Lighthouse vs Pinata
Lighthouse
lighthouse.storage
Pinata
pinata.cloudSide by side
| Figure | Lighthouse | Pinata |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $12/mo | $20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Spec score · Decentralized Storage Services | 7.8 (#12) | 7.3 (#21) |
| Developer tools | The storage product offers an SDK and CLI for integration into application pipelines. | Pinata says developers can use its SDKs, CLIs, and APIs to add file uploads and retrieval to an app. |
| Product | Lighthouse describes its Memory product as long-term memory for AI agents that saves project context, preferences, and decisions for retrieval in later sessions. | Pinata provides file uploads and retrieval using IPFS storage and also offers hosting and management for Pinata Agents. |
| Storage | Lighthouse offers decentralized file storage powered by IPFS, with Filecoin and Walrus listed as storage networks. | Pinata describes its private IPFS storage as an API for storing, retrieving, and managing files. |
| Support | The Premium plan includes priority support, and the site lists contact and book-a-call options. | The pricing page lists email support for the free plan and describes enterprise support as top-priority 1:1 support. |
Plans
Pinata
- Picnic$20 a month
- Fiesta$100 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- FreePrice not published
In their own words
Lighthouse
Lighthouse combines decentralized file storage with a long-term memory service for AI agents. Lighthouse Memory saves project context, preferences, and decisions for retrieval in later sessions, with remember, recall, and forget operations. Its batched engine supports local hybrid retrieval using embeddings alongside keyword or tag matching. Memories are documented as verifiable, content-addressed blobs, and the hosted backend exposes tools through the Model Context Protocol for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and other compatible agents. For files, Lighthouse uses IPFS and lists Filecoin and Walrus as storage networks; its web app supports storing, retrieving, and sharing files. Developers can use an SDK and CLI, while documented memory storage options include Lighthouse Walrus, Lighthouse IPFS/Filecoin, AWS S3, R2, MinIO, and a local folder. Plans include a free tier with 5 GB and 10,000 AI memories, Lite at $12 a month for 500 GB and 25,000 memories, and Premium at $49 a month for 2.5 TB and 100,000 memories. Encryption and other features are add-ons. Lighthouse cautions that forgetting a memory may not erase its stored blob, and content identifiers do not establish whether content is true.
Pinata
Pinata is a web and API platform for uploading, retrieving, storing, and managing files with IPFS. Its private IPFS storage API handles file storage, retrieval, and management, while dedicated gateways provide access to pinned content. A content delivery network includes image optimization for serving websites globally. Developers can add file handling through Pinata SDKs, command-line tools, and APIs; the service documents a TypeScript SDK installed with npm. Pinata also offers hosting and management for Pinata Agents and analytics intended to inform usage and resource decisions. The free plan includes 1GB storage, 500 files, 10GB bandwidth, and 10K requests. Picnic costs $20 a month, and Fiesta costs $100 a month, with larger listed limits. Plan features include gateway access controls, MIME-type protections, threat monitoring, billing protections, and upload protections. Free-plan support is listed as email support.