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Amazon ElastiCache vs Redis Cloud

A comparison of Amazon ElastiCache and Redis Cloud built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Updated 7 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Pick Amazon ElastiCache if
Teams already on AWS that want engine choice (Valkey, Memcached or Redis OSS) under one billing model, or that specifically need Valkey's newer durable-persistence option.
Pick Redis Cloud if
Teams that want Redis from the company that maintains it, with an on-demand hourly Essentials tier cheap enough to run a small production workload without committing to a fixed plan.

3 sourced criteria separate them:

Entry paid plan
Amazon ElastiCache: On-demand example: cache.r7g.large at $0.1752/hour. Actual entry price depends on node size and engine chosen.
Redis Cloud: Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.
Pricing model
Amazon ElastiCache: Three models: on-demand (hourly per node), serverless (billed on GB-hours of data storage plus ECPUs consumed), or Database Savings Plans for committed use.
Redis Cloud: On-demand hourly billing. Data transfer is included in the price, with limits.
Multi-region replication
Amazon ElastiCache: Global Datastore provides managed, secure cross-region replication, with outbound cross-region traffic billed at $0.02/GiB.
Redis Cloud: Not available on Free or Essentials. The Pro plan adds active-active (multi-region) replication and private connectivity.
Visit Amazon ElastiCache documentationVisit Redis Cloud documentation

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionAmazon ElastiCacheRedis Cloud
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
Entry paid planOn-demand example: cache.r7g.large at $0.1752/hour. Actual entry price depends on node size and engine chosen.Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.
Pricing modelThree models: on-demand (hourly per node), serverless (billed on GB-hours of data storage plus ECPUs consumed), or Database Savings Plans for committed use.On-demand hourly billing. Data transfer is included in the price, with limits.
Caching
Multi-region replicationGlobal Datastore provides managed, secure cross-region replication, with outbound cross-region traffic billed at $0.02/GiB.Not available on Free or Essentials. The Pro plan adds active-active (multi-region) replication and private connectivity.

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

Entry paid plan

Amazon ElastiCache
On-demand example: cache.r7g.large at $0.1752/hour. Actual entry price depends on node size and engine chosen.
Redis Cloud
Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.
Sources (2) →

Pricing model

Amazon ElastiCache
Three models: on-demand (hourly per node), serverless (billed on GB-hours of data storage plus ECPUs consumed), or Database Savings Plans for committed use.
Redis Cloud
On-demand hourly billing. Data transfer is included in the price, with limits.
Sources (2) →

Multi-region replication

Amazon ElastiCache
Global Datastore provides managed, secure cross-region replication, with outbound cross-region traffic billed at $0.02/GiB.
Redis Cloud
Not available on Free or Essentials. The Pro plan adds active-active (multi-region) replication and private connectivity.
Sources (2) →
  • Amazon ElastiCache Pricing ↗

    “ElastiCache Global Datastore enables fully managed, reliable, and secure cross-Region replication. [Outbound traffic] $0.02 per GiB.”

    Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing

  • Redis Cloud Pricing ↗

    “Pro: Everything in Essentials, plus active-active (multi-region), private connectivity.”

    Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing

When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.

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03.

Which should you choose?

Choose Amazon ElastiCache if…

Teams already on AWS that want engine choice (Valkey, Memcached or Redis OSS) under one billing model, or that specifically need Valkey's newer durable-persistence option.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Choose Redis Cloud if…

Teams that want Redis from the company that maintains it, with an on-demand hourly Essentials tier cheap enough to run a small production workload without committing to a fixed plan.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Consider something else if…

  • Amazon ElastiCache: AWS isn't the target cloud, or the free-tier eligibility window matters — it's restricted to accounts that signed up for AWS Free Tier before July 15, 2025.
  • Redis Cloud: Multi-region active-active replication is needed on a small budget — that's a Pro-tier feature here, where a serverless competitor may price per-region replication into a lower-cost plan.
04.

Documented by only one.

These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.

Data persistenceAmazon ElastiCache: Durable on Valkey 9.0+: data is stored persistently. Synchronous writes cost an 18% premium; asynchronous writes carry no additional cost. Redis OSS and Memcached engines are not documented as persistent here.
Similarity metrics supportedRedis Cloud: Cosine similarity is documented as a supported distance metric in Redis's vector field schema (DISTANCE_METRIC: COSINE in example code); other metrics were not confirmed in what is sourced here.
Metadata filteringRedis Cloud: Supported — a vector KNN query can be combined with a pre-filter on other indexed fields in the same query.
05.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Amazon ElastiCache or Redis Cloud?

Amazon ElastiCache: On-demand example: cache.r7g.large at $0.1752/hour. Actual entry price depends on node size and engine chosen.

Redis Cloud: Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.

Should I choose Amazon ElastiCache or Redis Cloud?

Pick Amazon ElastiCache if Teams already on AWS that want engine choice (Valkey, Memcached or Redis OSS) under one billing model, or that specifically need Valkey's newer durable-persistence option.

Pick Redis Cloud if Teams that want Redis from the company that maintains it, with an on-demand hourly Essentials tier cheap enough to run a small production workload without committing to a fixed plan.

Provider pages

Amazon ElastiCacheAWS-managed Redis OSS, Valkey and Memcached, billed on-demand per node or serverless per GB-hour and ECPU.Redis CloudManaged Redis from Redis Inc., with a permanent free tier and active-active multi-region replication on the Pro plan.

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Every page here is sourced and dated.