Memcached
A widely-used distributed memory caching system for accelerating application performance
- Vendor
- Cache Forge LLC
- Also known as
- memcached
Available worldwide · Popular in: US
What is Memcached?
Infrastructure software that enables companies to build high-performance applications by storing frequently accessed data in memory to reduce database load and latency.
Memcached pricing
We don't have Memcached's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.
Open source and free
What Memcached does
The capabilities that matter for key-value stores, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.
- Storage tier
- In-memory
- Persistence
- None (pure cache)
- Data structures
- KV-only
- Wire protocol
- Memcached
- Clustering
- Sharded
- Consistency
- Strong
- Eviction / TTL policies
- ✓
- Multi-threaded
- ✓
- Pub/Sub / streams
- ✗
- Transactions / atomic ops
- None
- Deployment
- Self-hosted
- Licence class
- Permissive OSS
- Redis API compatibility
- None
Platform & deployment
Independently observed- CLI
- macOS
- Linux
- Self-hosted
Security & compliance
Known vulnerabilities: 0 (0 in the last 12 months) sourcea count reflects scale & disclosure, not quality
Memcached FAQ
Common questions about Memcached, answered from independent, dated evidence.
What is Memcached?
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. It is indexed under Key-Value Stores.
Source: https://memcached.org
Is Memcached free to use?
Memcached is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the BSD-3-Clause licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.
Source: https://memcached.org
What platforms does Memcached support?
Memcached supports macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.
Source: https://memcached.org
Can Memcached be self-hosted?
Yes. Memcached can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.
Source: https://memcached.org
Is Memcached open source?
Yes. Memcached is published under the BSD-3-Clause licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.
Memcached alternatives
Other key-value stores we track, ranked by the same independent score.
- Amazon ElastiCachemedium · 61%
- UpstashServerless data platform for Redis, vector search, messaging, and workflowsmedium · 72%
- RedisHigh-performance, in-memory data engine for real-time applications and AI agentshigh · 75%
- Hazelcastmedium · 56%
- RocksDBAn embedded storage library that optimizes performance and efficiency for applications handling large datasetslow · 47%
- etcdA distributed key-value database for managing critical shared state across systemslow · 43%
Compare Memcached
Side by side against other key-value stores, attribute by attribute, with a source on every value.
The vioscaleAI score: one lens on the evidence
Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for Memcached, not the verdict.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | 46 | 0.08 | 3.7 | ✓ |
| Stars | 78 | 0.05 | 3.7 | ✓ |
| Security score | 45 | 0.05 | 2.4 | ✓ |
| Dependent projects | 42 | 0.05 | 2.3 | ✓ |
| Integrations | 0 | 0.05 | 0.0 | - |
| Development activity | 0 | 0.14 | 0.0 | ✓ |
| Release cadence | 0 | 0.08 | 0.0 | - |
| Security posture | 5 | 0.12 | 0.0 | - |
| Package downloads | 0 | 0.04 | 0.0 | - |
| Developer Q&A activity | 0 | 0.14 | 0.0 | - |
Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.
All data & sourcesshow ↓
Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.
Activity
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Commits last 30d | 0 | mediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 65% |
Adoption
Content
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Faq | 5 items | mediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 67% |
Features
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | Clustering: sharded · Deployment: self_hosted · Consistency: strong · Persistence: none · Eviction ttl: Yes · Storage tier: in_memory | mediumsource · 2026-08-14 · 60% |
Language
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | C | highsource · 2026-10-13 · 90% |
License
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Spdx | BSD-3-Clause | highsource · 2026-10-13 · 95% |
Market
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | PrimaryMarkets: … · AvailabilityScope: global · AvailableCountries: … · NotAvailableCountries: … | mediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 50% |
Pricing
Security
Is Memcached the right choice for you?
Tell us the job, the constraints and what you weigh most, and we will rank Memcached against the rest of the key-value stores we index, using the same dated evidence weighted your way.
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