Introducing ArcticKey - Redis Hosting That Never Leaves Europe

This is Part 2 of "Building EU Developer Infrastructure". Part 1 covered why European developers need alternatives to US-hosted services.

---

The Itch I Needed to Scratch

Every side project I build needs caching. Session storage, rate limiting, real-time features - Redis is my go-to.

But every time I reached for Upstash or Redis Cloud, I felt a small twinge of guilt. Here I am, building products for European users, preaching about GDPR compliance, and routing all my data through American infrastructure.

Last month, I decided to do something about it.

I built ArcticKey 🧊

What Is ArcticKey?

ArcticKey is a managed Valkey hosting service. Think Upstash, but:

• 🇪🇺 100% EU-hosted (servers in Lithuania)
• 🇸🇪 EU company (registered in Sweden)
• 🔓 Built on Valkey (the open-source Redis fork)
• 💸 Free tier for indie developers

Wait, What's Valkey?

When Redis changed their license in 2024, the Linux Foundation forked it as Valkey. It's Redis-compatible, BSD-licensed, and backed by AWS, Google, Oracle, and others.

Same commands. Same performance. Actually open source.

Getting Started

# 1. Sign up at arctickey.com
# 2. Create an instance (takes ~30 seconds)
# 3. Connect with any Redis client

redis-cli -h your-instance.eu.arctickey.com -p 6379 --tls -a your-password
That's it. Your data stays in Europe.

Node.js Example
import { createClient } from 'redis';

const client = createClient({
  url: 'rediss://default:[e-mail]:6379'
});

await client.connect();

// Session storage
await client.set('session:abc123', JSON.stringify({ userId: 42 }), { EX: 3600 });

// Rate limiting
const requests = await client.incr('ratelimit:user:42');
if (requests > 100) {
  throw new Error('Rate limit exceeded');
}

Features

What's Included
| Feature | Free | Starter | Growth |
| -------------- | ----- | ------- | ------ |
| Memory | 64 MB | 256 MB | 1 GB |
| Connections | 10 | 50 | 200 |
| TLS Encryption | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Backups | No | Yes | Yes |
| Price | €0/mo | €9/mo | €29/mo |
TLS by Default

Every connection is encrypted. No "enable TLS" checkbox - it's just on.

Automatic Backups

Paid plans include automated backups to EU-hosted object storage. One-click restore from the dashboard.

Sleep Mode (Free Tier)

Free instances sleep after 14 days of inactivity. Wake them instantly from the dashboard. Your data is preserved.

Pricing Philosophy

1. Free tier is real - 64MB is enough for side projects, no credit card
2. No surprise bills - flat monthly pricing, not usage-based
3. Reasonable paid tiers - €9/mo gets you 256MB with backups ArcticKey isn't the cheapest. It's trying to be the simplest EU-native option.

Try It

If you're a European developer tired of sending cache data to San Francisco:

arctickey.com

Create a free instance in 30 seconds. No credit card required.

Feedback Welcome

• What features are missing?
• What would make you switch from Upstash?
• Is the pricing right?
Drop a comment!

Part 2 of "Building EU Developer Infrastructure"

Next: Part 3 - The Technical Deep-Dive (Docker Swarm, HAProxy, SNI routing)