PMB vs Spider Cloud

Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings

Analysis reviewed Live tool data as of 2026-10-18
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At a glance

DimensionPMBSpider Cloud
Primary Use CasePersistent local memory for AI coding agentsWeb crawling/scraping API for AI agents
Key IntegrationMCP with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, ZedLangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, AutoGen
Target UserDevelopers using AI coding agentsDevelopers building AI agents needing web data
Data PrivacyFully offline, no telemetry, open sourceCloud-based with open-source core; data connectors for storage
Latest NewsSpain blacklists Palantir; noise infusion banned by Census BureauBrowser AI commands, scraper catalog, data connectors

For developers who need persistent context for coding agents and value data privacy, PMB is a free, offline-first solution. For teams building AI agents that require real-time web data for RAG, Spider Cloud offers a scalable, cost-efficient scraping API with advanced anti-detection. Choose PMB if your pain is repetitive context loss; choose Spider Cloud if you need structured data from the web.

Try PMBTry Spider Cloud
PMB
PMB

Local-first memory layer that gives your AI coding agent a SQLite file it can recall from between sessions.

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Spider Cloud
Spider Cloud

Spider Cloud is a web scraping, crawling, and search API that streams live pages as markdown or JSON for AI agents and RAG pipelines.

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Pricing
Free
Freemium
Plans
$0
$1/GB + $0.0001/CPU-min
From $6/mo
From $40/mo
Custom
Popularity
4 views
7.5k views
Skill Level
Intermediate
Intermediate
API Available
Platforms
CLIDesktop
WebAPIPluginCLIDesktop
Categories
🧠 Agent Memory & Runtimes🔌 MCP Servers & Agent Tooling
🌐 Web Scraping & Search APIs🖱️ Browser & Computer-Use Agents
Features
Local SQLite memory file with vectors in LanceDB stored beside it
Auto-recall: memory injected before the model reasons, via hooks rather than tool calls
MCP server exposing 29 tools over stdio as a child process of your agent
Hybrid recall fusing BM25, dense vectors and an entity graph with Reciprocal-Rank-Fusion
Optional rerank pass on top of fused retrieval results
Sub-millisecond prompt classification on every message
4-16 ms memory reads
~35 ms recall in a real workspace
Async writes: SQLite first, embed and LanceDB insert on a background thread
Lessons carry a surface_id and are scored on agent follow-rate; ignored rules flagged dead
Local web dashboard with interactive entity graph (Map) and git-style Timeline
Entity graph nodes color-coded by type, sized by importance, inspectable on hover
Automatic memory decay, archiving and deduping over time
Optional local Ollama for summarization and graph extraction, fully offline
Multi-project support with one Timeline lane per project
Scrape a single page into markdown, JSON, HTML, raw, or plain text
Crawl entire sites with each page streamed as one JSONL line in order as it finishes
Web search endpoint returns SERP results plus the scraped pages behind them
Custom browser renders like a user: scripts run, lazy images load, infinite scroll reaches the end
Load protected pages through a real browser engine with geo checks, returning a 200
Run full browser sessions over WebSocket with anti-detection and rotating exits
Send AI commands (Act, Extract, Observe) over the Browser API WebSocket
Send a prompt on a scrape or crawl request and get named fields back as JSON
Two-phase AI extraction: a fast model for most pages, a stronger model for complex layouts
Provider router sends scrape and crawl requests to outside providers on your own keys
Data connectors pipe crawl results into S3, GCS, Google Sheets, Azure Blob, or Supabase
Proxy network with 215M+ residential and ISP exits in 199 countries, rotated per request
MCP server at mcp.spider.cloud for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Claude Desktop
1,000+ ready-made scraper examples across 32 categories, each with working code
API responses support JSON, JSONL, CSV, and XML; up to 10,000 core API requests per minute by default
Integrations
Claude Code
Cursor
Codex
Zed
Ollama
LangChain
LlamaIndex
CrewAI
FlowiseAI
Langflow
Dify
Agno
MCP
Claude Desktop
Amazon S3
Google Cloud Storage
Google Sheets

What real users say: PMB vs Spider Cloud

Not marketing copy and not our opinion — a structured sweep of public discussion (reviews, forums, communities and video comments), showing what people praise and what they complain about for each tool.

PMB

81 mentions across 6 sources · 74% positive (averaged across 6 sources)

Hacker News, Product Hunt, App Store, Bluesky, GitHub, Lemmy

What users praise

  • • Local-first: all data stays on your disk, no cloud or API keys.
  • • Hybrid recall (BM25 + vectors + graph) delivers relevant memory in ~35 ms.
  • • Automatic write and read hooks integrate with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Zed.
  • • Honest impact scoring flags dead memories that agents don't follow.

What frustrates them

  • • No cloud or team-synced version, only local storage.
  • • Stale or reversed decisions can still surface without manual pruning.
  • • Automatic memory injection uses context window tokens, reducing solution runway.
  • • Only one maintainer; open issues may take time to resolve.

Researched Jul 4, 2026

Spider Cloud

No verifiable community signal. We scanned public discussion on Oct 14, 2026 and found posts matching the name “Spider Cloud”, but could not establish that they are about this product rather than something else sharing its name. Rather than publish a score built on the wrong subject, we publish none.

Who should pick which

  • Solo developer using Claude Code daily
    Pick: PMB

    PMB provides persistent local memory that eliminates the need to re-explain project context each session, and it's free.

  • Team building a RAG pipeline for real-time news
    Pick: Spider Cloud

    Spider Cloud's fast crawling API with structured output and 99.9% success rate is ideal for ingesting web data into a RAG system.

  • Privacy-conscious developer
    Pick: PMB

    PMB works fully offline with no telemetry, no API keys, and is open source, ensuring complete data control.

  • Developer needing scraped e-commerce data
    Pick: Spider Cloud

    Spider Cloud's scraper catalog with 1,000+ examples and anti-detection features is perfect for extracting product data at scale.

  • Team using multiple AI agents (Claude, Cursor, Zed)
    Pick: PMB

    PMB integrates with all major coding agents via MCP, providing shared memory across tools without cloud dependency.

Frequently Asked Questions

PMB vs Spider Cloud: which should you choose?

For developers who need persistent context for coding agents and value data privacy, PMB is a free, offline-first solution. For teams building AI agents that require real-time web data for RAG, Spider Cloud offers a scalable, cost-efficient scraping API with advanced anti-detection. Choose PMB if your pain is repetitive context loss; choose Spider Cloud if you need structured data from the web.

Can PMB be used with non-coding agents?

PMB is designed for coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Zed) via MCP; its memory context is tailored for software development, but it could be adapted for other MCP-compatible agents.

Does Spider Cloud support CAPTCHA solving?

Yes, Spider Cloud includes Silk, a custom AI model for extraction and CAPTCHA solving, plus Browser AI commands that can handle complex interactions.

Is there a free tier for Spider Cloud?

Spider Cloud offers a freemium model; the exact free tier limits are not stated in the docs, but it likely includes a small number of pages. For cost, it's $0.03 per 1,000 pages.

Can I self-host Spider Cloud?

Yes, Spider Cloud has an open-source core available on GitHub, but cloud features like Browser AI commands and data connectors may not be fully available in the self-hosted version.

Does PMB work without an internet connection?

Yes, PMB works fully offline; all processing is local with no need for API calls or cloud services.

Which tool is better for ethical scraping?

Both tools respect robots.txt; Spider Cloud has anti-detection features to avoid blocking, which may raise ethical concerns if used on non-public data. PMB doesn't scrape the web.

Can I export memories from PMB?

Yes, PMB memory chunks are inspectable and exportable; the SQLite file can be directly accessed, and the dashboard provides export options.

Does Spider Cloud protect my API keys?

Spider Cloud requires an API key for cloud usage; users should secure it as with any cloud service. PMB does not use API keys.

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Explore each tool further

PMB
View PMB reviewPMB alternatives
Spider Cloud
View Spider Cloud reviewSpider Cloud alternatives

Browse these categories

Best AI Agent Memory & Runtimes toolsBest AI Web Scraping & Search APIs toolsBest AI MCP Servers & Agent Tooling toolsBest AI Browser & Computer-Use Agents tools
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Last reviewed: July 2, 2026