Valkey
Fast in-memory data, open source
Valkey is the open-source, Redis-compatible key-value store. Use it for caches, sessions, queues and rate limits, with snapshots and an append-only file shipped to object storage.
Good for
- Caching
- Sessions
- Rate limiting
- Job queues and streams
Sample query
> HSET session:9f2c user_id 4182 plan solo
> EXPIRE session:9f2c 3600
> HGETALL session:9f2c| field | value |
|---|---|
| user_id | 4182 |
| plan | solo |
Features
Valkey on Databasezy
-
Sub-millisecond reads
Data lives in memory; the gateway adds TLS without a second hop through the internet.
-
Drop-in for Redis clients
Speaks RESP, so redis-py, ioredis, go-redis and friends connect unchanged.
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Durable when you need it
RDB snapshots and the AOF are shipped to object storage, so a restart is not a data loss event.
-
Sleeps when idle
Free instances scale to zero after idle time and wake on the next connection.
Quick start
Connect to Valkey
Hosts, ports and the CA bundle come from the portal or the CLI after you create an instance. Credentials are shown once and never stored by our control plane.
From the CLI
zb instances create --engine valkey --name valkey-7f3k --waitzb ca > databasezy-ca.pemzb connect valkey-7f3kAt a glance
- Category
- Key-value
- Versions
- 9.1, 8.1, 8.0
- Wire protocol
- resp · port 6379
- Runtime
- Single-node adapter (valkey/valkey)
- Backup
- RDB snapshots + AOF shipped to object storage
- Pause
- Scale to zero
- Free tier
- Yes
- Licence
- BSD-3-Clause
Connection strings and drivers
rediss://app:<password>@valkey-7f3k.us-east.databasezy.com:6379/0valkey-cli --tls --cacert databasezy-ca.pem -h valkey-7f3k.us-east.databasezy.com -p 6379 --user app --askpassimport Redis from "ioredis";
const redis = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL); // rediss:// enables TLS
await redis.set("hello", "world", "EX", 60);import os, redis
r = redis.from_url(os.environ["REDIS_URL"], ssl_ca_certs="databasezy-ca.pem")
r.set("hello", "world", ex=60)Deployment
Choose where it runs
Placement is chosen per database, so a regulated workload and a side project can live in the same organisation.
-
Standard hosting
Shared cells with namespace isolation, default-deny network policy and an IP allow-list. Available from the free plan up.
- Usage-based compute, billed per running hour
- Spend cap to stop surprises
-
Secure hosting (HIPAA)
This database runs on dedicated nodes in a separate HIPAA cell, under a signed Business Associate Agreement. Available on Team and Enterprise.
- $0.10 per instance-hour on top of compute
- How secure hosting works
-
From the CLI or API
Script instances in CI with the zb CLI or the REST API. Pick the placement per instance.
secure placementzb instances create --engine valkey --placement secure --wait
Plans
Valkey on each plan
Usage-based pricing with a spend cap: you pay a plan fee plus what your instances use.
Free tier
Yes. One f0 instance with a shared vCPU (bursts to 1), 512 MiB of memory and a 500 MB database, no card required. It sleeps after 15 minutes idle and wakes on connect.
Sizes
From s0 (0.25 vCPU, 1 GiB) at $10/mo up to xl32 (32 vCPU, 128 GiB). Resize without changing the connection string.
All sizes and pricesBackups
RDB snapshots + AOF shipped to object storage. Snapshots only: point-in-time recovery is not available for this engine.
Migrate
Migrate to Valkey from
Copy a database in with a connection string, a file upload or the CLI. Preflight checks the source first and verification compares the copy.
- Upstash Redis Connection string Available
- Render Connection string Coming soon
- Railway Connection string Coming soon
- Heroku Connection string · File upload Coming soon
- Aiven Connection string Coming soon
- DigitalOcean Managed Databases Connection string Coming soon
- Vercel KV (legacy, now Upstash) Connection string Coming soon
- Redis Cloud Connection string · File upload Coming soon
- Self-hosted server Connection string · CLI from your machine Available
- Local files and dumps File upload · CLI from your machine Available
- Docker container CLI from your machine Available
- Another Databasezy instance Instance to instance Coming soon
Documentation
Valkey docs
- Valkey guide Versions, configuration, limits and engine-specific behaviour.
- Connect to Valkey Drivers and connection strings for each language, with TLS verification.
- Backups, restore and PITR Schedules, retention, manual snapshots and restoring into a new instance.
- Pause and resume Scale to zero, wake on connect and pause schedules.
- Secure hosting and the BAA Dedicated nodes, customer-managed keys and HIPAA eligibility.
- Limits Connections, storage and request limits by size and plan.
- CLI reference Every zb command used on this page, with flags.
Valkey questions
Which Valkey versions can I run?
9.1, 8.1, 8.0. New instances default to 9.1; pick another with --engine-version or in the portal. Minor and patch updates are applied in your maintenance window after a pre-change backup.
Which extensions, modules or plugins are available?
Instances run the standard Valkey server with no extra modules loaded. Modules such as RediSearch or RedisJSON are not available; the migration preflight lists keys that depend on them.
How are backups handled?
Backups use RDB snapshots + AOF shipped to object storage. Paid plans run scheduled backups (Solo: daily, 7-day retention; Team: daily, 14-day retention); the free plan keeps one manual snapshot. Valkey does not support point-in-time recovery; you restore from the most recent snapshot into a new instance.
Is the connection encrypted?
Always. The gateway terminates TLS (1.3 where your client supports it, 1.2 at minimum) and re-encrypts traffic to the database. Plain-text connections are refused. Verify the server with our CA bundle from the portal or zb ca, and restrict access further with the IP allow-list included on every plan.
Can I pause it when I'm not using it?
Yes. Free instances sleep after 15 minutes without connections and wake on the next one; after 7 idle days they are archived with the disk kept. On paid plans you pause on demand or on a schedule. A paused instance bills storage and backups but no compute, and wakes in 10 to 40 seconds.
What are the limits?
The free plan runs one f0 instance with a shared vCPU (bursts to 1), 512 MiB of memory, 20 connections and a 500 MB database. Paid sizes run from s0 (0.25 vCPU, 1 GiB, 60 connections, $10/mo) to xl32 (32 vCPU, 128 GiB, 5,000 connections), with up to 16 TB of disk.
Is Valkey a drop-in replacement for Redis?
For the core data types and commands, yes: Valkey forked from Redis 7.2 and keeps the RESP protocol. Check any module-specific commands your app uses before you switch.
What you get on each plan
Plan features as they apply to Valkey.
| Feature | Free | Solo | Team | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valkey on this plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plan fee | $0/mo | $25/mo | $599/mo | Custom |
| Largest size | f0 | xl32 | xl32 | xl32 |
| Included per instance | 500 MB | 8 GB | 8 GB | Negotiated |
| Max disk per instance | 1 GB | 1 TB | 16 TB | 16 TB |
| Scheduled backups | 1 manual snapshot | Daily, 7-day retention | Daily, 14-day retention | Hourly, 35-day retention · cross-region copy · immutable |
| Point-in-time recovery | Not available for this engine | Not available for this engine | Not available for this engine | Not available for this engine |
| Pause | Sleeps after 15 min idle, wakes on connect | On demand or on a schedule | On demand or on a schedule | On demand or on a schedule |
| Secure hosting (HIPAA) | — | — | Available with a BAA | Available with a BAA |
| Support | Community | Priority | 24x7 dedicated | |
| Uptime SLA | — | — | 99.9% | 99.95% |
Start with Valkey today
The free plan needs no card. Upgrade when you need more, and keep the same endpoint.