Is Valkey compatible with Redis clients and commands?

Yes, Valkey aims for protocol and command compatibility with Redis, so most existing Redis clients should work. However, test for edge cases with experimental features or new modules, as noted in the forking philosophy.

How to enable TLS encryption in Valkey?

Build with `make BUILD_TLS=yes` for built-in support or `BUILD_TLS=module` for modular support, then run the server with options like `--tls-port` and certificate files. Note that sentinel mode doesn't support TLS modules, as specified in the README.

Valkey vs Redis: which should I use for a new project?

Choose Valkey if open-source licensing and community development are priorities; opt for Redis if you need commercial support, proprietary modules, or a more mature ecosystem. Performance is comparable, but Valkey's experimental features may pose risks.

Does Valkey support clustering and high availability?

Yes, it includes support for Valkey Cluster and Sentinel modes, with dedicated tests like `make test-cluster` and `make test-sentinel` to ensure reliability, as mentioned in the testing section.

What is the license difference between Valkey and Redis?

Valkey uses a permissive open-source license (e.g., BSD-style), forked from Redis before its shift to source-available licenses. This ensures freedom from vendor restrictions, aligning with its open-source commitment.

How to migrate from Redis to Valkey without data loss?

Use Redis dump files or replication, as Valkey is designed for compatibility. Test thoroughly in a staging environment, especially for custom modules or advanced features, to avoid unexpected issues.

Valkey — High-Performance Distributed Key-Value DB

What is Valkey?

Valkey is a high-performance, open-source distributed key-value database forked from Redis, optimized for caching and real-time workloads. It serves as a data structure server supporting native structures and extensible plugins, providing a flexible foundation for various data access patterns.

Target Audience

Developers and organizations needing a high-performance, open-source key-value store for caching, real-time applications, or distributed data workloads.

Value Proposition

Valkey offers a truly open-source alternative to Redis with similar performance and features, including extensibility via plugins, support for TLS and RDMA, and a commitment to community-driven development.

Overview

A flexible distributed key-value database that is optimized for caching and other realtime workloads.

Use Cases

Best For

Caching layers for web applications and APIs
Real-time data processing and messaging systems
Session storage in distributed architectures
Leaderboards and counting systems using sorted sets
Pub/sub messaging for event-driven applications
Geospatial indexing and queries

Not Ideal For

Organizations requiring commercial support and enterprise-grade SLAs from a single vendor
Projects dependent on Redis-specific proprietary modules like RedisAI or RedisGraph
Environments where out-of-the-box GUI management tools are mandatory without third-party integrations
Applications needing advanced SQL-like querying or full ACID transaction support beyond key-value operations

Pros & Cons

Pros

High Performance Optimizations

Uses processor clock time tracking for monotonic time, providing ~3x faster time access (~10-30ns vs ~100ns) compared to POSIX clock_gettime on supported architectures, as detailed in the monotonic clock section.

Extensible Plugin System

Supports adding new data structures and access patterns via modules, with built-in and modular options for TLS and experimental RDMA, demonstrated in the building and running instructions.

Comprehensive Testing Suite

Includes integration, unit, module, sentinel, and cluster tests, ensuring reliability; commands like `make test-cluster` are provided for validation.

Open-Source License Commitment

Forked from Redis to remain under an open-source license, with a philosophy focused on community-driven development and avoiding vendor lock-in.

Cons

Experimental and Unstable Features

Key components like RDMA support and the CMake build system are labeled as experimental, meaning they may change or break in minor releases, limiting production readiness.

Complex Dependency Management

Building requires manual handling of dependencies (e.g., OpenSSL for TLS, RDMA libraries), and cached build options often necessitate a full `make distclean` to reset, adding setup overhead.

Limited Ecosystem Maturity

As a newer fork, it lacks the extensive third-party tools, client libraries, and community resources that Redis has built over years, potentially increasing integration effort.

Scattered Documentation

The README is only a quick start, with full details on valkey.io, which may not be as comprehensive or integrated as Redis's official documentation, leading to potential gaps.

Open Source Alternative To

Valkey is an open-source alternative to the following products:

Redis

An open-source, in-memory data structure store used as a database, cache, and message broker. It supports various data structures such as strings, hashes, lists, sets, and more.

Valkey

What is Valkey?

Overview

Use Cases

Best For

Not Ideal For

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

Open Source Alternative To

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Projects

Found a gem we're missing?

Valkey

What is Valkey?

Overview

Use Cases

Best For

Not Ideal For

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

Open Source Alternative To

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Projects

Found a gem we're missing?