In this paper we present a detailed critical study of several recently proposed non-Markovianity measures. We analyze their properties for single-qubit and two-qubit systems in both pure-dephasing and dissipative scenarios. More specifically we investigate and compare their computability, their physical meaning, their Markovian to non-Markovian crossover, and their additivity properties with respect to the number of qubits. The bottom-up approach that we pursue is aimed at identifying similarities and differences in the behavior of non-Markovianity indicators in several paradigmatic open system models. This, in turn, allows us to infer the leading traits of the variegated phenomenon known as non-Markovian dynamics.