Compare / Valkey vs Garnet
Valkey vs Garnet
Pick Valkey if you want the common Redis-compatible server (the published Upstash/Redis Cloud stack). Pick Garnet if you want Microsoft Research's MIT cache-store that still speaks Redis clients.
Facts checked 19 Oct 2026. License, language, and GitHub activity come from the catalog or the project's own repo. "Not in the catalog row" means the public catalog dump does not store that number.
Valkey in the catalog Garnet in the catalogStart on Railway
How they compare
| Valkey | Garnet | |
|---|---|---|
| License | BSD-3-Clause (catalog) source | MIT License (catalog) source |
| Language | C (catalog) | C# (catalog) |
| GitHub activity | 27,465 stars in the catalog source | 12,055 stars in the catalog source |
| Self-host | Published as /stacks/valkey-cache. Official image; persist RDB/AOF if you need snapshots. | Same stack. Redis clients; MIT cache-store. |
| Best for | The common Redis-compatible server after Redis relicensed. | A MIT cache-store if Valkey is not the shape. |
Self-hosting and resource needs
Both are on /stacks/valkey-cache. Valkey is the Linux Foundation successor lineage after Redis relicensed (RSALv2/SSPL — not OSI). Garnet is MIT and works with existing Redis clients. Dragonfly is BSL 1.1 and is not this comparison. Neither has a one-click c17 Railway template yet; the CTA starts a Railway project.
FAQ
- Why not Redis?
- Redis community code is RSALv2/SSPL. Valkey is the BSD-3-Clause path. That is the stack FAQ.
- Why not Dragonfly?
- Dragonfly is Business Source License 1.1. This site skips it for the OSS path.
- Upstash or Redis Cloud?
- Same published stack — /replace/upstash and /replace/redis-cloud.
- How do I deploy Valkey?
- Open /stacks/valkey-cache. Point REDIS_URL at the new host. Confirm one GET/SET.
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