In-memory data store — caching, queues, pub/sub, vector search
Redis is the standard for caching, session storage, and lightweight queues. Redis 7+ added vector search, JSON support, and search indexes — making it more than just a cache. Redis Cloud (managed) is the pragmatic choice for most teams. The 2024 license change controversy cooled OSS momentum but the product is unchanged. Best for caching layers, rate limiting, real-time leaderboards, and ephemeral data.
Boring infrastructure that just works.
15 years of Redis in production across multiple companies. The primitives are right. The performance is consistent. The only drama is the license change.
Rate limiting via INCR + EXPIRE is the textbook pattern.
Built per-IP rate limiting with INCR + EXPIRE. 5 lines of code, sub-ms latency, billions of ops per day. Redis is purpose-built for this.
Considering Valkey for new deployments.
License change was real. Existing infra stays on Redis. New projects evaluating Valkey for license alignment. Functionally identical today.
Methodology
Every review on this page is verified through GitHub OAuth and weighted by reviewer credibility, use-case match, and conflict-of-interest disclosure. Aggregate scores combine with recency decay so rankings reflect current reality. Read full methodology →
