Software · head to head
Redis vs Amplitude
Amplitude
Software
The digital analytics platform to understand your users
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Redis licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage; Amplitude metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow
- They diverge on capability: Redis covers In-memory data store, Amplitude covers Event tracking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Redis and Amplitude actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Unknown), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Redis
- In-memory data store
- Data structures
- Pub/Sub messaging
- Lua scripting
- Transactions
- Persistence options
- Replication
- Clustering
Only in Amplitude
- Event tracking
- User segmentation
- Funnel analysis
- Retention analysis
- Cohort analysis
- A/B testing
- Revenue analytics
- Predictive analytics
Both cover
- Encryption
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Redis
- Cachingnot Amplitude
- Session managementnot Amplitude
- Real-time analyticsnot Amplitude
- Message queuingnot Amplitude
- Leaderboardsnot Amplitude
Amplitude
- User behavior analysisnot Redis
- Feature adoption trackingnot Redis
- Conversion rate optimizationnot Redis
- Customer journey mappingnot Redis
- Retention improvementnot Redis
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Amplitude
- Metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow
- The free plan covers 2M events a month
- The Plus plan scales to 70M events, above which pricing is custom
- Growth and Enterprise pricing is not published
Pricing, plan by plan
Redis
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Redis review.
Amplitude
Free- StarterFree
- 2 million events per month
- Plus$49/month
- $0.049 per MTU
- Up to 300k MTUs
- Advanced analytics
- GrowthFree
- Causal insights
- Feature experimentation
- Real-time streaming
- EnterpriseFree
- Cross-product analysis
- Advanced permissions
- Dedicated account manager
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose Amplitude if
- You need event tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- You also want user segmentation.
Questions people ask
- Is Redis or Amplitude better?
- Neither clearly leads. Redis starts at Free and Amplitude at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Redis or Amplitude?
- Redis starts at Free and Amplitude at Free.
- Does Redis or Amplitude run on more platforms?
- Redis runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. Amplitude runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- Can I use Redis for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Redis best used for?
- Redis is most often used for caching, session management, real-time analytics, message queuing. Of those, caching and session management are not what Amplitude is typically brought in for.
- What can Redis do that Amplitude cannot?
- Redis covers In-memory data store, Data structures, Pub/Sub messaging, Lua scripting. Amplitude covers Event tracking, User segmentation, Funnel analysis, Retention analysis. Both handle Encryption.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
SourceAmplitude: Does Amplitude have a free plan?
Yes, Amplitude offers a free Starter plan with 2 million events per month and access to the entire platform including analytics, session replay, and experimentation features.
SourceRedis: 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.
SourceAmplitude: What is Amplitude's pricing based on?
Amplitude's pricing is based on the number of monthly tracked users (MTUs), data volume, and advanced features selected. The Plus plan starts at $49 per month with a rate of $0.049 per MTU.
SourceAmplitude: What analytics features does every Amplitude plan include?
Every plan includes access to the full platform: analytics, session replay, feature experimentation, web experimentation, guides and surveys, activation, and AI tools like AI Feedback and AI Assistant.
Source