Redis or Valkey — sound familiar?
- ▸ Legal/license decision blocking migration — Engineering wants to standardise but legal won't sign off on SSPL/RSAL for your distribution model. Decision has cycled for months without resolution.
- ▸ ElastiCache cost arbitrage tempting but risky — ElastiCache Valkey is ~20% cheaper than ElastiCache Redis — but you depend on RediSearch, RedisJSON, or other commercial modules. Migration breaks them.
- ▸ Module compatibility unclear — RediSearch, RedisJSON, RedisTimeSeries — which work on Valkey, which don't, which have open-source replacements. The answer keeps changing.
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Redis vs Valkey
Redis 7.4 (March 2024) moved from BSD-3 to SSPL/RSAL licensing, prompting AWS, Google, Oracle, and the Linux Foundation to fork it as Valkey. As of 2026, ElastiCache defaults to Valkey, and most operational characteristics are identical. But the licensing implications, module ecosystem, and product roadmaps now diverge — and the decision to migrate or stay isn't purely technical. This guide is the production view of the decision math.
Feature Matrix
Redis vs Valkey — side-by-side
| Feature | Redis | Valkey |
|---|---|---|
| Wire protocol | RESP / RESP3 | RESP / RESP3 (identical) |
| Data structures | All native (Strings, Hashes, Lists, Sets, Sorted Sets, Streams, etc.) | All native (Valkey 8 = Redis 7.2 parity) |
| Persistence (RDB) | Yes | Yes (identical format) |
| Persistence (AOF) | Yes | Yes (identical format) |
| Sentinel HA | Yes | Yes |
| Cluster mode | Yes (16,384 hash slots) | Yes (identical) |
| Replication | Async + diskless option | Async + diskless (identical) |
| Memory model | Mostly single-threaded event loop | Same (multithreaded I/O in 8.x optional) |
| Client library compatibility | All RESP-compatible clients | All RESP-compatible clients (identical) |
| RediSearch (full-text + vector) | Yes (commercial, Redis Enterprise) | Valkey-Search (community port, less mature) |
| RedisJSON | Yes (commercial) | ValkeyJSON (community port, partial parity) |
| RedisTimeSeries | Yes (commercial) | Not yet (community port in progress) |
| RedisGraph | Deprecated by Redis Inc. (March 2024) | Not available |
| Active-Active CRDTs | Yes (Redis Enterprise only) | No |
| Auto Tiering / Flash storage | Yes (Redis Enterprise) | No |
| Cloud-managed (AWS) | ElastiCache Redis (OSS license) | ElastiCache Valkey (default for new clusters) |
| Cloud-managed (GCP) | Memorystore for Redis | Not yet Memorystore |
| Cloud-managed (Azure) | Azure Cache for Redis | Not yet |
| Licensing | SSPL + RSAL (since 7.4 / March 2024) | BSD-3 (Linux Foundation) |
| Distribution model freedom | Restricted (SSPL/RSAL terms apply) | Unrestricted (BSD-3) |
| Governance | Redis Inc. (commercial) | Linux Foundation TAC (community) |
| Cost (AWS ElastiCache, same instance) | Baseline | ~20% cheaper |
When Redis wins
Commercial modules required
If you need RediSearch (vector + full-text), RedisJSON full feature surface, RedisTimeSeries — these are mature on Redis, community ports on Valkey are still catching up.
Redis Enterprise features
Active-Active CRDTs across regions, Auto Tiering (NVMe cold tier), Redis on Flash — all enterprise-only and only on Redis.
Vendor support contract
Redis Inc. has a paid enterprise support tier with named accounts. Valkey is community-only as of 2026 (no vendor at the same level).
Roadmap velocity on advanced features
Redis Inc. ships Search 2.x, Vector quantisation, hybrid cloud features faster — they have a dedicated engineering org. Valkey 8 caught up to Redis 7.2 — pace varies.
Existing investment
If you've already paid for Redis Enterprise licenses or built your platform around Redis-specific modules, migration cost is significant.
When Valkey wins
Distribution model freedom
If you distribute Redis with your product (SaaS-with-Redis, embedded Redis in a customer-installed product), SSPL/RSAL conflicts. Valkey's BSD-3 is unrestricted.
AWS ElastiCache cost arbitrage
Same instance class, ~20% cheaper. At 50+ node-hours/day, this compounds quickly.
Community governance
Linux Foundation backing means no single-vendor capture. AWS, Google, Oracle, Snap, Ericsson, all contribute.
Standards-track future
Valkey's development happens in the open, with multi-vendor support. The licensing dynamics that triggered the fork are unlikely to repeat.
Self-managed teams
If you run self-managed Redis and don't use commercial modules, Valkey is a near-zero-cost migration with strictly better licensing.
Migration
Migration paths between Redis and Valkey
Redis → Valkey (self-managed)
Stop Redis, start Valkey 8 on same data directory — wire-protocol and RDB/AOF formats are identical. Most clients work unchanged. Migration is typically <1 hour cutover.
ElastiCache Redis → ElastiCache Valkey
AWS supports in-place engine swap from Redis to Valkey. Pause writes, snapshot, restore as Valkey engine, resume writes. Cost saving kicks in immediately.
Redis (with modules) → Valkey
Trickier — RediSearch, RedisJSON, RedisTimeSeries have community Valkey ports but feature parity varies. Audit module usage first; for heavy-module workloads, staying on Redis is usually correct.
FAQ
Common questions
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