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Upstash Redis vs Redis Cloud

SEPT 2026 audit

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

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 25 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Choose Upstash Redis if…

Serverless and edge apps with spiky or low-baseline traffic — per-command billing means an idle app costs close to nothing, and the free tier covers real prototyping.

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…

  • Upstash Redis: Traffic is large and steady rather than spiky — a flat-rate Redis plan is usually cheaper than metered commands once volume is predictable.
  • 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.

Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Upstash Redis alternatives · Redis Cloud alternatives

16 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.

Visit Upstash Redis 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.

CriterionUpstash RedisRedis Cloud
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
Kind of free offerFree tierFree tier
Entry paid plan$0.20 per 100,000 commands on Pay as You Go, with up to 100 GB data. Fixed monthly plans are also offered.Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.
Pricing modelCommand-based billing on Pay as You Go ($0.20 per 100K commands); Fixed plans offer flat monthly rates instead.On-demand hourly billing. Data transfer is included in the price, with limits.
Infrastructure
Regions
18 regions for Global databases — 14 on AWS and 4 on Google Cloud — counted from the two supported-region tables in Upstash's own docs, which list them and publish no total.
76 regions for Redis Cloud Pro — 34 AWS and 42 Google Cloud — and 38 for Essentials (20 AWS, 16 Google Cloud, 2 Azure). Counted from the per-provider tables on Redis's supported-regions page, which publishes the regions and no total; Redis Cloud Pro on Azure is delivered as Azure Managed Redis rather than listed here, and the page notes AWS me-central-1 is temporarily unavailable.
Caching
Max dataset size, entry planUp to 100 GB on Pay as You Go. Fixed plans range from 250 MB to 500 GB; Enterprise supports up to 10 TB.30 MB on the free Redis Cloud Essentials plan; paid Essentials plans start at 250 MB and run to 12 GB, or to 100 GB on the Essentials plans with Redis Flex, per the plan tables on this page. Redis Cloud Pro is separate: the plan comparison lists 50 TB memory size.
Data persistenceDurable — data stays persistent in the cloud provider's block storage for durability and high availability.AOF (every write on Redis Cloud Pro, every second on paid Essentials) or snapshots every 1, 6 or 12 hours; free Essentials plans support no persistence at all.
Multi-region replicationSupported on Fixed and Enterprise tiers. Each additional read region adds $5 to the Fixed 250MB tier's monthly cost, scaling upward with plan size.Active-active multi-region replication is a Pro feature, alongside auto-tiering and private connectivity; Essentials is active-passive.
Support
Support on entry paid planEnterprise lists professional support with an SLA. The pricing page names no support level for the free, pay-as-you-go or fixed plans.Best-effort SLA, community support
Compliance
SOC 2SOC-2 Type 2 controls apply at the platform level; the Prod Pack add-on adds customer-facing compliance support including SOC-2 report access.Annual SOC 2 Type II (SSAE 18) audit by an independent third-party firm; Redis provides the report on written request, under confidentiality. Measures document applies to the Redis Cloud Services; last updated March 20, 2025.
ISO 27001
Not certified — Upstash says it is in the process of getting this certification and gives no date publicly.
ISO 27001:2022 ISMS certification covering information assets at Redis; the certificate is downloadable from the Trust Center after requesting access. Trust Center names Coalfire as auditor; scope is stated for Redis, not Redis Cloud specifically.
HIPAAUpstash Redis can store and process PHI; the Business Associate Agreement is provided as part of the Enterprise offering. Same page also requires Prod Pack, MFA, credential protection, IP allowlist and daily backups.Redis offers a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement (BAA) for its HIPAA-secure Redis Cloud services.
GDPR / data residencyUpstash states it is GDPR compliant and acquires DPAs from each subcontractor that it works with.DPA incorporates the EU Standard Contractual Clauses; the customer controls which geographic region personal data resides in when configuring the service.
PCI DSS
No PCI certification claimed for Upstash itself; it says it does not store credit card information and uses Stripe, a PCI Service Provider Level 1.
Assessed as a Level 1 Service Provider against PCI DSS 4.0.1; Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions may process, store and transmit card data. Scope named as Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions, not Essentials.
Encryption at restEncrypts the block storage where data is persisted; available with the Prod Pack add-on.Redis Cloud deployments are always encrypted at rest — encrypted EBS volumes on AWS, and disk encryption by default on Google Cloud and Azure. Docs say always; the plan comparison table lists encryption at rest only under Redis Cloud Pro.
Role-based access controlTeam members are assigned a role: Admin (full access), Dev (databases only), Finance (payment methods only), plus the team Owner.RBAC is configured in the Redis Cloud console: named Redis ACLs are grouped into roles spanning databases, and roles are assigned to database users. Some Redis ACL subcommands (ACL SETUSER, DELUSER, LOAD, SAVE, LOG, GENPASS) are not supported.
Private networking / VPCVPC Peering and Private Links connect databases to your VPCs and other private networks; available upon request for Enterprise customers.AWS PrivateLink exposes the database as a VPC endpoint service inside your own VPC; available only with Redis Cloud Pro, not supported on Essentials. VPC peering, AWS Transit Gateway and Google Private Service Connect are the other options, also Pro only.
Dedicated infrastructureEnterprise customers receive dedicated resources for isolation and consistent performance; an Enterprise addition beyond the Prod Pack features.Redis Cloud Pro is hosted in dedicated VPCs, with single- or multi-AZ high availability, Active-Active, clustering and configurable backups. The pricing page calls Essentials a shared deployment and Pro a dedicated cloud deployment.

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

Upstash Redis
$0.20 per 100,000 commands on Pay as You Go, with up to 100 GB data. Fixed monthly plans are also offered.
Redis Cloud
Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.
Sources (2) →

Pricing model

Upstash Redis
Command-based billing on Pay as You Go ($0.20 per 100K commands); Fixed plans offer flat monthly rates instead.
Redis Cloud
On-demand hourly billing. Data transfer is included in the price, with limits.
Sources (2) →

Regions

Upstash Redis

18 regions for Global databases — 14 on AWS and 4 on Google Cloud — counted from the two supported-region tables in Upstash's own docs, which list them and publish no total.

Redis Cloud

76 regions for Redis Cloud Pro — 34 AWS and 42 Google Cloud — and 38 for Essentials (20 AWS, 16 Google Cloud, 2 Azure). Counted from the per-provider tables on Redis's supported-regions page, which publishes the regions and no total; Redis Cloud Pro on Azure is delivered as Azure Managed Redis rather than listed here, and the page notes AWS me-central-1 is temporarily unavailable.

Sources (2) →

Max dataset size, entry plan

Upstash Redis
Up to 100 GB on Pay as You Go. Fixed plans range from 250 MB to 500 GB; Enterprise supports up to 10 TB.
Redis Cloud
30 MB on the free Redis Cloud Essentials plan; paid Essentials plans start at 250 MB and run to 12 GB, or to 100 GB on the Essentials plans with Redis Flex, per the plan tables on this page. Redis Cloud Pro is separate: the plan comparison lists 50 TB memory size.
Sources (2) →

Data persistence

Upstash Redis
Durable — data stays persistent in the cloud provider's block storage for durability and high availability.
Redis Cloud
AOF (every write on Redis Cloud Pro, every second on paid Essentials) or snapshots every 1, 6 or 12 hours; free Essentials plans support no persistence at all.
Sources (2) →
  • Upstash Pricing ↗

    “even if you do not access your data, it still needs to stay persistent in the cloud provider's block storage for durability and high availability”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Data persistence — Redis Cloud Docs ↗

    “Snapshots are copies of the in-memory database, taken at periodic intervals (one, six, or twelve hours). [...] Free Redis Cloud Essentials plans do not support data persistence; the setting is disabled entirely. [...] Paid Redis Cloud Essentials plans support AOF every second and all snapshot options.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

Multi-region replication

Upstash Redis
Supported on Fixed and Enterprise tiers. Each additional read region adds $5 to the Fixed 250MB tier's monthly cost, scaling upward with plan size.
Redis Cloud
Active-active multi-region replication is a Pro feature, alongside auto-tiering and private connectivity; Essentials is active-passive.
Sources (2) →
  • Upstash Pricing ↗

    “$5 x read regions, added to the Fixed 250MB tier cost.”

    Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Redis Cloud Pricing ↗

    “Everything in Essentials, plus active-active (multi-region), auto-tiering, private connectivity [...] Deployment Active-Passive global distribution Active-Active global distribution”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing · Report a correction

Support on entry paid plan

Upstash Redis
Enterprise lists professional support with an SLA. The pricing page names no support level for the free, pay-as-you-go or fixed plans.
Redis Cloud
Best-effort SLA, community support
Sources (2) →

SOC 2

Upstash Redis
SOC-2 Type 2 controls apply at the platform level; the Prod Pack add-on adds customer-facing compliance support including SOC-2 report access.
Redis Cloud
Annual SOC 2 Type II (SSAE 18) audit by an independent third-party firm; Redis provides the report on written request, under confidentiality. Measures document applies to the Redis Cloud Services; last updated March 20, 2025.
Sources (2) →

ISO 27001

Upstash Redis
Not certified — Upstash says it is in the process of getting this certification and gives no date publicly.
Redis Cloud
ISO 27001:2022 ISMS certification covering information assets at Redis; the certificate is downloadable from the Trust Center after requesting access. Trust Center names Coalfire as auditor; scope is stated for Redis, not Redis Cloud specifically.
Sources (2) →

HIPAA

Upstash Redis
Upstash Redis can store and process PHI; the Business Associate Agreement is provided as part of the Enterprise offering. Same page also requires Prod Pack, MFA, credential protection, IP allowlist and daily backups.
Redis Cloud
Redis offers a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement (BAA) for its HIPAA-secure Redis Cloud services.
Sources (2) →

GDPR / data residency

Upstash Redis
Upstash states it is GDPR compliant and acquires DPAs from each subcontractor that it works with.
Redis Cloud
DPA incorporates the EU Standard Contractual Clauses; the customer controls which geographic region personal data resides in when configuring the service.
Sources (2) →
  • Compliance - Upstash Documentation ↗

    “Is Upstash GDPR Compliant? [...] Yes. For more information, see our Privacy Policy [...] We acquire DPAs from each subcontractor that we work with.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Data Processing Addendum — Redis Legal Hub ↗

    “standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to third countries pursuant to the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914 of 4 June 2021 [...] Customer controls the geographic regions in which Personal Data resides when configuring the Services.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

PCI DSS

Upstash Redis
No PCI certification claimed for Upstash itself; it says it does not store credit card information and uses Stripe, a PCI Service Provider Level 1.
Redis Cloud
Assessed as a Level 1 Service Provider against PCI DSS 4.0.1; Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions may process, store and transmit card data. Scope named as Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions, not Essentials.
Sources (2) →

Encryption at rest

Upstash Redis
Encrypts the block storage where data is persisted; available with the Prod Pack add-on.
Redis Cloud
Redis Cloud deployments are always encrypted at rest — encrypted EBS volumes on AWS, and disk encryption by default on Google Cloud and Azure. Docs say always; the plan comparison table lists encryption at rest only under Redis Cloud Pro.
Sources (2) →

Role-based access control

Upstash Redis
Team members are assigned a role: Admin (full access), Dev (databases only), Finance (payment methods only), plus the team Owner.
Redis Cloud
RBAC is configured in the Redis Cloud console: named Redis ACLs are grouped into roles spanning databases, and roles are assigned to database users. Some Redis ACL subcommands (ACL SETUSER, DELUSER, LOAD, SAVE, LOG, GENPASS) are not supported.
Sources (2) →
  • Teams and Users - Upstash Documentation ↗

    “Admin: This role has full access, including the ability to add and remove members, manage databases, and payment methods. [...] Dev: This role can create, manage, and delete databases but cannot manage users or payment methods. [...] Finance: This role is limited to managing payment methods and cannot manage databases or users.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Enable Role-based access control — Redis Cloud Docs ↗

    “In Redis Cloud, you configure RBAC using the Redis Cloud console. [...] Each role consists of a set of permissions for one or more Redis Cloud databases.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

Private networking / VPC

Upstash Redis
VPC Peering and Private Links connect databases to your VPCs and other private networks; available upon request for Enterprise customers.
Redis Cloud
AWS PrivateLink exposes the database as a VPC endpoint service inside your own VPC; available only with Redis Cloud Pro, not supported on Essentials. VPC peering, AWS Transit Gateway and Google Private Service Connect are the other options, also Pro only.
Sources (2) →

Dedicated infrastructure

Upstash Redis
Enterprise customers receive dedicated resources for isolation and consistent performance; an Enterprise addition beyond the Prod Pack features.
Redis Cloud
Redis Cloud Pro is hosted in dedicated VPCs, with single- or multi-AZ high availability, Active-Active, clustering and configurable backups. The pricing page calls Essentials a shared deployment and Pro a dedicated cloud deployment.
Sources (2) →
  • Prod Pack & Enterprise - Upstash Documentation ↗

    “All Prod Pack features are included in the Enterprise plan. Additionally, Enterprise plans include: [...] Enterprise customers receive dedicated resources to ensure isolation and consistent performance for their database workloads.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Manage subscriptions — Redis Cloud Docs ↗

    “Redis Cloud Pro supports more databases, larger databases, greater throughput, and no fixed database-level connection limit compared to Redis Cloud Essentials. [...] Hosted in dedicated VPCs, they feature high-availability in a single or multi-AZ, Active-Active, clustering, data persistence, and configurable backups.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

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.

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 — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.

What the free plan includesUpstash Redis: 256 MB of data, 500,000 commands a month and 10 GB of monthly bandwidth.
Credit card to startUpstash Redis: No
Uptime SLAUpstash Redis: Sold as an add-on rather than a plan tier: the Prod Pack, at +$200/month per database, includes an uptime SLA. No percentage is published on the pricing page.
Operations included per monthUpstash Redis: 500K commands per month included on the Free plan; Fixed plans have no command-count billing.
Similarity metrics supportedRedis Cloud: Cosine appears as the distance metric in Redis's own vector-field schema example. The page shows it in use and does not enumerate the other metrics, so this is not a list of what is supported.
Metadata filteringRedis Cloud: Supported — a vector KNN query can be combined with a pre-filter on other indexed fields in the same query.
Customer-managed keysUpstash Redis: Key management is listed as an Upstash responsibility for Redis; the Customer and Shared columns of the Data Encryption row are both marked ❌. Read from the Redis shared responsibility matrix, whose columns are Upstash | Customer | Shared.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Upstash Redis or Redis Cloud?

Upstash Redis: $0.20 per 100,000 commands on Pay as You Go, with up to 100 GB data. Fixed monthly plans are also offered.

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

Should I choose Upstash Redis or Redis Cloud?

Pick Upstash Redis if Serverless and edge apps with spiky or low-baseline traffic — per-command billing means an idle app costs close to nothing, and the free tier covers real prototyping.

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

Upstash RedisServerless Redis-compatible cache, billed per command, with a free tier and multi-region read replicas on paid plans.Redis CloudManaged Redis from Redis Inc., with a permanent free tier and active-active multi-region replication on the Pro plan.

Related comparisons

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Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.