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Redis restored an OSI-approved open-source licensing option with Redis 8, but it did not return to its old BSD-3-Clause model. Redis 8 is offered under three licenses—AGPLv3, RSALv2, or SSPLv1—and only AGPLv3 is OSI-approved. The change followed Redis’s 2024 licensing shift, which helped prompt the creation of Valkey, a permissively licensed fork governed by the Linux Foundation.
For teams choosing a data store, the real question is not simply whether Redis is “open source” again. It is whether Redis 8’s features and company-led roadmap fit better than Valkey’s BSD license and multi-vendor governance—and whether either option’s operating and licensing requirements suit the business.
Redis licensing: from BSD to a three-license model
Redis’s licensing changes unfolded in stages. The version number matters: different generations of Redis have different licensing terms.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →| Redis release | Licensing position | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Redis 7.2.x and earlier | BSD-3-Clause | The permissive license used during Redis’s earlier open-source era. |
| Redis 7.4.x through 7.8.x | RSALv2 or SSPLv1 | Source is available, but neither license is OSI-approved as open source. |
| Redis 8 and later | RSALv2, SSPLv1, or AGPLv3 | AGPLv3 adds an OSI-approved option; the other two remain available. |
Redis announced the 2024 licensing change in March, applying RSALv2 and SSPLv1 to Redis 7.4 and later. On May 1, 2025, it announced that Redis 8 would add AGPLv3. Redis’s license page sets out the release-specific terms. In short, Redis restored an OSI-approved open-source option, not the old licensing model.
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The distinction matters to software teams, cloud providers, and companies embedding Redis in products. “Source available” means the code can be inspected under the applicable terms; it does not by itself mean a license meets the Open Source Initiative’s definition of open source.
Why Redis moved away from BSD
Redis’s stated concern was that large cloud providers could take the BSD-licensed project, offer it as a managed service, and capture much of the commercial value without contributing to Redis in a way the company considered comparable. Redis argued that it needed a stronger way to protect its ability to fund development. It also wanted to bring technologies associated with Redis Stack into the main distribution instead of maintaining separate core and Stack tracks with different packaging and licensing considerations.
That commercial rationale did not settle the debate. Critics saw RSALv2 and SSPLv1 as a move away from open source toward source availability. Neither is OSI-approved, and a project controlled by one company may be less attractive to vendors seeking a neutral, shared governance model. Redis’s 2024 announcement is available on the company’s blog.
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The licensing shift also gave cloud providers and other contributors a reason to support a separate project. Valkey, a fork of Redis, launched under Linux Foundation governance in March 2024 with the BSD-3-Clause license. It offered a way to continue developing a Redis-compatible data store under permissive terms.
What Redis 8 changed
Redis 8 was more than a license update. Redis says it incorporated capabilities previously associated with Redis Stack, including JSON, time series, probabilistic data structures, the Redis Query Engine, search, and vector-search capabilities. Redis also highlighted vector sets and performance work.
The integration changes the product’s shape: rather than treating those technologies as a separate Stack distribution, Redis presents them as part of Redis Open Source. That may simplify evaluation for teams that want several of those capabilities in one Redis release. It does not mean every feature in Redis’s commercial software or managed service is included in Redis Open Source. Redis says capabilities such as Active-Active replication, Flex, Redis Data Integration, and some operational tooling are outside the open-source distribution; check the specific edition and terms in the Redis-versus-Valkey comparison.
Redis’s announcements and comparisons are useful for understanding the company’s roadmap, but performance claims there are vendor claims, not independent benchmarks. Actual results depend on the workload, configuration, hardware, data model, and deployment. Teams should test their own use cases rather than infer that one product will be faster in every environment.
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What AGPLv3 means for a Redis user
AGPLv3 is an OSI-approved copyleft license designed to address software provided over a network. It permits commercial use; it does not prohibit a company from earning money while using the software. But if an organization modifies AGPL-licensed software and provides that modified software as a network service, the license can create obligations to make corresponding source code available to users under AGPLv3.
That is materially different from BSD-3-Clause, which is permissive and generally allows proprietary derivatives subject to its notice and disclaimer requirements. It is also not accurate to reduce AGPL to “all application code must be released.” The obligations depend on the circumstances—including whether the software is modified, distributed, combined with other components, or offered over a network.
| Use case | What to examine |
|---|---|
| Unmodified Redis running inside a company | Confirm the exact Redis version and license, and distinguish internal use from distribution or a service offered to others. Do not assume the license has no implications simply because the server is unmodified. |
| Modified Redis server offered over a network | AGPLv3’s network-use provisions may be relevant. Get legal advice on the specific modifications and service. |
| Redis embedded in a proprietary product | Review the applicable license and how the server is packaged, distributed, and combined with the product. Valkey’s BSD-3-Clause terms may be a more suitable starting point for teams seeking permissive licensing. |
| A hosted Redis-compatible service | Assess the chosen server’s license, the service’s implementation, and any commercial terms. A protocol-compatible product is not automatically covered by the same license as Redis. |
| A client application using a Redis library | Check the client library’s own license. Redis server licensing does not automatically relicense redis-py, node-redis, Jedis, Lettuce, or other clients. |
This is a practical overview, not legal advice. Companies building a hosted service, modifying Redis, or embedding it in a commercial product should have counsel assess the architecture and the exact release and license they plan to use. If a team cannot accept AGPLv3 obligations, it should not assume that choosing Redis 8 under AGPL is a routine upgrade; it can assess another license option or compare Valkey instead.
Why Valkey changes the decision
Valkey is not just a label for older Redis code. It is a separately governed project with its own roadmap, contributors, and releases. Its BSD-3-Clause license is permissive, and its Linux Foundation governance—with participation from multiple technology companies, including cloud providers—offers a different model from Redis’s company-led project.
Valkey’s early appeal was continuity under a permissive license. Its later releases have added improvements of their own. The project’s Valkey 8.0 general-availability announcement describes work on performance, efficiency, and features; it also notes that threading changes can affect infrastructure planning during upgrades. Compatibility was an important starting point, but it should not be treated as a permanent guarantee that Redis and Valkey will behave identically.
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Redis and Valkey are now pursuing different strategies. Redis is integrating a broader feature set and emphasizing a company-backed data platform, including AI-related capabilities. Valkey is building a community-led, high-performance Redis-compatible store. Differences can emerge in APIs, configuration, performance, supported features, and operational behavior. Redis’s own Valkey overview and comparison page reflect the company’s perspective; use them alongside Valkey’s project materials and your own testing rather than treating a vendor comparison as neutral benchmarking.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Redis 8 or Valkey? A decision framework
| Priority | Starting point | Trade-off to check |
|---|---|---|
| Permissive licensing for a proprietary product, embedding, or redistribution | Valkey | Confirm it supports the specific Redis features and behavior your application needs. |
| OSI-approved open source with Redis 8’s integrated features | Redis 8 under AGPLv3 | Assess copyleft and network-use obligations with counsel; AGPL is not equivalent to BSD. |
| Redis’s roadmap, support, or commercial operational features | Redis Software or Redis Cloud | Compare contract terms, included features, support, service levels, and total cost for your deployment. |
| Managed Valkey within an existing cloud footprint | Consider the provider’s managed Valkey service | Check feature support, regions, topology, availability, operational limits, and pricing for your workload. |
| Foundation governance and reduced dependence on a single vendor | Valkey | Governance is a project-structure choice, not proof of better performance or a particular feature set. |
| Existing application relying on Redis-specific features | Test Redis 8 and Valkey against the application | Compatibility at the protocol level does not ensure equivalent behavior, performance, or operations. |
Cloud-native teams should compare the managed options in the regions and configurations they actually use. AWS offers ElastiCache for Valkey; Google Cloud offers Memorystore for Valkey. Redis offers Redis Cloud and Redis Software for managed and enterprise deployments. These products are not interchangeable just because they expose Redis-like commands. Compare the precise features, failover, backup and restore, security controls, observability, upgrade process, support, SLA, and contract terms. Pricing varies by provider, region, capacity, and configuration; use each provider’s current pricing information rather than relying on a universal figure.
For self-hosting, the license and feature set are only part of the decision. The team also needs to own replication and failover, backups, patching, upgrades, monitoring, and recovery testing. A managed service may reduce that operational burden, but adds provider-specific limits, costs, and dependency.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsA practical checklist for existing Redis users
- Identify the exact release and edition. Redis 7.2.x and earlier, Redis 7.4–7.8, and Redis 8 onward have different licensing positions. Also distinguish Redis Open Source from Redis Software and Redis Cloud.
- Inventory dependencies. Record use of Stack-era modules or features, Redis-specific commands, client libraries, third-party modules, and deployment tooling.
- Map how the software is used. Note whether Redis is modified, distributed with a product, embedded, or provided to customers as a service. Have counsel review licensing implications where needed.
- Test both candidates where relevant. Run representative application and operational tests against Redis 8 and Valkey. Include persistence, replication, failover, latency, throughput, data integrity, backup and restore, and upgrade behavior.
- Compare the support model. Decide whether the team can operate the system itself or needs a vendor’s managed service, enterprise tooling, support, and SLA.
- Make an upgrade plan based on the product you actually run. Redis’s comparison material cites February 28, 2026 as the end-of-life date for Redis Software 7.2. That date has passed; organizations on that specific commercial release should confirm their current support status and upgrade path directly with Redis. Do not infer that this date applies to Redis Open Source 7.2.
What the licensing fight did—and did not—resolve
Redis’s 2025 move addressed one part of the dispute: Redis 8 again offers an OSI-approved license, while retaining RSALv2 and SSPLv1 as alternatives. It did not erase the 2024 break with BSD, eliminate the fork, or make the two projects identical. Redis says the licensing shift was followed by record growth, but that is a company claim and should not be treated as independently verified financial performance.
For developers and buyers, the result is a choice between two credible directions: Redis, with a company-led roadmap, integrated Redis 8 capabilities, and an AGPL option; and Valkey, with permissive BSD licensing and foundation governance. The right choice depends on licensing tolerance, required features, cloud strategy, operational capacity, and support needs—not on a blanket claim that one is the universal replacement for the other.
For another deployment, consider Memcached when the requirement is a simpler cache-only system, rather than a feature-equivalent Redis or Valkey replacement. Other alternatives, including Dragonfly, KeyDB, and Redict, need separate current technical and license review before selection.
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