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Microsoft Garnet vs Valkey

Microsoft Garnet: Microsoft Research's .NET cache-store that speaks RESP and scales across cores and storage tiers. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud.

key differences

  • Only Microsoft Garnet has vector search.
  • Only Valkey has streaming ingest.
  • Microsoft Garnet can run embedded in your application process.

choose garnet for

  • +Redis-compatible caching for .NET-heavy stacks
  • +High-throughput caches that need an SSD spill tier
  • +Embedding a cache-store inside a .NET service

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

Microsoft GarnetMicrosoft Research's .NET cache-store that speaks RESP and scales across cores and storage tiers.
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
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Microsoft Research
Valkey project (Linux Foundation)
First release
2024
2024
Latest version
2.2.4 (Oct 22, 2026)
9.1.3 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)MIT License
Open source (permissive)BSD 3-Clause
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
7.8
58.0
Rank
#336
#16
GitHub stars
12.1K
27.5K
Stack Overflow questions
–
29
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
Read replicas
ACID
Limited
Limited
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
In memory, Single node, Primary replica, Distributed, Client server
In memory, Single node, Primary replica, Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
✓
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
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), Lua, C# stored procedures
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, Vector search
Cache, Sessions, Queue, Pub/Sub
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Microsoft Garnet vs Valkey: FAQ

What is the difference between Microsoft Garnet and Valkey?

Microsoft Garnet: Microsoft Research's .NET cache-store that speaks RESP and scales across cores and storage tiers. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud. Only Microsoft Garnet has vector search. Only Valkey has streaming ingest. Microsoft Garnet can run embedded in your application process.

When should I choose Microsoft Garnet over Valkey?

Choose Microsoft Garnet for redis-compatible caching for .NET-heavy stacks, high-throughput caches that need an SSD spill tier and embedding a cache-store inside a .NET service. Choose Valkey for replacing Redis OSS without license concerns; application caching and session storage; and rate limiting, counters and leaderboards.

Is Microsoft Garnet or Valkey more popular?

Valkey ranks #16 on the WhichDB Score (58.0/100) and Microsoft Garnet ranks #336 (7.8/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Microsoft Garnet and Valkey open source?

Yes. Microsoft Garnet is open source. License: MIT License. Yes. Valkey is open source. License: BSD 3-Clause.