DEV Community

Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

Posted on

Valkey Has a Free Open-Source Redis Fork — Backed by AWS, Google, and Oracle

#valkey #redis #database #opensource

When Redis changed to SSPL, the Linux Foundation forked it. AWS, Google, Oracle, and Ericsson now maintain Valkey — the truly open-source Redis.

What is Valkey?

Valkey is a BSD-licensed fork of Redis 7.2.4, maintained by the Linux Foundation. It's 100% Redis-compatible with new features being added by the industry's biggest cloud providers.

Why Valkey Matters

1. 100% Redis Compatible 

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

# Every Redis command works
r.set('key', 'value')
r.hset('user:1', mapping={'name': 'Alice', 'role': 'admin'})
r.lpush('queue', 'task1')
r.zadd('leaderboard', {'player1': 100})
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Your Redis client library works unchanged. Same protocol, same commands.

2. BSD Licensed (Forever)

Redis (post-7.4) Valkey
License SSPL / RSALv2 BSD 3-Clause
Cloud hosting Restricted Unrestricted
Commercial use Limited Full
Fork freedom Restricted Full

3. Multi-Threading (New in Valkey 8) 

# Valkey 8 introduces I/O threading
valkey-server --io-threads 4 --io-threads-do-reads yes
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Built-in multi-threaded I/O for significantly higher throughput on multi-core systems.

4. Backed by Industry Giants

  • AWS — ElastiCache now runs Valkey
  • Google Cloud — Memorystore supports Valkey
  • Oracle — OCI Cache with Valkey
  • Ericsson — Contributing patches
  • Snap — Contributing code

5. Active Development

Valkey isn't just maintaining Redis's codebase — they're adding new features:

  • Dual-channel replication
  • RDMA support for low-latency networking
  • Improved cluster operations
  • New data structure optimizations

Migration from Redis 

# Step 1: Install Valkey
docker run -p 6379:6379 valkey/valkey

# Step 2: There is no step 2
# Your app works with zero code changes
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

For data migration:

# Dump from Redis
redis-cli --rdb dump.rdb

# Restore to Valkey
valkey-cli --rdb dump.rdb
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Valkey vs Redis vs Alternatives

Valkey Redis 7.4+ KeyDB Dragonfly
License BSD SSPL BSD BSL
Maintainer Linux Foundation Redis Ltd Snap DragonflyDB
Cloud-friendly Yes No Yes Yes
Multi-thread I/O threads (v8) No Yes Yes
Compatibility 100% Redis N/A 100% 99%

Getting Started 

# Docker
docker run -d --name valkey -p 6379:6379 valkey/valkey

# From source
git clone https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey.git
cd valkey && make -j$(nproc) && make install

# Connect
valkey-cli ping  # PONG
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

The Bottom Line

Valkey is Redis without the licensing risk. Same code, same performance, same ecosystem — but with a BSD license and backing from AWS, Google, and Oracle. If you're starting new infrastructure, Valkey is the safe choice.

Need data tools? I build web scraping solutions. Check my Apify actors or email spinov001@gmail.com.

Top comments (0)