Redis FAQ

The latest stable version of Redis is 8.6.1. There are currently 6 actively supported versions and 4 versions that have reached end of life. Visit the Redis Version Tracker on ReleaseRun for a complete breakdown of all versions, including release dates, support timelines, and end-of-life dates.

Redis changed its license from BSD to a dual license (RSALv2 + SSPLv1) in March 2024 starting with Redis 7.4. This means Redis is no longer permissively open source. Cloud providers cannot offer Redis as a managed service without a commercial agreement. For a permissively licensed alternative, consider Valkey (a Linux Foundation fork of Redis 7.2.4 under BSD).

Valkey is a community-driven fork of Redis 7.2.4 maintained by the Linux Foundation under the BSD license. It was created after Redis changed to a restrictive license. AWS, Google Cloud, and Oracle contribute to Valkey. Functionally, Valkey 7.2 and Redis 7.2 are nearly identical. Valkey 8.0+ is adding new features independently.

Redis supports the latest stable release plus one previous major version. When a new major version is released, the oldest supported version reaches end of life. This typically gives each major version 2-3 years of active support, though there is no formal SLA.

If the licensing change affects your use case (particularly if you are a cloud provider or building a competing managed service), Valkey is a compatible drop-in replacement for Redis 7.2. For most end users running Redis on their own infrastructure, the license change has minimal practical impact. Evaluate based on your compliance requirements and long-term vendor risk.

Redis supports in-place upgrades between major versions. Back up your RDB/AOF files, upgrade the Redis binary, and restart. Redis will automatically handle any data format migrations. For clustered deployments, use rolling upgrades: upgrade replicas first, then promote and upgrade the old primary. Always test with a copy of your production data first.