Today, for those evaluating a high-performance, in-memory database, it’s essential to understand the key differences between these two technologies.
Feature | Redis (Community & Enterprise) | Valkey (Fully open source) |
|---|---|---|
Licensing | Redis is now dual-licensed: AGPLv3* (open source) and RSALv2 (source-available). AGPLv3 adds legal obligations around source disclosure for network-based use, which many enterprises find complex to adopt. | Valkey is 100% open source under the OSI-approved BSD 3-Clause License, ensuring full freedom for users and contributors. |
Community and governance | Redis is now developed under a single-vendor model, and commercial incentives drive its roadmap. | Valkey is backed by a multi-stakeholder open source community under The Linux Foundation, with contributions from Percona, Ericsson, AWS, Google, and others. |
Performance and scalability | Redis retains a predominantly single-threaded design, with optimizations in Enterprise versions for enhanced performance. | Valkey significantly improved multi-threaded I/O processing, improving throughput by up to 230% while reducing latency. |
Programmability | Supports Lua scripting but limits language flexibility. | Valkey (with Percona’s contribution) introduces a pluggable scripting engine, allowing developers to use multiple languages beyond Lua. |
Memory efficiency | Redis OSS maintains the original hashtable implementation. | Valkey 8.0 reduces memory overhead by up to 20% further improved by the implementation of a new hashtable design in Valkey 8.1 |
Observability and monitoring | Grafana is typically used for Redis OSS. Enterprise has it’s own proprietary solution. | Valkey offers per-slot observability, advanced command tracking, and can be integrated with Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) for deep insights. |
Security and compliance | Redis Enterprise includes LDAP, RBAC, and additional compliance features. | Open source Valkey currently lacks native LDAP but is actively developing enterprise security enhancements supported by Percona. |
Enterprise support | The main provider of Redis support is Redis Inc. with proprietary add-ons. | Percona offers 24x7 enterprise-grade support for Valkey, including migration assistance, performance tuning, and proactive consulting. |
* AGPLv3 is OSI-approved but considered a “strong copyleft” license, requiring disclosure of modifications used over a network.