Redis
Memory-first data store used for caching, queues and sessions, now tri-licensed. Our database management systems ranking puts Redis at #6 of 22.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderSome vendors pay for placement on this site. This profile of Redis is written by us, and vendor links are marked alike: disclosure.
Visit Redis See it in the database management systems ranking
Redis at a glance
| Headquarters | United States |
|---|---|
| Deployment | Cloud or hosted |
| Free plan | Yes, a free tier or plan |
| API | Not stated in the pages we read |
| Pricing model | Free cloud database of 30 MB; Essentials hourly, Pro from a monthly minimum |
| Best for | Teams already running Redis who want vector queries beside their cache |
What is Redis?
Redis is a data store that keeps its working data in memory, which is why the vendor markets it for sub-millisecond reads and writes. The company behind it, Redis Ltd., sells Redis Cloud (a managed service on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure), Redis Software for on-premises installs, and the Redis open source download.
Teams use it in front of a slower database as a cache, to hold login sessions, to run queues and streams, to rank leaderboards, and more recently as a vector database for AI agents. The question it answers is how to serve repeated reads far faster than a disk-based database can. The vendor's own comparison with plain Redis Open Source points to a cluster manager and proxy, an Active-Active option across regions, and a Flex tier that spreads data over RAM and SSD.
Redis key features
- Native data types beyond key and value. The docs list strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets, streams, bitmaps, bitfields, geospatial indexes, JSON, HyperLogLog, Bloom and Cuckoo filters, and vector sets. Choosing the right type for a task is the main skill when working with Redis.
- Redis Query Engine. Queries run inside Redis for full-text, geospatial, vector and hybrid search. The vendor says this lets an application stop relying only on key lookups and avoid copying data into a separate search system.
- Data persistence options. Redis Cloud can write memory to storage with an append-only file or periodic snapshots every one, six or twelve hours. The AOF can sync every second, or on every write on Pro plans only. With persistence off, a database that goes down loses its data.
- Redis Flex. Flex places data across RAM and SSD so that large datasets cost less than all-RAM storage. The pricing page shows Flex at 10 percent RAM on Essentials, and an adjustable RAM-to-flash ratio on Pro.
- Active-Active across regions. Pro plans offer multi-region Active-Active databases, which the vendor ties to its 99.999 percent availability figure. Essentials and Free are shared deployments and list up to 99.99 percent or a best-effort service level.
- Redis Data Integration. RDI keeps Redis in near-real-time sync with source databases and warehouses using change data capture, so a cache can be filled from the system of record without custom code. It is listed under the Pro plan.
- Tools for developers and AI agents. Redis Insight is a UI for browsing and debugging data. RedisVL is a Python library for vector work. The newer Redis Iris line adds agent memory, an intent router and a context gateway on top of the core database.
Who Redis suits
- A web shop on a relational database. Puts product pages, session data and cart state in Redis so the main database handles fewer reads. Hash and JSON types hold records, and expiry settings remove stale entries without a cleanup job.
- A mobile game studio. Ranks players with sorted sets and sends match events through streams. Sub-millisecond reads suit live scoreboards, and Active-Active deployment keeps players in different regions reading from a nearby copy.
- A team building a support chatbot. Stores embeddings in vector sets, caches repeated answers semantically so the model is called less often, and keeps conversation memory per user. The vendor lists semantic caching and agent memory among its Cloud use cases.
Getting started with Redis
Redis Cloud sign-up asks for your details or a Google or GitHub login, then an activation email leads to the console. The create-database page opens with the Free plan selected, a 30 MB database. You choose a cloud vendor (AWS, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure) and a region, and the vendor says it is possible to start building in about two minutes.
Official client libraries cover Python, Java (Jedis and Lettuce), JavaScript, Go, C#/.NET, PHP, Ruby, Rust and C. Because Redis is a command-based store, the learning curve sits in picking data types and expiry rules, not in installation. Free databases upgrade to Essentials on the same console.
The case for and against Redis
- Redis answers a different question from a general database: how to serve reads in under a millisecond, with data held in RAM.
- In-memory, one of the three traits the catalogue lists for Redis.
- Marked in our records as tri-licensed.
- Redis is tagged Cache and sessions in our records.
- Best for: Teams already running Redis who want vector queries beside their cache.
- Redis 8 code is offered under RSALv2, SSPL or AGPLv3, which restricts some commercial uses.
- The free database is limited to 30 MB on a shared deployment with community support.
- Not for: Buyers who need cheap storage for very large vector collections.
Verdict: Redis
Redis answers a different question from a general database: how to serve reads in under a millisecond, with data held in RAM. Since Redis 8 you pick RSALv2, SSPLv1 or AGPLv3, and only AGPLv3 is OSI approved.
The Pro cloud plan has a minimum monthly spend, and the free database holds 30 MB. Treat it as a cache or session store beside a primary database.
The database management systems list places Redis 6 of 22: it follows MongoDB and comes before Apache Cassandra. From place 4 the established names follow in their ranked order; we publish no numeric score.
North America is home to 15 of the 22 vendors, Redis among them (the United States).
Redis pros and cons in practice
- The free 30 MB database and hourly Essentials pricing make a small trial cheap, and the same console covers the upgrade path to larger plans.
- Many data structures in one server means a queue, a cache and a leaderboard can share one deployment.
- The Trust Center publishes a long list of certifications and a downloadable SOC 2 Type 2 report on request.
- Official clients exist for the major languages, so most teams do not write their own driver.
- Data lives in RAM first, so large datasets cost more than disk-based stores, and persistence has to be switched on deliberately.
- The free plan is capped at 30 MB with a best-effort service level, which is too small for anything but testing.
- Pro starts at a $200 monthly minimum, and on-premises pricing is quoted only after contact with sales.
- The licence changed over the years and Redis 8 is offered under three licences, so legal review matters for resale or hosting.
Redis in practice
For an application already on Redis, vector search over existing fields avoids adding another service.
Redis pricing
In the catalogue: Free cloud database of 30 MB; Essentials hourly, Pro from a monthly minimum.
The pricing page lists three Cloud plans. Free is always $0 for a single 30 MB database with a best-effort service level and community support. Essentials starts at $0.007 per hour, with a stated total of $5 per month, for 250 MB to 100 GB in a single database; it adds SAML SSO, RBAC and encryption, and offers up to 99.99 percent uptime with basic support. Pro starts at $0.014 per hour with a minimum of $200 per month and the first $200 free, on dedicated deployment. Annual billing and on-premises Redis Software are available, and on-premises prices are not published.
Source: the pricing material on redis.io, as read for Best Database Management Systems in 2026 and last reviewed on 7 November 2026.
Redis: data and security
The vendor's Trust Center lists SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 27701, ISO 42001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA and FIPS 140-3. Essentials plans include encryption in transit and at rest.
Redis Cloud runs on AWS, Google Cloud or Azure in regions you pick; the quickstart points to a supported-regions list. Backup and export of a database are documented. The Trust Center also publishes subprocessors and a data processing addendum.
Fact sheet: Redis
| Product | Redis |
|---|---|
| Vendor website | redis.io |
| Rank there | #6 of 22 |
| Headquarters | United States (North America) |
| Gaps in our records | headcount, funding and customer count |
| Listed in | 2 guides |
| Price visibility | Public on the vendor site |
| Alternatives page | No dedicated page |
| Primary guide | Best Database Management Systems in 2026 |
| Catalogue tags | In-memory, Tri-licensed, Cache and sessions |
| Head-to-head pages | 1 |
What Redis connects to
Integrations the vendor names (12):
- Amazon Web Services
- Google Cloud
- Microsoft Azure (Azure Managed Redis)
- Redis Insight
- RedisVL
- RIOT
- Redis Data Integration
- Jedis
- Lettuce
- ioredis
- StackExchange.Redis
- SAML single sign-on
What to look at instead of Redis
Shared tags and a similar price model decide who is listed here; where none match, the neighbours in the ranking fill in.
- MariaDB (#2 of 22): MySQL-derived server kept under GPLv2 by a non-profit foundation.
- MongoDB (#5 of 22): Document database sold mainly as Atlas cloud, with a source-available server. Best for: Teams building around JSON documents who prefer a managed cloud service. (United States)
- Couchbase (#8 of 22): JSON document database with SQL++ queries, sold as Capella or as Server. Watch out: the free Capella cluster has forum support only. (United States)
- ScyllaDB (#15 of 22): Wide-column database compatible with Cassandra and DynamoDB APIs. Best for: Teams with very high write throughput and key-based access. (United States)
- Azure Cosmos DB (#18 of 22): Microsoft's distributed database with NoSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra and PostgreSQL APIs. Suits: Azure teams wanting turnkey multi-region distribution. (United States)
Compare Redis
- Redis vs MongoDB: pick Redis when you need fast reads for caching, sessions or search beside a main database and can budget for memory as the main cost driver.
Where else Redis is ranked
| Guide | Position |
|---|---|
| Best Database Management Systems in 2026 | #6 of 22 |
| Best Vector Databases in 2026 The entry reads: In-memory data platform with vector search over fields in Redis. | #11 of 12 |
Redis: questions
9 answersWhere does Redis stand among database management systems?
The database management systems ranking has Redis at position 6 out of 22. Redis is listed in 2 guides in total.
How much does Redis cost?
Our catalogue records Redis’s pricing as: Free cloud database of 30 MB; Essentials hourly, Pro from a monthly minimum. On free access, there is a free offer in our records.
What else should I look at besides Redis?
The closest products in the same guide are MariaDB, MongoDB, Couchbase, ScyllaDB and Azure Cosmos DB. Compare their entries before settling on Redis.
Is Redis a European company?
Redis is established in the United States, which our regional grouping counts as North America. Headquarters and hosting region are separate questions; this answers the first.
Who is Redis best for?
Teams already running Redis who want vector queries beside their cache. Less suited to: buyers who need cheap storage for very large vector collections.
Is there a free version of Redis Cloud?
Yes. The pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 with a single 30 MB database on a shared deployment, a best-effort service level and community support. It is a type of Essentials plan, so upgrading later does not mean rebuilding the database.
Does Redis lose data if the server restarts?
It can. Redis Cloud copies memory to storage only when persistence is on, through an append-only file or snapshots every one, six or twelve hours. The vendor's docs state that without persistence, data is lost when the database goes down.
What is the difference between Redis Cloud and Redis Open Source?
The vendor says Redis Cloud adds a cluster manager and proxy, faster speeds, up to 99.999 percent availability with Active-Active, and Flex. Open Source is the downloadable software you run and maintain yourself.
Which clouds can Redis Cloud run on?
Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. The pricing page shows the Pro plan on AWS and GCP in the comparison table, while Azure customers can use Azure Managed Redis, a Microsoft-supported service the vendor says is built on Redis Cloud technology.
Redis: sources
Read from the vendor’s own pages on 5 November 2026.
- redis.io/pricing: Free, Essentials and Pro plans, uptime figures, features per plan
- redis.io/cloud: Redis Cloud description, Query Engine, Flex, FAQ
- redis.io/trust: certifications and compliance list
- redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rc/rc-quickstart: sign-up steps and free database
- redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rc/databases/configuration/data-persistence: persistence options
- redis.io/docs/latest/develop/data-types: data types
- redis.io/docs/latest/develop/clients: client libraries
How we rank
Four tests decide a position: how soon the product is useful, what the bill really becomes, how data leaves and who it suits. The result for Redis: #6, out of 22 ranked. Details: how we rank software.