was true then,” auto fact invalidation
DeploymentAWSManaged, BYOK, or BYOC (AWS/GCP/Azure)
Benchmarks—94.7% LoCoMo (155ms), 90.2% LongMemEval (162ms)
Lock-in riskHigher (ecosystem-bound)Lower (portable across stacks)
The strategic question

Lock-in vs. neutrality

S&P Global Market Intelligence (451 Research) named this directly: Zep's opportunity is to be the neutral, multi-LLM memory layer for enterprises wary of hyperscaler lock-in — one consistent context strategy across model providers and clouds. Hyperscaler memory primitives are convenient if you're committed to that ecosystem and using “good enough” memory bundled in. The risk is that your agents' memory — among the most valuable, sticky data you have — becomes bound to one vendor's stack.

When to choose

When to choose AgentCore Memory, and when to choose Zep

Choose AgentCore Memory when

You're fully committed to AWS/Bedrock and the bundled primitive meets your needs.

  • Fully committed to AWS/Bedrock
  • You want the tightest native AWS integration
  • Memory needs are well served by the bundled primitive
Choose Zep when

You want to avoid lock-in and keep a consistent memory layer across models and clouds.

  • Neutrality across models and clouds
  • Temporal, provenance-tracked, governed memory (ABAC, retention, audit)
  • Regulated workloads with BYOK/BYOC deployment control
  • Memory quality at scale as a first-class requirement
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Keep your agent memory portable

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is AWS AgentCore Memory enough for enterprise agent memory?

If you're all-in on AWS and need basic managed memory, it can be. If you need neutrality across models/clouds, temporal reasoning, provenance, and portable governance, evaluate a dedicated layer like Zep.

Can Zep run on AWS?

Yes — managed, with your own keys, or inside your own VPC on AWS (or GCP/Azure). You keep deployment and key control without ecosystem lock-in.

Does Zep work with Amazon Bedrock models?

Zep is model-agnostic and works across providers including those on Bedrock, as well as OpenAI, Anthropic, and others.