You take notes. Lots of notes. And after a few months you can’t find anything anymore. Sound familiar? I used Mem intensively for a few months to see if their promise holds up: an app that organizes itself and acts as your second brain. Spoiler: the idea is brilliant, but the execution has its pitfalls.
Mem: the company
Mem was founded by Dennis Xu and Kevin Moody, two entrepreneurs who were frustrated with existing note-taking apps. Their vision? An app that doesn’t force you to create folders or add tags. Instead, AI should do all the organizing work.
That vision attracted a lot of attention. The company raised millions from well-known investors and was seen for a while as the future of note-taking apps. Especially when ChatGPT didn’t exist yet, Mem was one of the few tools that really used AI smartly.
But here’s the problem: while competitors like Notion and Obsidian continued to develop, Mem fell behind. Updates came slower. Bugs stuck around longer. And now, you wonder if Mem hasn’t completely lost its edge.
Who is Mem really for?
Mem is made for people who hate structure. Really. If you’re the type who wants to organize everything in folders, then Mem becomes your nightmare. The app has no folders. No notebooks. No hierarchy.
Perfect for writers and researchers who constantly capture ideas. For people who want to dump their notes without thinking about where they belong. For anyone who believes AI can organize better than they can themselves.
But not for teams collaborating on structured projects. Not for people who want to work offline. And absolutely not for Android users, because that app simply doesn’t exist. Also not ideal if you value stability – I’ll get to that later.
Mem features
Let’s look at what Mem can actually do. Because despite all the criticism, there are features that really work well.
The AI organization deserves some extra attention. It’s the only thing that really sets Mem apart from the competition. In traditional note-taking apps you have to think: where do I save this? What tag do I give this? In Mem you just dump everything and trust that the AI will find it later.
That works liberatingly. Really. You write faster because you’re no longer slowed down by organizational questions. But it also requires trust. Trust that the AI does it right. And that the data doesn’t suddenly disappear – more on that in a moment.
Mem pricing
Mem has a free plan, but you can’t do much with it. Maximum 25 notes and 25 chat messages per month. That’s enough to test the app, but not to use seriously.
For real use you need Mem Pro. That costs $ 14,99 per month, or $ 12 per month if you pay a year in advance (so you pay $ 144 all at once). That’s comparable to Notion Plus ($ 10 per month) and slightly cheaper than Evernote Professional ($ 17,99 per month).
There’s also a Teams plan, but the price isn’t publicly listed. You have to contact them for a quote, which is always a sign that it won’t be cheap.
Honestly? For what you get, $ 15 per month is pricey. Especially since the app still struggles with stability and you don’t get an Android version. Notion offers much more functionality for less money. Obsidian is even free for personal use. The only reason to choose Mem is if you really believe in their AI vision and are willing to accept the growing pains.
No trial available by the way. You have to pay immediately or make do with those 25 notes. That feels stingy for an app that still has so much to prove.
What should you watch out for?
Now we get to the pain points. And there are plenty.
The iOS app is unstable. Crashes regularly. Sometimes the app refuses to open. Other times notes disappear temporarily only to come back later. For an app that presents itself as your “second brain” that’s downright scary. You want to be able to trust your note-taking app.
No Android version. That’s just unacceptable for a tool that wants to be taken seriously. More than half of the world’s population uses Android, but those people can’t even try Mem on their phone.
Synchronization is a gamble. Sometimes it works perfectly. Other times you notice that a note you created on your phone doesn’t appear on your laptop. Or vice versa. This is especially frustrating when you want to quickly look something up and realize it’s not there.
Development is moving too slowly. People have been complaining about the same bugs for months. Features that are announced don’t come or come way too late. Dark mode, for example, was a top request for months before it was finally added – and then only for paying users.
You’re completely dependent on the cloud. No offline mode that really works. No local storage of your notes. If Mem goes bankrupt tomorrow, you lose your data. Yes, you can export, but that’s manual work and not something that happens automatically.
The learning curve is steep if you’re used to traditional note-taking apps. The absence of folders feels chaotic at first. You have to learn to trust the search function and the AI. For some people that never works.
What do others think?
The sentiment around Mem is mixed. Early users were enthusiastic about the vision and potential. But that enthusiasm has turned into disappointment.
What people appreciate: the search function is really good. The self-organizing concept works liberating once you understand it. The AI sometimes makes surprising connections between notes that you would never have seen yourself. And capturing ideas is lightning fast because you don’t have to think about organization.
But the complaints are persistent. The mobile app is too buggy. People are worried about data loss. Synchronization doesn’t always work. And the lack of an Android app excludes a huge group of users.
On YouTube you can see that even early fans have dropped out. Paperless Movement, a channel that tests productivity tools, called Mem a “missed opportunity” because of the slow development. Tool Finder stated that Mem has lost its lead to competitors who innovate faster.
The general feeling is: great idea, mediocre execution. And that’s a shame, because the concept is really good.
Mem alternatives
Mem not quite right? These alternatives are worth considering:
Frequently asked questions
Does Mem have a Dark Mode?
Yes, but only if you pay. Dark Mode is available for Mem Pro users. The free plan is stuck with the light interface. Pretty strange that such a basic feature is behind a paywall.
Can I use Mem with a non-Google account?
No. You have to log in with a Google account. No Apple ID, no email/password, no Microsoft account. Only Google. If you object to that, you can’t use Mem.
Is there an Android app available?
No, and there doesn’t seem to be any change coming either. Mem is available for iOS, Mac, Windows and via the browser. Android users can only use the web version, which is not ideal for mobile use.
Conclusion
Mem could have been the future of note-taking apps. The idea is brilliant: dump your thoughts and let AI organize them. For people who hate structure and want to write quickly, that concept is perfect.
But the execution leaves too much to be desired. The mobile app is too buggy. There is no Android version. The synchronization is unreliable. And the development is too slow to keep up with competitors who are innovating more aggressively.
Would I recommend Mem? Only if you’re willing to deal with growing pains and truly believe in the AI vision. If you need a reliable note-taking app for daily work, choose Notion or Obsidian. They are more stable and offer more value for your money.
I left Mem myself after a few months. Not because the concept is bad, but because I need to be able to trust my note-taking app. And Mem hasn’t earned that trust yet. Maybe in a year, when they’ve solved their technical problems. But now? There are better options.
