Dragonfly vs Redis
| Feature | Dragonfly | Redis |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Databases | Databases |
| Sub-category | Key-Value / Cache | Key-Value / Cache |
| Maturity | stable | mature |
| Complexity | intermediate | beginner |
| Performance tier | medium | enterprise grade |
| License | BSL | RSALv2 |
| License type | source-available | source-available |
| Pricing | fully free | fully free |
| GitHub stars | 27.0K | 68.0K |
| Contributors | 100 | 700 |
| Commit frequency | weekly | weekly |
| Plugin ecosystem | none | medium |
| Docs quality | good | excellent |
| Backing org | Dragonfly | Redis Ltd |
| Funding model | vc_backed | open_core |
| Min RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Min CPU cores | 2 | 1 |
| Scaling pattern | vertical | horizontal |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| K8s native | No | No |
| Offline capable | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor lock-in | none | none |
| Languages | C++ | C |
| API type | REST | SDK, CLI |
| Protocols | HTTP | RESP |
| Deployment | docker, apt, binary | apt, docker, binary |
| SDK languages | — | python, javascript, java, go, rust, ruby, php, c, c# |
| Team size fit | solo, small, medium, enterprise | solo, small, medium, enterprise |
| First release | 2020 | 2009 |
| Latest version | — | — |
When to use Dragonfly
- ✓ Primary use: high-performance-caching
- ✓ Primary use: redis-replacement
- ✓ Primary use: session-store
When to use Redis
- ✓ Application cache layer for database query results
- ✓ Session storage for web applications
- ✓ Real-time leaderboards and counters
- ✓ Message broker with Streams
- ✓ Rate limiting and throttling
Dragonfly anti-patterns
Redis anti-patterns
- ✕ Data must fit in RAM - expensive at scale
- ✕ Not for primary data storage (persistence is secondary)
- ✕ Complex data relationships not supported
- ✕ License changed from BSD - check RSALv2 terms