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Amazon ElastiCache vs Valkey

Amazon ElastiCache: AWS's managed Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached service, provisioned or serverless. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud.

key differences

  • Licensing: Amazon ElastiCache is proprietary (AWS service terms); Valkey is open source (permissive) (BSD 3-Clause).
  • Amazon ElastiCache is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Valkey (≤ 10 TB).
  • Only Amazon ElastiCache has secondary indexes, full-text search, vector search, json, encryption at rest.
  • Amazon ElastiCache has a serverless option; Valkey does not.

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 valkey for

  • +Replacing Redis OSS without license concerns
  • +Application caching and session storage
  • +Rate limiting, counters and leaderboards
  • +Pub/sub fan-out and Streams-based queues

best at · Cache, Sessions, Queue

Amazon ElastiCacheAWS's managed Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached service, provisioned or serverless.
ValkeyThe Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud.
overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Key-Value
Also supports
Vector, Search Engine
–
Type
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Amazon Web Services
Valkey project (Linux Foundation)
First release
2011
2024
Latest version
Valkey 9.1 engine (Jun 23, 2026)
9.1.3 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
ProprietaryAWS service terms
Open source (permissive)BSD 3-Clause
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
29.1
58.0
Rank
#89
#16
GitHub stars
–
27.5K
Stack Overflow questions
916
29
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
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
In memory, Single node, Primary replica, Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Aiven, DigitalOcean, Akamai
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
Python, Java, JavaScript, Go, C#, Rust, Ruby, 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 Valkey: FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon ElastiCache and Valkey?

Amazon ElastiCache: AWS's managed Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached service, provisioned or serverless. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud. Licensing: Amazon ElastiCache is proprietary (AWS service terms); Valkey is open source (permissive) (BSD 3-Clause). Amazon ElastiCache is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Valkey (≤ 10 TB). Only Amazon ElastiCache has secondary indexes, full-text search, vector search, json, encryption at rest.

When should I choose Amazon ElastiCache over Valkey?

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 Valkey for replacing Redis OSS without license concerns; application caching and session storage; and rate limiting, counters and leaderboards.

Is Amazon ElastiCache or Valkey more popular?

Valkey ranks #16 on the WhichDB Score (58.0/100) and Amazon ElastiCache ranks #89 (29.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Amazon ElastiCache and Valkey open source?

No. Amazon ElastiCache is proprietary, closed-source software. License: AWS service terms. Yes. Valkey is open source. License: BSD 3-Clause.