Second Brain vs Mem
Honest comparison for 2026

When to choose Second Brain over Mem

• You consume content beyond text — videos, social media, podcasts
• You want Visual Boards for spatial thinking
• You want multiple AI models, not just one
• Privacy matters — your data is never used for AI training

When Mem might be the better choice

• Your workflow is primarily text notes and emails
• You need smart meeting notes integration
• You want email-to-notes forwarding

A day in the life: Mem vs Second Brain

A knowledge worker saves meeting notes, email threads, and random ideas throughout the day. Mem auto-surfaces related notes and suggests connections — great for text. But then they watch a Loom recording from a colleague, save a TikTok about a productivity framework, and bookmark a YouTube talk for later. Mem can't do anything with these.

In Second Brain, all of it — the text notes AND the video content — lives in one searchable knowledge base. They can ask "What has been said about our Q1 strategy?" and get answers that pull from meeting notes, the Loom video, and a LinkedIn post their CEO shared.

Then they open a Visual Board to plan the quarter. It's an infinite canvas where they lay out their meeting notes, the Loom recording, and the CEO's LinkedIn post as source nodes. They spin up multiple AI chat nodes — one synthesizing strategy themes, another pulling action items, a third brainstorming execution plans. They add Notion-like pages directly on the board to draft the Q1 roadmap as ideas take shape. Everything is visible at once: sources, AI conversations, and working documents, all in one spatial workspace. Mem gives you a timeline of notes. Visual Boards give you a multi-threaded thinking environment where content, AI, and your own writing coexist.

Both tools auto-organize with AI. The difference is what they can actually read — and how you can work with it.

Pricing at a glance

Mem offers a free plan with limited features and Mem Plus at ~$15/mo. Second Brain starts at $6/mo with access to Claude Opus, GPT, Grok, and Gemini — all included. At roughly half the price, Second Brain offers more AI models and broader content type support.

Mem's strength is its email and calendar integration, which Second Brain doesn't have. If email-to-knowledge is your main workflow, Mem may justify the premium. For everything else, Second Brain offers more for less.

Who switches from Mem to Second Brain — and why

Professionals who liked Mem's auto-organization but felt limited by text-only inputs. The typical trigger: trying to add a YouTube video or social media post and realizing Mem can't process it. Also users who want to choose their AI model rather than being locked into one.

What you give up: Mem's email integration, smart meeting notes, and calendar connections. If your workflow is heavily email-driven, that's a meaningful trade-off.

Frequently Asked Questions