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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Valkey Has a Free API — The Open-Source Redis Fork You Should Know About

#valkey #redis #database #opensource

Why Valkey?

When Redis changed its license to SSPL, the Linux Foundation forked it into Valkey — a truly open-source (BSD-3) in-memory data store. Backed by AWS, Google, Oracle, Ericsson, and Snap.

Valkey is 100% Redis-compatible. Same commands, same clients, same data structures — but with a permissive open-source license.

Getting Started

Docker 

docker run -d --name valkey -p 6379:6379 valkey/valkey:latest
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From Source 

git clone https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey.git
cd valkey
make
./src/valkey-server
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Verify 

redis-cli PING
# PONG — your existing Redis CLI works!
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Python (Same redis-py Client!) 

import redis  # Same client, no changes!

r = redis.Redis(host='localhost', port=6379, decode_responses=True)

# All Redis commands work identically
r.set("hello", "from Valkey!")
print(r.get("hello"))  # "from Valkey!"

# Hashes
r.hset("user:1", mapping={"name": "Alice", "email": "alice@example.com", "plan": "pro"})
user = r.hgetall("user:1")
print(user)  # {'name': 'Alice', 'email': 'alice@example.com', 'plan': 'pro'}

# Sorted sets for leaderboards
r.zadd("scores", {"alice": 1500, "bob": 2200, "charlie": 1800})
top3 = r.zrevrange("scores", 0, 2, withscores=True)
for player, score in top3:
    print(f"{player}: {int(score)}")

# Pub/Sub
import threading

def subscriber():
    sub = redis.Redis(host='localhost', port=6379, decode_responses=True)
    ps = sub.pubsub()
    ps.subscribe("notifications")
    for msg in ps.listen():
        if msg['type'] == 'message':
            print(f"Received: {msg['data']}")

thread = threading.Thread(target=subscriber, daemon=True)
thread.start()

import time; time.sleep(0.5)
r.publish("notifications", "New order placed!")
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Node.js 

const Redis = require("ioredis");
const valkey = new Redis(); // connects to Valkey on 6379

// Streams
await valkey.xadd("orders", "*",
  "product", "Widget",
  "quantity", "3",
  "total", "29.97"
);

// Consumer groups
await valkey.xgroup("CREATE", "orders", "processors", "$", "MKSTREAM").catch(() => {});
await valkey.xreadgroup("GROUP", "processors", "worker-1", "COUNT", 10, "BLOCK", 5000, "STREAMS", "orders", ">");

// Pipeline for batch operations
const pipeline = valkey.pipeline();
for (let i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
  pipeline.set(`item:${i}`, JSON.stringify({ id: i, value: Math.random() }));
}
await pipeline.exec();
console.log("Batch inserted 1000 items");
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Valkey 8.0 New Features

Valkey isn't just a fork — it's evolving:

  • Multi-threaded I/O — better multi-core utilization
  • RDMA support — kernel-bypass networking for ultra-low latency
  • Improved cluster — faster slot migration, better rebalancing
  • Active community — 200+ contributors, rapid development

Migration from Redis 

# Step 1: Install Valkey
docker pull valkey/valkey:latest

# Step 2: Copy your Redis data
redis-cli -h old-redis BGSAVE
# Copy dump.rdb to Valkey's data directory

# Step 3: Start Valkey with the dump
docker run -d -v ./dump.rdb:/data/dump.rdb valkey/valkey:latest

# Step 4: Update connection strings
# That's it — same protocol, same port!
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When to Choose Valkey

Scenario Choose
Need permissive license Valkey (BSD-3)
AWS/cloud managed Valkey (ElastiCache)
Existing Redis app Either — zero migration
Enterprise support Redis (paid) or Valkey (community)
Cutting-edge features Valkey (faster development)

Need to feed data into your Valkey cache? I build production-ready scrapers. Check out my Apify actors or email spinov001@gmail.com for custom data pipelines.

Redis or Valkey — which are you using? Share below!

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