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Developer Tools · head to head

ConfigCat vs Redis

ConfigCat logo

ConfigCat

Developer Tools

Feature flag service priced per flag and environment with unlimited seats and unlimited monthly active users

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Redis logo

Redis

Technology

The real-time data platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ConfigCat there is no experimentation or statistical analysis engine, so teams wanting real A/B tests with significance testing must buy and integrate a separate analytics or experimentation product.; Redis licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage
  • They diverge on capability: ConfigCat covers Feature flags and configuration, Redis covers In-memory data store.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ConfigCat and Redis actually diverge.

Attributes where ConfigCat and Redis differ
AttributeConfigCatRedis
Pricing modelPer month by feature flag and environment countUnknown
PlatformsWeb, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, GoLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
FoundedUnknown2009

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

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 ConfigCat

  • Feature flags and configuration
  • Percentage rollouts
  • Targeting rules and segments
  • Unlimited seats
  • Global CDN delivery
  • Audit log
  • Public API and webhooks
  • SDKs across languages

Only in Redis

  • In-memory data store
  • Data structures
  • Pub/Sub messaging
  • Lua scripting
  • Transactions
  • Persistence options
  • Replication
  • Clustering

What people use each for

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

ConfigCat

  • A consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-MAU flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worthnot Redis
  • A team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seatnot Redis
  • Decoupling deployment from release with percentage rollouts and a kill switch, without buying an experimentation platformnot Redis
  • A small team that needs ten flags permanently and can run indefinitely on the free tiernot Redis

Redis

  • Cachingnot ConfigCat
  • Session managementnot ConfigCat
  • Real-time analyticsnot ConfigCat
  • Message queuingnot ConfigCat
  • Leaderboardsnot ConfigCat

Where each one falls short

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

ConfigCat

  • There is no experimentation or statistical analysis engine, so teams wanting real A/B tests with significance testing must buy and integrate a separate analytics or experimentation product.
  • Pricing by flag count punishes exactly the hygiene you want: the Pro tier caps at 100 flags, so teams that do not aggressively retire stale flags are pushed to the 325 dollar Smart tier for housekeeping reasons rather than growth.
  • The free tier allows only 2 environments, which does not cover the common development, staging and production split, so almost any real deployment starts on a paid plan.
  • It is a smaller vendor than the category incumbents, so enterprise procurement teams will find less depth in compliance attestations, contractual terms and reference architecture than LaunchDarkly offers.
  • Flag evaluation relies on SDK-side caching of a CDN-delivered config, which is fast but means propagation of a change is eventually consistent rather than instant, something to understand before relying on it as an emergency kill switch.

Redis

  • Licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage
  • All data must fit in memory, limiting scalability to available RAM
  • No built-in support for multi-tenancy
  • Limited transaction support compared to traditional databases

Pricing, plan by plan

ConfigCat

Free
  • Forever FreeFree
    • 10 feature flags
    • 2 environments and 2 products
    • 2 segments
  • Pro$110/month
    • 100 feature flags
    • 3 environments and 3 products
    • Unlimited seats and MAUs
  • Smart$325/month
    • Unlimited feature flags
    • Unlimited environments, products and segments
    • Unlimited seats and MAUs
  • Enterprise$900/month
    • Everything in Smart
    • Enterprise support and controls
    • Unlimited everything on flag counts

Redis

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Redis review.

Which should you pick?

Choose ConfigCat if

  • You need feature flags and configuration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Go.
  • You also want percentage rollouts.
ConfigCat review

Choose Redis if

  • You need in-memory data store.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want data structures.
Redis review

Questions people ask

Is ConfigCat or Redis better?
Neither clearly leads. ConfigCat starts at Free and Redis at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ConfigCat or Redis?
ConfigCat starts at Free and Redis at Free.
Does ConfigCat or Redis run on more platforms?
ConfigCat runs on Web, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Go. Redis runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use ConfigCat for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is ConfigCat best used for?
ConfigCat is most often used for a consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-mau flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worth, a team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seat, decoupling deployment from release with percentage rollouts and a kill switch, without buying an experimentation platform, a small team that needs ten flags permanently and can run indefinitely on the free tier. Of those, a consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-mau flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worth and a team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seat are not what Redis is typically brought in for.
What can ConfigCat do that Redis cannot?
ConfigCat covers Feature flags and configuration, Percentage rollouts, Targeting rules and segments, Unlimited seats. Redis covers In-memory data store, Data structures, Pub/Sub messaging, Lua scripting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ConfigCat: How is ConfigCat priced?

By feature flag, environment and product count. Seats, monthly active users and flag reads are unlimited on every plan.

Redis: Is Redis open source?

Redis was open source under the BSD license since its inception in 2009 and has remained open source. However, in 2024-2025, Redis Labs changed licensing to source-available and AGPL, prompting the creation of Valkey, a BSD-licensed open-source fork.

Source
ConfigCat: Is the free tier usable?

For small projects yes, but at 10 flags and 2 environments it will not cover a dev, staging and production setup.

Redis: What is Redis used for?

Redis is an in-memory data structure store used primarily as a cache, database, and message broker. It provides high-speed data access for real-time applications, sessions, leaderboards, real-time analytics, and other use cases requiring fast data retrieval.

Source
ConfigCat: Can it run A/B tests?

It can split traffic, but there is no statistics engine. You need a separate analytics tool to decide a winner.

ConfigCat: How fast does a flag change take effect?

SDKs poll and cache, so changes propagate on the polling interval rather than instantly.

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