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Databases · head to head

Amazon Redshift vs Valkey

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Databases

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Valkey logo

Valkey

Databases

Open-source in-memory data store forked from Redis

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Redshift on-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery; Valkey younger project, so its track record is short even though the codebase is not
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Valkey covers Redis-compatible.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Redshift and Valkey actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and Valkey differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftValkey
Pricing modelusage-basedOpen source, no licence fee; managed cloud billed separately
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon Redshift

  • Columnar Storage
  • Massively Parallel
  • Machine Learning
  • AQUA Acceleration
  • Data Sharing
  • Federated Query
  • Concurrency Scaling
  • S3

Only in Valkey

  • Redis-compatible
  • BSD licensed
  • Rich data structures
  • Replication and persistence

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon Redshift

  • Business intelligencenot Valkey
  • Data warehousingnot Valkey
  • Real-time analyticsnot Valkey
  • Reportingnot Valkey
  • Machine learningnot Valkey

Valkey

  • Continuing on a permissively licensed in-memory store after the Redis licence changenot Amazon Redshift
  • Caching and session storage where a foundation-governed project is a procurement requirementnot Amazon Redshift
  • Migrating from Redis without rewriting application codenot Amazon Redshift

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon Redshift

  • On-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery
  • Requires significant manual tuning including managing concurrency scaling costs and configuring Workload Management queues
  • Performance degrades without proper design of distribution keys and sort keys
  • Limited elastic resize options - can only halve or double current cluster size
  • AWS lock-in makes it unsuitable for multi-cloud architectures

Valkey

  • Younger project, so its track record is short even though the codebase is not
  • Divergence from Redis grows over time, so compatibility is strongest near the fork point and weakens as both evolve
  • Ecosystem tooling and documentation still frequently assume Redis, leaving translation work

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon Redshift

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • 750 DC2.Large hours
    • 2 months free
    • Full features
  • On-Demand$0.25/hour
    • Pay per node hour
    • All features
    • Standard support

Valkey

Free
  • ValkeyFree
    • Full functionality
    • Self-hosted
    • No usage limits

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Redshift if

  • You need columnar storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want massively parallel.
Amazon Redshift review

Choose Valkey if

  • You need redis-compatible.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted.
  • You also want bsd licensed.
Valkey review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or Valkey better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Valkey at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Valkey?
Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Valkey at Free.
Does Amazon Redshift or Valkey run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. Valkey runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted.
Can I use Amazon Redshift for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Amazon Redshift best used for?
Amazon Redshift is most often used for business intelligence, data warehousing, real-time analytics, reporting. Of those, business intelligence and data warehousing are not what Valkey is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that Valkey cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Valkey covers Redis-compatible, BSD licensed, Rich data structures, Replication and persistence.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon Redshift: What deployment options does Amazon Redshift offer?

Redshift offers Provisioned Cluster (with RA3 or DC2 nodes) and Serverless options to match varying workloads. The new Redshift RG instance family, powered by Graviton, delivers 2.4x faster performance than RA3 at 30% lower cost per vCPU.

Source
Valkey: Is Valkey free?

Yes, BSD-licensed open source under the Linux Foundation.

Amazon Redshift: What does Amazon Redshift cost?

Provisioned cluster pricing: RA3 on-demand starts at $1.086/hour for ra3.xlplus. Serverless costs approximately $0.375 per RPU-hour with 4-RPU minimum (roughly $1.50/hour active workload). Managed storage costs $0.024/GB-month.

Source
Valkey: Why does Valkey exist?

Redis changed its licence away from BSD in 2024. Valkey is the community fork continuing under permissive terms, backed by AWS, Google Cloud and Oracle among others.

Amazon Redshift: Does Redshift work with data lakes?

Yes, Redshift's integrated data lake query engine processes workloads on Apache Iceberg tables and other supported formats in Amazon S3, allowing you to run SQL analytics across your data warehouse and data lake from the same engine.

Source
Valkey: Can I switch from Redis to Valkey?

At the fork point it is drop-in compatible with existing clients and data. The further both projects move from that point, the more you should verify the specific features you use.

Amazon Redshift: Is there a free tier for Amazon Redshift?

AWS offers a free trial with $300 USD in Serverless credits valid for 90 days, but Redshift is not part of the permanent AWS Free Tier.

Source
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