Valkey Has a Free API: The Open-Source Redis Fork by AWS, Google, and Oracle

#valkey #redis #database #opensource

When Redis changed its license, AWS, Google, Oracle, and Snap forked it. Valkey is Redis — truly open source, backed by Linux Foundation.

What Is Valkey?

Valkey is a BSD-licensed fork of Redis 7.2, maintained by the Linux Foundation with contributions from AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, Ericsson, and Snap.

docker run -p 6379:6379 valkey/valkey:latest
redis-cli ping  # PONG — it's 100% Redis compatible

100% Redis Compatible

import redis

r = redis.Redis(host='localhost', port=6379)
r.set('key', 'value')
r.get('key')  # b'value'
r.lpush('queue', 'job1', 'job2')
r.publish('events', 'user_signup')

# Streams
r.xadd('mystream', {'action': 'click', 'page': '/home'})

# Sorted sets
r.zadd('leaderboard', {'alice': 100, 'bob': 85})
r.zrevrange('leaderboard', 0, 9, withscores=True)

Every Redis command, library, and tool works with Valkey. Zero migration effort.

Why Valkey Over Redis

Truly open source — BSD license, no "source available" restrictions
Linux Foundation governance — not controlled by one company
Major backers — AWS ElastiCache, Google Cloud Memorystore both migrating to Valkey
Active development — multi-threading improvements, new features
Drop-in replacement — change nothing in your code, just swap the binary