What is Redis used for?

Redis is an in-memory data store used as a cache, session store, data structure server, message broker and vector query engine for real-time applications. It is a good fit for application caching to cut database load, session storage for web apps, and leaderboards and rate limiting.

Is Redis open source?

Yes. Redis is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at redis/redis and is written mainly in C.

Yes. Redis is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Redis?

Yes. Redis can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Redis an alternative to?

Redis is an open-source alternative to Upstash, Aiven, Amazon ElastiCache and Amazon MemoryDB. Other open-source alternatives to Upstash include Valkey, Dragonfly and DiceDB.

Is Redis actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Redis was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is 8.10.2, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 77k stars on GitHub.

Redis: open-source alternative to Upstash, Aiven

About Redis

Redis is an in-memory data store that developers use as a cache, a session store, a database and a message broker. Because data lives in memory it answers requests quickly, which makes it popular for real-time applications. The project describes itself as a cache, a data structure server, and a document and vector query engine.

Rather than just strings, it offers data structures such as lists, sets, hashes, sorted sets and JSON, with higher-level patterns built on them, such as counters, queues, leaderboards and rate limiters, plus transactions and scripting. For caching it offers multiple eviction policies along with expiry for keys and for individual hash fields. It also handles key-value, document and time series storage, vector search and messaging. Client libraries cover most languages, and redis-cli and Redis Insight provide command line and graphical access.

The source is on GitHub, written in C, and can be built from source with documented flags for allocators, TLS and more. The license is listed as 'Other' in repository metadata, so check the current terms. Redis can be run on your own servers or consumed as a cloud-hosted service from the vendor.

Key features

Rich data types including hashes and sorted sets
Caching with eviction and key expiration
JSON, time series and document storage
Vector search for AI applications
Message broker and queue support
Transactions and server-side scripting

Good fit for

→Application caching to cut database load
→Session storage for web apps
→Leaderboards and rate limiting

Built with: C; Redis
Tags: redis; cache; in-memory; key-value; nosql; database; message-broker; vector-search; real-time

Redis: questions and answers

What is Redis used for?: Redis is an in-memory data store used as a cache, session store, data structure server, message broker and vector query engine for real-time applications. It is a good fit for application caching to cut database load, session storage for web apps, and leaderboards and rate limiting.
Is Redis open source?: Yes. Redis is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at redis/redis and is written mainly in C.
Is Redis free?: Yes. Redis is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Redis?: Yes. Redis can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Redis an alternative to?: Redis is an open-source alternative to Upstash, Aiven, Amazon ElastiCache and Amazon MemoryDB. Other open-source alternatives to Upstash include Valkey, Dragonfly and DiceDB.
Is Redis actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Redis was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is 8.10.2, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 77k stars on GitHub.