# Memcached vs Riak KV

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Memcached

| Attribute | Memcached | Riak KV |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 54.2 (37% (low)) | 26.3 (45% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 47 | 0 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 14,259 | 17 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | A scalable, enterprise-focused database solution designed for distributed data storage and retrieval at scale. |
| features.capabilities | `{"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"}` | `{"clustering":"sharded","deployment":"self_hosted","consistency":"tunable","eviction_ttl":true,"storage_tier":"persistent","data_structures":"kv_only"}` |
| integrations.count | - | 4 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Apache Spark"},{"name":"Apache Solr"},{"name":"Apache Mesos"},{"name":"Redis"}]` |
| language.primary | C | Erlang |
| license.spdx | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source and free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://memcached.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:43:06.339Z"}` | `{"freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://riak.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T21:12:35.768Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 4.5 | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"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 | Memcached | Riak KV |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Storage** |  |  |
| Storage tier | In-memory | Persistent |
| Persistence | None (pure cache) | - |
| Data structures | KV-only | KV-only |
| **Protocol** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | Memcached | - |
| **Distribution** |  |  |
| Clustering | Sharded | Sharded |
| Consistency | Strong | Tunable |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Eviction / TTL policies | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-threaded | ✓ | - |
| Pub/Sub / streams | ✗ | - |
| Transactions / atomic ops | None | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Licence class | Permissive OSS | - |
| **Compatibility** |  |  |
| Redis API compatibility | None | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:51:29.423Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*