---
title: "Agent Memory vs. Agent Databases | Why Surreal | SurrealDB"
description: "How Agent Memory and SurrealDB compare to HelixDB, HydraDB, and other specialist agent databases. Why vertical integration beats an internalised frankenstack."
url: https://surrealdb.com/why/vs-agent-databases
---

# Agent Memory vs. agent databases

HelixDB, HydraDB, ReasonDB, and other specialist agent databases correctly identify that flat vector stores are insufficient. But combining graph and vector in one product is not the same as unifying them in one engine.

[Explore Agent Memory](https://surrealdb.com/agent-memory) [Join the early access](https://surrealdb.com/agent-memory/get-started)

1. ![Babcock](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/babcock.lo4rnVg1.svg)
2. ![ING](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/ing.X3I6S3_V.svg)
3. ![British Airways](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/british-airways.KEsZiwV-.svg)
4. ![Nvidia](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/nvidia.DaIEuMil.svg)
5. ![Apple](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/apple.D5pq4flY.svg)
6. ![SpaceX](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/spacex.CQJEk-IL.svg)
7. ![Samsung](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/samsung.CH-vQgnb.svg)
8. ![adidas](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/adidas.DdTC5qhk.svg)
9. ![Tencent](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/tencent.paQmLxyy.svg)
10. ![Alibaba](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/alibaba.B16idgfM.svg)
11. ![PolyAI](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/poly-ai.c3w_fAg6.svg)
12. ![Later](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/later.Ds736jFO.svg)
13. ![Verizon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/verizon.BI7CajdX.svg)
14. ![Liberty Mutual](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/liberty-mutual.B7qOU1pd.svg)
15. ![Walmart](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/walmart.BjDg_Sr8.svg)
16. ![Carrier](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/carrier.D21gC6NX.svg)
17. ![Saks Fifth Avenue](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/saks-fifth-avenue.COIDpLSb.svg)
18. ![San Francisco Compute Company](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/sfcc.B7jlImq4.svg)
19. ![Shield AI](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/shield-ai.pINZ0KJr.svg)
20. ![Wix](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/wix.DvHhmoBi.svg)

THE LANDSCAPE

## Purpose-built for agents, but architecturally incomplete

A growing wave of specialist databases targets the agent memory wedge. They correctly identify that flat vector stores are insufficient, but each internalises the multi-system architecture rather than eliminating it.

### HelixDB

Rust-based graph-vector database with its own query language and MCP support. Strong developer experience, but no native document model or enterprise governance.

### HydraDB

Plug-and-play memory infrastructure with context evolution tracking. Graph and vector are separate internal substrates with no unified ACID transactions.

### ReasonDB

AI-native document database using LLM-guided tree traversal instead of flat RAG chunks. Novel retrieval, but no graph model, no temporal versioning, no multi-model unification.

THE PROBLEM

## Internalised frankenstack

These products self-host separate vector and graph substrates and fuse results at the application layer. The components have distinct consistency models.

Single transaction

Vector DB

Write embedding

Graph DB

Write relation

Committed

Inconsistent state

Rolled back

Vector DB

Similarity search

auth

config

monitor

Graph DB

Relationship store

auth

config

monitor

Doc store

Raw document index

auth

config

monitor

Auth service

Identity & tokens

auth

config

monitor

Cache layer

Hot key store

auth

config

monitor

Five systems. Five auth configs. Five things to scale, secure, and keep alive.

### No ACID across models

Graph and vector live in separate engines. Queries see inconsistent state across models.

### No native document model

Every piece of data is a node or an edge. No schema-validated JSON documents with access control.

### No enterprise governance

No row-level permissions, no field-level security, no schema-enforced access control.

### No Gen 3 storage

Compute and storage are coupled. No scale down to zero, no instant branching, no native disaster recovery.

THE ALTERNATIVE

## The only system that owns the full vertical

SurrealDB is a mature multi-model database, in development since 2018 and proven at scale by Samsung, Tencent, and enterprises across defence, finance, and healthcare. Agent Memory builds structured memory directly on this engine.

### True ACID unification

Graph traversal, vector similarity, document operations, and temporal queries - all in one ACID transaction.

### Full document model

A graph edge is a full document. Relationships carry metadata, timestamps, embeddings, and structured data.

### Enterprise governance

DEFINE ACCESS with row-level permissions, field-level security, JWT auth, multi-tenant isolation. SOC 2, ISO 27001 compliant.

TRUSTED BY

## Enterprise teams building on SurrealDB

From knowledge graphs to AI assistants - how enterprise teams are building on SurrealDB.

![Samsung](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/4c58b81e7b3c9466.C_Hv0eml.svg) DATABASE

### [Unlocking insights with knowledge graphs](https://surrealdb.com/customer/samsung)

Samsung Ads uses SurrealDB to build dynamic, real-time knowledge graphs for smarter campaign execution - collapsing three legacy data stores into one.

Read case study

![Verizon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/18b99996c689000f.B5PQ-nI9.svg) DATABASE

### [AI assistant empowering 10,000 technicians](https://surrealdb.com/customer/verizon)

Verizon uses SurrealDB to power a generative AI assistant for 10,000 field technicians, delivering instant access to documentation, outage updates, and workflows.

Read case study

![Tencent](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/401d8346058682c8.DqM87mst.svg) DATABASE

### [Unified infrastructure monitoring](https://surrealdb.com/customer/tencent)

Tencent consolidated nine backend tools into one real-time monitoring platform powered by SurrealDB's multi-model context graph.

Read case study

![PolyAI](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/c5fa07c66cd05131.BnC7wHcc.svg) DATABASE

### [High-performance customer service AI powered by RAG](https://surrealdb.com/customer/polyai)

PolyAI connects SurrealDB to Agent Studio for low-latency, customer-controlled RAG across voice AI experiences.

Read case study

![Saks Fifth Avenue](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/saks-fifth-avenue-white.pDJ9HGmf.svg) DATABASE

### [AI-powered personalisation at massive scale](https://surrealdb.com/customer/saks)

Saks Fifth Avenue uses SurrealDB's vector search and graph capabilities to deliver real-time, AI-powered personalisation across 5 million luxury customers and 45 million monthly product-recommendation queries.

Read case study

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

## Agent databases

How is Agent Memory different from HelixDB or HydraDB?

Does Agent Memory support MCP?

Is the platform production-ready for agent workloads?

GET STARTED

## Build on proven foundations

![Samsung](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/4c58b81e7b3c9466.C_Hv0eml.svg)![NVIDIA](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/nvidia.DaIEuMil.svg)![Apple](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/f7dc2519e0d212bc.Cn8MYAK7.svg)![Verizon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/18b99996c689000f.B5PQ-nI9.svg)![Tencent](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/401d8346058682c8.DqM87mst.svg)

SOC 2 Type 2

GDPR

Cyber Essentials Plus

ISO 27001

[Explore Agent Memory](https://surrealdb.com/agent-memory) [Join the early access](https://surrealdb.com/agent-memory/get-started)

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