Redis vs Valkey: A Complete Guide to the Future of In-Memory Databases | JusDB
Redis vs Valkey: A Complete Guide to the Future of In-Memory Databases
Redis has long been the dominant in-memory data store, powering caching, session management, real-time analytics, and message queues across the modern web. But in 2024, Redis Labs changed the license of Redis to SSPL, sparking concerns in the open-source community. This led to the creation of Valkey, a fully open-source fork maintained by the Linux Foundation and major contributors. At JusDB, we guide enterprises through Redis consulting and Valkey consulting, ensuring performance, cost optimization, and long-term sustainability.
1) Redis Overview
Redis (Remote Dictionary Server) is an in-memory data structure store that supports strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets, streams, and more. It is widely used as:
- Cache: Speeding up applications with in-memory key-value lookups.
- Session store: Managing user sessions in web applications.
- Message broker: Lightweight pub/sub and streams for event-driven architectures.
- Real-time analytics: Leaderboards, counters, telemetry aggregation.
Originally licensed under BSD, Redis became a commercial product under Redis Labs. In 2024, Redis Labs moved Redis to the SSPL license, restricting cloud vendors from offering Redis as a managed service without commercial terms.
2) Valkey Overview
Valkey is a community-driven fork of Redis, created under the Linux Foundation in response to Redis’ license change. Valkey preserves the BSD-style open-source licensing, ensuring free use by cloud providers, enterprises, and developers. It aims to maintain full compatibility with Redis APIs while accelerating innovation through a truly open governance model.
Key contributors to Valkey include Amazon, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Alibaba Cloud, ensuring its long-term viability. As of 2025, Valkey is becoming the preferred choice for open-source-first organizations and those wary of vendor lock-in.
3) Redis vs Valkey: Key Differences
| Aspect | Redis | Valkey |
|---|---|---|
| License | SSPL (non-OSI approved) | BSD-style, OSI-approved open source |
| Governance | Redis Labs | Linux Foundation, community-driven |
| Compatibility | Stable API, evolving with commercial focus | Maintains Redis compatibility, open roadmap |
| Cloud Providers | Redis Enterprise partnerships only | Supported broadly (AWS, GCP, Azure, Alibaba) |
| Innovation | Prioritized by Redis Labs for enterprise offerings | Collaborative, ecosystem-driven development |
👉 For enterprises that want license clarity and long-term open source assurance, Valkey is the safer bet. For those already invested in Redis Enterprise, Redis remains a strong option.
4) Architecture & Core Concepts
Both Redis and Valkey share the same core architecture:
- Single-threaded core: Optimized for simplicity and predictable latency (though now supports multi-threaded I/O).
- Persistence options: RDB snapshots and AOF (Append-Only File) for durability.
- Replication: Master-replica replication with automatic failover.
- Cluster mode: Sharding across nodes for scale-out workloads.
- Data structures: Strings, lists, sets, sorted sets, hashes, hyperloglogs, streams.
5) When to Use Redis/Valkey
- Caching layer: Reduce load on databases like MySQL or PostgreSQL.
- Session management: Store temporary session data in distributed apps.
- Rate limiting: Implement API throttling with atomic counters.
- Leaderboards: Gaming, social media feeds, or ranking systems.
- Pub/Sub: Lightweight messaging between services.
- Stream processing: Real-time event pipelines.
6) Limitations & Trade-offs
- Single-thread bottleneck: Scaling requires clustering or multi-instance setups.
- Memory-bound: Designed for in-memory; persistence adds cost overhead.
- Durability: Not a replacement for relational databases for long-term storage.
- Operational complexity: Cluster mode adds complexity for sharding/failover.
7) Redis & Valkey Commands Cheat Sheet
🔹 Basic Operations
SET user:1001 "Alice" GET user:1001 DEL user:1001 EXISTS user:1001
🔹 Data Structures
-- Lists LPUSH tasks "task1" RPUSH tasks "task2" LPOP tasks LRANGE tasks 0 -1 -- Sets SADD tags "redis" SADD tags "valkey" SMEMBERS tags -- Sorted Sets ZADD leaderboard 100 "Alice" ZADD leaderboard 200 "Bob" ZRANGE leaderboard 0 -1 WITHSCORES
🔹 Pub/Sub
SUBSCRIBE channel1 PUBLISH channel1 "Hello World"
🔹 Persistence & Clustering
SAVE -- RDB snapshot CONFIG SET appendonly yes -- enable AOF CLUSTER NODES📖 Full reference: Redis Commands | Valkey Docs
8) Ecosystem & Integrations
- Integrates with Flink CDC, Kafka, and streaming engines.
- Compatible with ORMs and client libraries in most languages (Python, Node.js, Go, Java).
- Used in conjunction with MySQL / PostgreSQL for hybrid architectures.
9) Deployment Options
- Self-hosted: Run Redis/Valkey clusters on VMs, bare metal, or Kubernetes.
- Managed: AWS ElastiCache, Azure Cache for Redis, GCP MemoryStore (likely to support Valkey in future).
- Hybrid: Mix Valkey for open-source workloads and Redis Enterprise for advanced modules.
10) How JusDB Helps
At JusDB, we provide end-to-end services for Redis and Valkey:
- Redis Consulting — performance tuning, high availability, cluster scaling.
- Valkey Consulting — open-source alternative setup, cloud-native adoption.
- Migrations — from Redis to Valkey or hybrid deployments.
- Performance Optimization — latency tuning, memory management.
- High Availability — cluster design, failover, disaster recovery.
Also explore: Open Source Database Migrations | Upgrades | Database Tools
11) Conclusion
Redis and Valkey both provide powerful in-memory databases for caching, real-time analytics, and event-driven architectures. The key difference lies in their governance and licensing. Redis, under SSPL, is tightly controlled by Redis Labs, while Valkey, under the Linux Foundation, guarantees a truly open-source future.
For enterprises seeking license clarity, cost optimization, and cloud portability, Valkey is the natural successor to Redis. For teams already invested in Redis Enterprise features, Redis remains a strong platform. Many organizations may adopt a hybrid approach — Redis Enterprise for modules and Valkey for standard caching and streaming workloads.
👉 If you’re considering migration or evaluating Redis vs Valkey for your infrastructure, contact JusDB for expert guidance.
Author: JusDB Database Reliability Engineering Team