OpenClaw Memory Plugin Testing Results and Recommended Stack

Memory Plugin Performance Breakdown

A recent test of OpenClaw memory plugins reveals significant issues with default configurations and provides specific recommendations for effective setups.

Problem with Default Setup

The default markdown setup will quietly destroy your agent over time. Token bloat is real—your instructions get compressed away and your API bill climbs for nothing.

Plugin Tier Rankings

• C tier — Markdown/Obsidian. Fine for strict rules. Disaster as your only memory.
• B tier — Mem0. Great automation, kills your privacy and costs up to 7 cents per message.
• A tier — LanceDB. Fast, private, local. Black box though—hard to debug bad memories.
• A tier — Knowledge graphs (Graphiti). The future. Too experimental right now.
• A tier — SQLite. Not for conversation. Essential for structured data where accuracy matters.
• S tier — QMD. Free, local, surgical. Grabs only what the agent needs instead of loading everything. This is the one.

Recommended Setup

The actual winning setup is a stack: Obsidian as the human-readable layer, QMD to search it without token cost, SQLite for hard data. Run a nightly consolidation script and you basically never think about memory again.