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  "description": "Valkey is an open-source, BSD-licensed fork of Redis created in 2024 after Redis Ltd relicensed the Redis source from BSD to a dual SSPL/RSALv2 model that the Linux Foundation, AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, and others judged unsuitable for open distribution. Valkey is now governed by the Linux Foundation and is API-compatible with Redis 7.2.\n\n\nWhy the fork happened\n\nRedis was permissively licensed (BSD) for most of its life. In 2024 the project switched to SSPL and RSALv2, which restrict cloud prov",
  "path": "/engineering-glossary/valkey-redis-fork/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-12T18:46:44.000Z",
  "site": "https://sahilkapoor.com",
  "tags": [
    "Redis",
    "In-memory Database",
    "Caching",
    "Memcached",
    "Redis as Infrastructure: Caching, Coordination, and Scale"
  ],
  "textContent": "**Valkey** is an open-source, BSD-licensed fork of Redis created in 2024 after Redis Ltd relicensed the Redis source from BSD to a dual SSPL/RSALv2 model that the Linux Foundation, AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, and others judged unsuitable for open distribution. Valkey is now governed by the Linux Foundation and is API-compatible with Redis 7.2.\n\n## Why the fork happened\n\nRedis was permissively licensed (BSD) for most of its life. In 2024 the project switched to SSPL and RSALv2, which restrict cloud providers from offering Redis as a managed service without commercial agreements with Redis Ltd. Within days, the Linux Foundation announced Valkey as a BSD-licensed continuation, with leading cloud providers committing engineering resources.\n\n## Current state\n\n  * **API compatibility.** Drop-in replacement for Redis 7.2; later versions diverge.\n  * **Active development.** Significant performance improvements, multi-threaded I/O, RDMA support.\n  * **Managed offerings.** AWS ElastiCache for Valkey, Google Memorystore for Valkey, and others now exist.\n  * **Client compatibility.** Existing Redis clients work without changes.\n\n\n\n🔗\n\n**Related Terms**\nRedis, In-memory Database, Caching, Memcached\n\n📖\n\n**Further Reading**\nRedis as Infrastructure: Caching, Coordination, and Scale",
  "title": "Valkey",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-13T19:10:53.897Z"
}