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Databases · head to head

Dragonfly vs Immuta

Dragonfly logo

Dragonfly

Databases

High-performance Redis-compatible in-memory datastore with 25x better throughput

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Immuta logo

Immuta

Databases

Attribute-based access control and masking applied inside Snowflake, Databricks and BigQuery

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Dragonfly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Dragonfly flex tier starting at $36/month may be underpriced, requiring careful usage monitoring; Immuta contracts commonly start around one hundred to two hundred thousand US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and exceed five hundred thousand at enterprise scale, which excludes most data teams without a regulatory mandate.
  • They diverge on capability: Dragonfly covers Redis API compatibility, Immuta covers Attribute-based policy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dragonfly and Immuta actually diverge.

Attributes where Dragonfly and Immuta differ
AttributeDragonflyImmuta
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUsage-based cloud pricing with flexible tiersquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud, AWS, GCP, AzureWeb, API, Cloud

Identical on both: 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 Dragonfly

  • Redis API compatibility
  • Thread-per-core architecture
  • High-performance caching
  • Memory efficiency
  • Real-time leaderboards
  • Message queue support
  • ML feature serving
  • Cloud deployment

Only in Immuta

  • Attribute-based policy
  • Native enforcement
  • Dynamic masking
  • Row-level filtering
  • Purpose-based access
  • Sensitive data tagging
  • Audit logging
  • Multi-platform

What people use each for

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

Dragonfly

  • High-throughput caching for web applicationsnot Immuta
  • Real-time leaderboards and rankingsnot Immuta
  • Message queue and event processingnot Immuta
  • ML model feature serving at millisecond latenciesnot Immuta
  • Gaming session state and player data storagenot Immuta

Immuta

  • A bank whose Snowflake estate has grown to tens of thousands of roles that no one can review before an auditnot Dragonfly
  • A healthcare analytics team that must let researchers query patient data with identifiers masked unless a specific purpose is recordednot Dragonfly
  • A multinational applying different residency and access rules per jurisdiction to the same tables without duplicating datasetsnot Dragonfly
  • An organisation running both Snowflake and Databricks that wants one policy set rather than two divergent implementationsnot Dragonfly

Where each one falls short

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

Dragonfly

  • Flex tier starting at $36/month may be underpriced, requiring careful usage monitoring
  • Business tier $2,000/month represents significant jump in cost
  • Limited to in-memory storage, not suitable for cold data or archival
  • Bring-your-own-cloud requirement on Business tier adds operational complexity
  • Cloud availability dependent on AWS/GCP/Azure uptime

Immuta

  • Contracts commonly start around one hundred to two hundred thousand US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and exceed five hundred thousand at enterprise scale, which excludes most data teams without a regulatory mandate.
  • Policy is only as good as the data classification underneath it, so an organisation with poorly tagged columns will spend months on classification before Immuta enforces anything useful.
  • Native enforcement means capability varies by platform, and a feature available on Snowflake may be absent or behave differently on BigQuery, which undermines the promise of one policy set everywhere.
  • Adding an access governance layer creates a new dependency in the path to data: a misconfigured policy silently returns fewer rows rather than erroring, and analysts can act on incomplete results without noticing.
  • It governs cloud data platforms, so personal data in operational databases, files and SaaS applications sits outside its scope and needs separate controls, meaning Immuta is rarely the whole answer.

Pricing, plan by plan

Dragonfly

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • 100 cloud credits for new signups
    • Equivalent to free trial
  • Business$2000/month
    • Starting price for enterprise offering
    • Bring-your-own-cloud deployment
    • Auto-scaling with custom SLAs
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing
    • Any-cloud deployment
    • Custom instances and sizing

Immuta

On request
  • Immuta Platform$undefined/year
    • Attribute-based policy authoring
    • Native enforcement in supported data platforms
    • Dynamic masking and row-level security

Which should you pick?

Choose Dragonfly if

  • You need redis api compatibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, AWS, GCP, Azure.
  • You also want thread-per-core architecture.
Dragonfly review

Choose Immuta if

  • You need attribute-based policy.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want native enforcement.
Immuta review

Questions people ask

Is Dragonfly or Immuta better?
Neither clearly leads. Dragonfly starts at Free and Immuta at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dragonfly or Immuta?
Dragonfly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Dragonfly and On request for Immuta.
Does Dragonfly or Immuta run on more platforms?
Dragonfly runs on Cloud, AWS, GCP, Azure. Immuta runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use Dragonfly for free?
Yes. Dragonfly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Immuta starts at On request.
What is Dragonfly best used for?
Dragonfly is most often used for high-throughput caching for web applications, real-time leaderboards and rankings, message queue and event processing, ml model feature serving at millisecond latencies. Of those, high-throughput caching for web applications and real-time leaderboards and rankings are not what Immuta is typically brought in for.
What can Dragonfly do that Immuta cannot?
Dragonfly covers Redis API compatibility, Thread-per-core architecture, High-performance caching, Memory efficiency. Immuta covers Attribute-based policy, Native enforcement, Dynamic masking, Row-level filtering.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dragonfly: How much faster is Dragonfly than Redis?

Dragonfly achieves 3.97M queries per second compared to Redis's 718K QPS, representing a 25x improvement. Memory efficiency is also 30% better.

Source
Immuta: Does Immuta sit in the query path?

No. It compiles policies into the data platform's own native controls, so queries run at normal speed through your existing tools.

Dragonfly: Can I migrate from Redis to Dragonfly without code changes?

Yes. Dragonfly maintains full API compatibility with Redis and Memcached, allowing drop-in replacement with minimal to no code modifications.

Source
Immuta: What does it cost?

Not published. Market data suggests roughly 100,000 to 200,000 US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and considerably more at enterprise scale.

Immuta: Is Immuta still independent?

Yes. It remains independently owned, unlike several competitors in data access governance that have been acquired.

Immuta: Does it work across more than one warehouse?

Yes, one policy set can target Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery and Starburst, though enforcement capability varies by platform.

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