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Cloudflare Workers KV vs Upstash

Cloudflare Workers KV: Globally cached, eventually consistent key-value store for read-heavy data at Cloudflare's edge. Upstash: Serverless, per-request-priced Redis with an HTTP API built for edge and serverless functions.

key differences

  • Cloudflare Workers KV is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Upstash (≤ 100 GB).
  • Transactions: Cloudflare Workers KV offers none ACID; Upstash offers limited.
  • Only Upstash has transactions, geospatial, stored procedures, pub/sub, in-memory.

choose cloudflare-workers-kv for

  • +Feature flags and configuration at the edge
  • +URL redirects and routing tables
  • +Authentication tokens and API key lookups
  • +Caching rendered pages or API responses

best at · Edge, Cache, Coordination

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

Cloudflare Workers KVGlobally cached, eventually consistent key-value store for read-heavy data at Cloudflare's edge.
UpstashServerless, per-request-priced Redis with an HTTP API built for edge and serverless functions.
overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Key-Value
Also supports
–
–
Type
Managed service
Managed service
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Cloudflare
Upstash, Inc.
First release
2018
2021
Latest version
–
–
License
ProprietaryProprietary (Cloudflare service)
ProprietaryProprietary service
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
4.4
20.4
Rank
#404
#158
GitHub stars
–
982
Stack Overflow questions
12
2
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
None
Limited
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Distributed, Serverless
Serverless, Distributed, Primary replica
deployment
Self-hosted
—
—
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
✓
✓
Clouds
Cloudflare
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
Workers KV API
Redis commands (RESP), Lua
Client languages
JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Rust
JavaScript, Python, Go, Java, Rust, PHP
Best for
Edge, Cache, Coordination, Sessions
Cache, Sessions, Queue, Pub/Sub
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Cloudflare Workers KV vs Upstash: FAQ

What is the difference between Cloudflare Workers KV and Upstash?

Cloudflare Workers KV: Globally cached, eventually consistent key-value store for read-heavy data at Cloudflare's edge. Upstash: Serverless, per-request-priced Redis with an HTTP API built for edge and serverless functions. Cloudflare Workers KV is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Upstash (≤ 100 GB). Transactions: Cloudflare Workers KV offers none ACID; Upstash offers limited. Only Upstash has transactions, geospatial, stored procedures, pub/sub, in-memory.

When should I choose Cloudflare Workers KV over Upstash?

Choose Cloudflare Workers KV for feature flags and configuration at the edge; URL redirects and routing tables; and authentication tokens and API key lookups. 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 Cloudflare Workers KV or Upstash more popular?

Upstash ranks #158 on the WhichDB Score (20.4/100) and Cloudflare Workers KV ranks #404 (4.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Cloudflare Workers KV and Upstash open source?

No. Cloudflare Workers KV is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Upstash is proprietary, closed-source software.