Is Valkey or Zilliz better?

Neither clearly leads. Valkey starts at Free and Zilliz at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Valkey or Zilliz?

Valkey starts at Free and Zilliz at Free.

Does Valkey or Zilliz run on more platforms?

Valkey runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted. Zilliz runs on Cloud, Self-hosted.

Can I use Valkey for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Valkey best used for?

Valkey is most often used for continuing on a permissively licensed in-memory store after the redis licence change, caching and session storage where a foundation-governed project is a procurement requirement, migrating from redis without rewriting application code. Of those, continuing on a permissively licensed in-memory store after the redis licence change and caching and session storage where a foundation-governed project is a procurement requirement are not what Zilliz is typically brought in for.

What can Valkey do that Zilliz cannot?

Valkey covers Redis-compatible, BSD licensed, Rich data structures, Replication and persistence. Zilliz covers Vector indexing, Distributed architecture, SQL interface, Tensor support.

Databases · head to head

Valkey vs Zilliz

Valkey

Databases

Open-source in-memory data store forked from Redis

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Zilliz

Databases

Managed vector database and vector lakebase for AI applications

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Valkey younger project, so its track record is short even though the codebase is not; Zilliz pricing structure not publicly disclosed, requires sales contact
They diverge on capability: Valkey covers Redis-compatible, Zilliz covers Vector indexing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Valkey and Zilliz actually diverge.

Attributes where Valkey and Zilliz differ
Attribute	Valkey	Zilliz
Pricing model	Open source, no licence fee; managed cloud billed separately	contact-sales
Platforms	Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Founded	Unknown	2017

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 Valkey

Redis-compatible
BSD licensed
Rich data structures
Replication and persistence

Only in Zilliz

Vector indexing
Distributed architecture
SQL interface
Tensor support
Real-time search
Cloud-native
Open-source compatible

What people use each for

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

Valkey

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

Zilliz

Build retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systemsnot Valkey
Implement semantic search over documentsnot Valkey
Create multimodal search with text and imagesnot Valkey
Power recommendation engines with vector similaritynot Valkey
Enable similarity search on user embeddingsnot Valkey

Where each one falls short

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

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

Zilliz

Pricing structure not publicly disclosed, requires sales contact
Operational complexity for self-hosted Milvus deployments
Learning curve for those unfamiliar with vector databases
Limited built-in analytics compared to some alternatives

Pricing, plan by plan

Valkey

Free

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

Zilliz

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Zilliz review.

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Zilliz if

You need vector indexing.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Cloud, Self-hosted.
You also want distributed architecture.

Zilliz review

Questions people ask

Is Valkey or Zilliz better?: Neither clearly leads. Valkey starts at Free and Zilliz at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Valkey or Zilliz?: Valkey starts at Free and Zilliz at Free.
Does Valkey or Zilliz run on more platforms?: Valkey runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Self-hosted. Zilliz runs on Cloud, Self-hosted.
Can I use Valkey for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Valkey best used for?: Valkey is most often used for continuing on a permissively licensed in-memory store after the redis licence change, caching and session storage where a foundation-governed project is a procurement requirement, migrating from redis without rewriting application code. Of those, continuing on a permissively licensed in-memory store after the redis licence change and caching and session storage where a foundation-governed project is a procurement requirement are not what Zilliz is typically brought in for.
What can Valkey do that Zilliz cannot?: Valkey covers Redis-compatible, BSD licensed, Rich data structures, Replication and persistence. Zilliz covers Vector indexing, Distributed architecture, SQL interface, Tensor support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Valkey: Is Valkey free?

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

Zilliz: What is the difference between Milvus and Zilliz Cloud?

Milvus is the open-source vector database that you can self-host. Zilliz Cloud is the fully managed service built on Milvus that removes operational overhead and handles scaling automatically.

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.

Zilliz: How many vectors can Zilliz handle?

Milvus and Zilliz Cloud can store and search billions of vectors through their distributed architecture that separates storage and compute layers.

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.

Zilliz: Is Milvus open-source?

Yes, Milvus is open-source under the Apache License 2.0 and is part of the LF AI & Data Foundation.

Source

Zilliz: What pricing does Zilliz Cloud offer?

Zilliz Cloud pricing is not publicly listed and requires contacting their team to discuss your specific scale and use case requirements.

Source

Valkey vs Zilliz

Valkey

Zilliz

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Valkey

Only in Zilliz

What people use each for

Valkey

Zilliz

Where each one falls short

Valkey

Zilliz

Pricing, plan by plan

Valkey

Zilliz

Which should you pick?

Choose Valkey if

Choose Zilliz if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Valkey

More on Zilliz

Keep looking

Other head to heads