# KeyDB vs Memcached

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Memcached

| Attribute | KeyDB | Memcached |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 35.2 (46% (low)) | 54.2 (37% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 0 | 47 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 12,509 | 14,259 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | KeyDB is an open-source database that offers significantly higher performance than Redis through multithreading while maintaining full Redis protocol compatibility. It includes advanced features like active replication, FLASH storage, and MVCC architecture for non-blocking queries. | A free, in-memory key-value cache designed to reduce database load and improve application performance by storing temporary copies of frequently accessed data from databases, APIs, or rendered pages. It distributes cache across multiple servers in a cluster, with each piece of data stored in a single consistent location for reliable retrieval. |
| features.capabilities | `{"clustering":"sharded","deployment":"self_hosted","consistency":"strong","persistence":"durable","eviction_ttl":true,"storage_tier":"in_memory","transactions":"multi_exec","licence_class":"permissive","wire_protocol":"resp","multi_threaded":true,"pubsub_streams":true,"data_structures":"rich_types","redis_api_compat":"full"}` | `{"clustering":"sharded","deployment":"self_hosted","consistency":"strong","persistence":"none","eviction_ttl":true,"storage_tier":"in_memory","transactions":"none","licence_class":"permissive","wire_protocol":"memcached","multi_threaded":true,"pubsub_streams":false,"data_structures":"kv_only","redis_api_compat":"none"}` |
| language.primary | C++ | C |
| license.spdx | BSD-3-Clause | BSD-3-Clause |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://keydb.dev","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:35:54.733Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source and free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://memcached.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:43:06.339Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 53 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.3.4","date":"2023-10-30T20:26:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.3.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.3.3","date":"2023-05-03T05:11:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.3.2","date":"2023-01-22T20:55:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.3.1","date":"2022-06-09T01:34:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.3.0","date":"2022-05-12T12:56:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v6.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.2.2","date":"2022-01-19T20:21:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.2.1","date":"2021-11-19T17:13:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.2.0","date":"2021-08-11T23:24:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.0.18","date":"2021-08-09T17:59:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.0.18"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.0.16","date":"2020-09-28T20:02:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.0.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v6.0.13","date":"2020-07-13T03:59:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v6.0.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/6.0.8-rc1","date":"2020-06-01T21:34:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"6.0.8-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.3.3","date":"2020-03-26T05:27:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.3.2","date":"2020-03-04T22:47:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.3.1","date":"2020-01-21T00:21:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.3.0","date":"2020-01-06T17:14:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.2.0","date":"2019-12-17T23:51:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.1.1","date":"2019-10-25T03:54:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.1.0","date":"2019-10-21T16:22:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB/releases/tag/v5.0.2","date":"2019-09-06T17:33:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.0.2"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | - | 4.5 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=helm&package_name=gabe565%2Fkeydb&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=helm&package_name=cloudpirates-memcached%2Fmemcached&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Key-Value Stores)

| Capability | KeyDB | Memcached |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Storage** |  |  |
| Storage tier | In-memory | In-memory |
| Persistence | Fully durable | None (pure cache) |
| Data structures | Rich types | KV-only |
| **Protocol** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | RESP (Redis) | Memcached |
| **Distribution** |  |  |
| Clustering | Sharded | Sharded |
| Consistency | Strong | Strong |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Eviction / TTL policies | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-threaded | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pub/Sub / streams | ✓ | ✗ |
| Transactions / atomic ops | MULTI-EXEC | None |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Licence class | Permissive OSS | Permissive OSS |
| **Compatibility** |  |  |
| Redis API compatibility | Full | None |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:45:25.938Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*