Valkey delivers the lightning-fast in-memory performance that modern applications demand, and Kamatera provides the reliable, high-performance infrastructure to run it at scale without vendor lock-in or licensing concerns.
Harness the power of Valkey, a fully open-source, high-performance key-value store, on Kamatera’s enterprise-grade virtual machines. Whether you are caching web content, managing session data, or powering real-time analytics, our platform ensures your data is always fast and always available.
Why Developers Choose Kamatera for Valkey
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Frequently asked questions
Valkey is an open-source, high-performance key-value data store that runs entirely in memory for extremely fast data access. It’s a fork of Redis that emerged when Redis changed its licensing, with Valkey maintaining a truly open-source license (BSD) under the Linux Foundation. Valkey provides sub-millisecond latency for reads and writes, supports advanced data structures like sorted sets, hashes, lists, and streams, and offers features like replication, clustering, and pub/sub messaging.
Developers use Valkey as a cache layer to accelerate database queries, as a session store for web applications, as a message broker for real-time systems, and as a primary data store for scenarios where speed matters more than durability. It’s fully compatible with Redis protocols and commands, making migration straightforward.
The primary system requirement is sufficient RAM for your dataset, as all data resides in memory.
For more information, refer to the Valkey installation guide.
The primary difference lies in their licensing and governance. Valkey was created as a community-driven, fully open-source (BSD-licensed) fork of Redis after Redis Ltd. shifted to a more restrictive “source-available” license model in early 2024. While Redis is now managed by a single corporate entity with potential costs for commercial redistribution, Valkey is hosted by the Linux Foundation and supported by major industry players to ensure it remains free and open for everyone.
Technically, Valkey is designed as a drop-in replacement, meaning it maintains high compatibility with existing Redis protocols and data types. However, since the split, Valkey has begun implementing its own performance optimizations, such as improved multi-threading and memory efficiency, that may diverge from the original Redis roadmap. While Redis focuses on its proprietary ecosystem and managed services, Valkey emphasizes community-led innovation and vendor-neutrality.
Virtually every programming language has Valkey client libraries since Valkey maintains compatibility with the Redis protocol. Popular options include redis-py for Python, ioredis and node-redis for Node.js, Jedis and Lettuce for Java, go-redis for Go, Predis and PhpRedis for PHP, redis-rb for Ruby, StackExchange.Redis for .NET, and many more. Most existing Redis clients work with Valkey without modification. Choose the client library that fits your language ecosystem and development style.
Valkey typically delivers sub-millisecond response times—often under 1ms for simple operations. In contrast, database queries might take 10-50ms or more depending on complexity, indexes, and load. This means Valkey can be 10-100x faster than database access for cached data. For read-heavy workloads, implementing a Valkey cache layer can dramatically reduce database load while making applications feel significantly more responsive. The exact speedup depends on your specific database performance, but the difference is usually dramatic and immediately noticeable.
We provide 24/7 technical support from real human experts. Whether you have a question about your cloud instance or need assistance with your network configuration, our team is always available to help.
Our flexible monthly and hourly pricing models allow you to keep your costs under control. If you choose an hourly server, we bill for the resources you use. You’re only charged for the time your server is running. You can see real-time usage in your dashboard, and there are no surprise charges or hidden fees.
Our 30-day free trial includes one server worth up to $100. You can set up your free VPS server, install an operating system, and select a location from one of our 20+ data centers worldwide.
If you choose monthly billing, you will receive your first invoice the month after the free trial expires. For example, if you start your free trial on November 20, the free trial will be until December 20. If you choose to continue using our services and don’t terminate your server, your first invoice will be sent out after January 1. That invoice will include a prorated charge for December 20-31, as well as the month of January.