Redis: What It Is, Pricing & Alternatives

Overview

Redis is an in-memory data structure store used as a cache, message broker, session store and, increasingly, a vector database. Its licensing has changed repeatedly: versions up to 7.2 were BSD-licensed; from March 2024 Redis 7.4 onward moved to dual RSALv2 and SSPLv1 source-available licences; and with Redis 8 the company added the OSI-approved AGPLv3 as a third option^[14]. Modules such as RediSearch, RedisJSON, RedisTimeSeries and RedisBloom are now part of Redis Open Source under the same tri-licence^[14]. The pricing page references Redis 8.8^[13].

Redis Cloud has a free 30 MB database on shared infrastructure; Essentials from US$0.007 per hour (US$5 per month) covering 250 MB to 100 GB with SSO, role-based access and encryption and up to 99.99% uptime; and Pro from US$0.014 per hour with a US$200 monthly minimum (the first US$200 free), unlimited memory, multiple databases, active-active multi-region replication and up to 99.999% uptime, on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud^[13]. Redis is very fast for key-value workloads, but memory-resident data is costly at large volumes, and buyers need to check which of the three licences applies to their use.

What Redis does

In-memory key-value and data structures
Search, JSON, time series and probabilistic modules
Vector search
Active-active multi-region (Pro)
Redis Flex RAM-plus-SSD tiering

Redis pricing

Free: 30 MB. Essentials: from US$0.007/hour (US$5/month), 250 MB-100 GB. Pro: from US$0.014/hour, US$200/month minimum, first US$200 free. Open source under RSALv2, SSPLv1 or AGPLv3.