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Amazon ElastiCache vs Upstash

Amazon ElastiCache: AWS's managed Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached service, provisioned or serverless. Upstash: Serverless, per-request-priced Redis with an HTTP API built for edge and serverless functions.

key differences

  • Amazon ElastiCache is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Upstash (≤ 100 GB).
  • Only Amazon ElastiCache has secondary indexes, full-text search, vector search, streaming ingest.

choose amazon-elasticache for

  • +Database query caching for RDS and DynamoDB
  • +Session storage for web apps on AWS
  • +Leaderboards and real-time counters
  • +Semantic caching for generative AI apps

best at · Cache, Sessions, Pub/Sub

choose upstash for

  • +Rate limiting and caching in edge and serverless functions
  • +Session storage for Next.js and Vercel apps
  • +Side projects and low-traffic production apps

best at · Cache, Sessions, Queue

Amazon ElastiCacheAWS's managed Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached service, provisioned or serverless.
UpstashServerless, per-request-priced Redis with an HTTP API built for edge and serverless functions.
overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Key-Value
Also supports
Vector, Search Engine
–
Type
Managed service
Managed service
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Amazon Web Services
Upstash, Inc.
First release
2011
2021
Latest version
Valkey 9.1 engine (Jun 23, 2026)
–
License
ProprietaryAWS service terms
ProprietaryProprietary service
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
29.1
20.4
Rank
#89
#158
GitHub stars
–
982
Stack Overflow questions
916
2
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Limited
Limited
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
In memory, Primary replica, Distributed, Serverless
Serverless, Distributed, Primary replica
deployment
Self-hosted
—
—
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
✓
Clouds
AWS
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
—
—
Secondary indexes
✓
—
Full-text search
✓
—
Vector search
✓
—
Geospatial
✓
✓
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
—
—
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
✓
✓
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
✓
✓
Pub/Sub
✓
✓
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
✓
✓
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
—
Encryption at rest
✓
✓
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
✓
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
Redis commands (RESP), Memcached protocol, Lua
Redis commands (RESP), Lua
Client languages
Python, Java, JavaScript, Go, C#, Rust, Ruby, PHP
JavaScript, Python, Go, Java, Rust, PHP
Best for
Cache, Sessions, Pub/Sub, Queue
Cache, Sessions, Queue, Pub/Sub
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Amazon ElastiCache vs Upstash: FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon ElastiCache and Upstash?

Amazon ElastiCache: AWS's managed Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached service, provisioned or serverless. Upstash: Serverless, per-request-priced Redis with an HTTP API built for edge and serverless functions. Amazon ElastiCache is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Upstash (≤ 100 GB). Only Amazon ElastiCache has secondary indexes, full-text search, vector search, streaming ingest.

When should I choose Amazon ElastiCache over Upstash?

Choose Amazon ElastiCache for database query caching for RDS and DynamoDB; session storage for web apps on AWS; and leaderboards and real-time counters. Choose Upstash for rate limiting and caching in edge and serverless functions; session storage for Next.js and Vercel apps; and side projects and low-traffic production apps.

Is Amazon ElastiCache or Upstash more popular?

Amazon ElastiCache ranks #89 on the WhichDB Score (29.1/100) and Upstash ranks #158 (20.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Amazon ElastiCache and Upstash open source?

No. Amazon ElastiCache is proprietary, closed-source software. License: AWS service terms. No. Upstash is proprietary, closed-source software.