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Google Cloud Memorystore vs Valkey

Google Cloud Memorystore: Google Cloud's managed in-memory family: Valkey, Redis, Redis Cluster and Memcached. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud.

key differences

  • Licensing: Google Cloud Memorystore is proprietary (Google Cloud service terms); Valkey is open source (permissive) (BSD 3-Clause).
  • Only Google Cloud Memorystore has vector search, encryption at rest.

choose google-memorystore for

  • +Caching for GKE, Cloud Run and App Engine apps
  • +Session storage and rate limiting on Google Cloud
  • +Vector similarity lookups close to app data

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

Google Cloud MemorystoreGoogle Cloud's managed in-memory family: Valkey, Redis, Redis Cluster and Memcached.
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
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Google Cloud
Valkey project (Linux Foundation)
First release
2018
2024
Latest version
Valkey 9.1 (preview) (Jul 27, 2026)
9.1.3 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
ProprietaryGoogle Cloud service terms
Open source (permissive)BSD 3-Clause
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
5.6
58.0
Rank
#377
#16
GitHub stars
–
27.5K
Stack Overflow questions
143
29
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
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
In memory, Single node, Primary replica, Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Google Cloud
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, Vector search
Cache, Sessions, Queue, Pub/Sub
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Google Cloud Memorystore vs Valkey: FAQ

What is the difference between Google Cloud Memorystore and Valkey?

Google Cloud Memorystore: Google Cloud's managed in-memory family: Valkey, Redis, Redis Cluster and Memcached. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud. Licensing: Google Cloud Memorystore is proprietary (Google Cloud service terms); Valkey is open source (permissive) (BSD 3-Clause). Only Google Cloud Memorystore has vector search, encryption at rest.

When should I choose Google Cloud Memorystore over Valkey?

Choose Google Cloud Memorystore for caching for GKE, Cloud Run and App Engine apps; session storage and rate limiting on Google Cloud; and vector similarity lookups close to app data. Choose Valkey for replacing Redis OSS without license concerns; application caching and session storage; and rate limiting, counters and leaderboards.

Is Google Cloud Memorystore or Valkey more popular?

Valkey ranks #16 on the WhichDB Score (58.0/100) and Google Cloud Memorystore ranks #377 (5.6/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Google Cloud Memorystore and Valkey open source?

No. Google Cloud Memorystore is proprietary, closed-source software. License: Google Cloud service terms. Yes. Valkey is open source. License: BSD 3-Clause.