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Pika vs Valkey

Pika: Qihoo 360's Redis-compatible, RocksDB-backed store for datasets too big for memory. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud.

key differences

  • Horizontal scaling is addon in Pika and native in Valkey.
  • Only Pika has compression.
  • Only Valkey has stored procedures, in-memory, streaming ingest.

choose pika for

  • +Large persistent key-value data behind a Redis API
  • +Cutting memory cost of oversized Redis deployments

best at · Cache, Sessions, Queue

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

PikaQihoo 360's Redis-compatible, RocksDB-backed store for datasets too big for memory.
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
–
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
OpenAtom Foundation (originally Qihoo 360)
Valkey project (Linux Foundation)
First release
2015
2024
Latest version
4.0.4 (Oct 16, 2026)
9.1.3 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)BSD 3-Clause
Open source (permissive)BSD 3-Clause
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
5.8
58.0
Rank
#375
#16
GitHub stars
6.1K
27.5K
Stack Overflow questions
–
29
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Addon
Native
Multi-region
None
Read replicas
ACID
Limited
Limited
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
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)
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, Queue
Cache, Sessions, Queue, Pub/Sub
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Pika vs Valkey: FAQ

What is the difference between Pika and Valkey?

Pika: Qihoo 360's Redis-compatible, RocksDB-backed store for datasets too big for memory. Valkey: The Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of Redis, now the default engine on AWS and Google Cloud. Horizontal scaling is addon in Pika and native in Valkey. Only Pika has compression. Only Valkey has stored procedures, in-memory, streaming ingest.

When should I choose Pika over Valkey?

Choose Pika for large persistent key-value data behind a Redis API and cutting memory cost of oversized Redis deployments. Choose Valkey for replacing Redis OSS without license concerns; application caching and session storage; and rate limiting, counters and leaderboards.

Is Pika or Valkey more popular?

Valkey ranks #16 on the WhichDB Score (58.0/100) and Pika ranks #375 (5.8/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Pika and Valkey open source?

Yes. Pika is open source. License: BSD 3-Clause. Yes. Valkey is open source. License: BSD 3-Clause.