Softwr

Databases · head to head

RavenDB vs Redis

RavenDB logo

RavenDB

Databases

The fully transactional NoSQL document database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Redis logo

Redis

Technology

The real-time data platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: RavenDB the free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal; Redis licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage
  • They diverge on capability: RavenDB covers ACID Transactions, Redis covers In-memory data store.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which RavenDB and Redis actually diverge.

Attributes where RavenDB and Redis differ
AttributeRavenDBRedis
Pricing modelfreemiumUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, Docker, WebLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryDatabasesTechnology
Founded20102009

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 RavenDB

  • ACID Transactions
  • Auto-indexing
  • Full-text Search
  • Graph Queries
  • Distributed Counters
  • Time Series
  • Document Compression
  • Linux support

Only in Redis

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

Both cover

  • .NET
  • Node.js
  • Java
  • Python
  • Go

What people use each for

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

RavenDB

  • Running a distributed document database with ACID transactionsnot Redis
  • Self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardwarenot Redis
  • Replicating operational data out to analytics systems through ETLnot Redis

Redis

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

Where each one falls short

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

RavenDB

  • The free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal
  • The free Community licence caps a customer at 60 cores and forces you to stay on the latest major version
  • The Professional licence is limited to a single database, a 5 node cluster, 40 cores and 240 GB RAM
  • Sharding across nodes, ETL to OLAP, Elasticsearch and Kafka, and data archival are Enterprise only
  • Enterprise and AI licence pricing is contact us only with no published rate

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

RavenDB

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • 3 cores
    • 6GB RAM
    • Community support
  • Professional$499/year
    • Production use
    • Professional support
    • Advanced features

Redis

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Redis review.

Which should you pick?

Choose RavenDB if

  • You need acid transactions.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
  • You also want auto-indexing.
RavenDB 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 RavenDB or Redis better?
Neither clearly leads. RavenDB 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, RavenDB or Redis?
RavenDB starts at Free and Redis at Free.
Does RavenDB or Redis run on more platforms?
RavenDB runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web. Redis runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use RavenDB for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is RavenDB best used for?
RavenDB is most often used for running a distributed document database with acid transactions, self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardware, replicating operational data out to analytics systems through etl. Of those, running a distributed document database with acid transactions and self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardware are not what Redis is typically brought in for.
What can RavenDB do that Redis cannot?
RavenDB covers ACID Transactions, Auto-indexing, Full-text Search, Graph Queries. Redis covers In-memory data store, Data structures, Pub/Sub messaging, Lua scripting. Both handle .NET, Node.js, Java, Python.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

RavenDB: Is RavenDB free or open source?

RavenDB is open source under the AGPLv3 license and available on GitHub. It also offers a free developer license with enterprise-level features limited to 9 cores, 36GB max RAM, 3 nodes, and non-commercial use.

Source
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
RavenDB: Can I use RavenDB commercially for free?

RavenDB offers a free Community License that permits commercial deployment with unlimited databases and sizes, subject to a 60-core maximum per customer and requirement to run the latest major version.

Source
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
RavenDB: What commercial licensing options does RavenDB offer?

RavenDB offers Professional, Enterprise, and AI tiers for commercial use. Pricing for these tiers requires contacting their sales team at [email protected].

Source
RavenDB: Does RavenDB offer a cloud hosting option?

RavenDB Cloud provides a fully managed cloud database with maintenance, failover, and backups included. Pricing is available at cloud.ravendb.net/pricing.

Source
RavenDB: Is there a refund window if I purchase RavenDB?

RavenDB offers a 30-day refund window for purchased licenses.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on RavenDB

More on Redis

Keep looking

Other head to heads