Serverless Redis
A real Redis endpoint in seconds. Free tier, TLS by default, the same redis-cli reflexes you already have. Cloud, desktop, or self-host.
Keys
- session:847STR
- user:1247HASH
- cart:1247LIST
- leaderboardZSET
Where to run it
Cloud, desktop, or self-host
One database, three places it can live. Pick the speed you want and move between them when you outgrow it.
Free Redis hosting
What you actually get on the free Redis tier
Free here is a real Redis endpoint on the Free plan, not a 30-day trial and not a credit balance that quietly runs out. This is what is included, what happens when the database sits idle, and where the line is.
Free is $0/mo with no card
The Free plan covers 2 databases, 5 GB of storage, and up to 20 concurrent connections. Redis is one of the engines you can create on it. There is no trial clock on the plan and no expiry date.
It sleeps after an hour idle and wakes on connect
A free Redis database hibernates after 1 hour with no connections; paid plans wait 6 hours. Hibernation keeps the hostname, the port, and the data volume in place, so the next connection wakes it in roughly 1 to 5 seconds and your command then runs normally. Your client needs to send the TLS SNI hostname, which every Redis client does once you set the TLS servername.
Persistence is on, scheduled backups start on paid
Every Redis database snapshots to disk, and hibernation shuts the server down with a final save, so a sleep and wake cycle does not cost you keys. Free keeps 1 manual backup slot you trigger yourself. Scheduled daily snapshots with one-click restore start on the paid plans.
Forget about it and it archives, it does not vanish
A free database left hibernated for 14 days is archived (7 days if you never connected to it): its address is released and it takes an explicit Restore, roughly 10 to 30 seconds, to bring it back. Data and backups are kept. After 90 continuous days archived the live resources are reclaimed and the most recent backup is kept and still restorable in one click. Paid plans are never auto-archived.
No card on Free. Solo is $5/mo and Pro is $15/mo when you outgrow it.
Branch Redis in seconds
Fork a running Redis into a full, isolated copy with its own connection string. Copy-on-write makes it near-instant, not a dump and restore. Point a preview deploy at it, test a migration, then throw it away. Layerbase branches 9 engines, not just Postgres.
See how branching worksWhat you get
Production features, free tier included
Every Redis database ships with the same primitives: TLS, web console, hibernation, and a real dashboard. No tiered features hidden behind a sales call.
Web IDE
Query console in the dashboard, no extra client to install.
TLS by default
All connections encrypted. No setup required.
Always-on connections
Pin a database to your always-on pool to prevent hibernation.
Scale to zero
Hibernates when idle. Wakes on the next connection.
Connection pooling
Pooled endpoint for serverless and edge workloads.
Direct connections
Bypass the pooler for migrations and replication.
Native HTTPS endpoint
Engines whose own wire protocol speaks HTTPS. Every database, including this one, is also queryable over the platform's HTTPS query API and web console.
Serverless driver
Drop-in HTTP driver for edge runtimes (Upstash REST, PlanetScale, or the engine-native client).
IP whitelisting
Restrict access to specific IPs or CIDR ranges.
Automatic backups
Scheduled dumps and volume snapshots with one-click restore on paid plans. Free tier includes a manual backup slot.
Why Layerbase
Predictable pricing, no cloud setup
Redis on Layerbase Cloud is priced the same way as every other engine: a flat monthly plan with nothing metered behind it.
A fixed monthly price
Plans are flat: Free at $0, then $5/mo Solo and $15/mo Pro. No per-hour compute meter, no per-database line items, and no bill that changes shape when your traffic does.
No bandwidth charges
Reads and writes are not metered. There are no ingress or egress fees, so moving data in and out of your database never adds to the bill.
No cloud account to wire up
You do not need an AWS, GCP, or Azure account. Sign up, create a database, and connect. Layerbase runs the infrastructure, so there is no cloud provider to configure or pay separately.
Side by side
Hosted Redis, compared
| Provider | Free tier | Billing |
|---|---|---|
| Upstash | 256 MB and 500K commands/mo | $0.20 per 100K commands after the free allowance; idle databases still accrue background-command charges |
| Redis Cloud | 30 MB | Paid plans above the 30 MB cap |
| Layerbase | Real Redis on the Free tier with 5 GB of account storage | $0, $5, or $15/mo flat. No per-command meters. |
Upstash
- Free tier
- 256 MB and 500K commands/mo
- Billing
- $0.20 per 100K commands after the free allowance; idle databases still accrue background-command charges
Redis Cloud
- Free tier
- 30 MB
- Billing
- Paid plans above the 30 MB cap
Layerbase
- Free tier
- Real Redis on the Free tier with 5 GB of account storage
- Billing
- $0, $5, or $15/mo flat. No per-command meters.
Competitor facts as of July 2026, from public pricing pages.
Quick start
Connect with any Redis client
Session stores, caches, rate limiters, pub/sub, queues, and anything that fits a key/value or sorted-set shape.
- Drop a Redis cache in front of your database without managing a node
- Per-tenant session stores that scale to zero between bursts
- Rate limiting and feature flags at the edge with the serverless driver
- Real-time leaderboards and pub/sub for prototypes that go to production
- Self-host on your own hardware with SpinDB when compliance requires it
redis-cli -u "rediss://default:password@your-host.cloud.layerbase.dev:6379" ping
Already have data? Migrate it from Railway, Upstash, Vercel KV Any connection string works too.
Sibling engine
Or try Valkey, Redis-protocol-compatible and license-clean
Valkey is the Linux Foundation fork of Redis that speaks the same wire protocol without the BSL/SSPL license complications. For new projects, point your client at Valkey instead: same redis-cli, same drivers, same commands.
More on Redis
All articles- July 10, 2026
Run Redis on Windows (No Docker, No WSL)
Redis OSS ships no native Windows binaries. Run Redis natively on Windows without Docker or WSL using custom binaries from Layerbase Desktop or SpinDB.
Read - July 3, 2026
Migrating from Vercel KV to Layerbase
Vercel KV was sunset and its stores moved to Upstash Redis, so the move is a data copy and a one-line client swap. Paste the rediss:// string behind your project Storage tab and copy every key, type, and TTL into flat-priced managed Redis or Valkey.
Read - June 23, 2026
Migrating from Upstash to Layerbase
Upstash bills per request, which is great at zero traffic and surprising at scale. Here is how to move to flat-priced managed Valkey on Layerbase: copy every key with one API key, and swap the REST client for a standard Redis driver.
Read - June 23, 2026
Vercel KV alternatives: own your Redis in 2026
Vercel KV was first-party Redis built on Upstash, and it was sunset into Upstash Redis on the Vercel Marketplace. If you want a Redis you own at flat pricing, here is how to move to managed Valkey with the rediss:// string you already have.
Read - June 22, 2026
Should you use Cloud Clusters Redis hosting (rclusters)?
A fair review of Cloud Clusters Redis hosting (rclusters.com) and an honest comparison with Layerbase Cloud, which also offers Valkey and the VQueue queue platform: free tier, Redis version, branching, and local tooling.
Read
FAQ
Common Redis questions
Which Redis version do you run?
Layerbase Cloud runs a Redis version from before the BSL/SSPL license transition, so existing Redis clients work unchanged. For new projects we recommend Valkey (a Linux Foundation fork) for cleaner licensing: same wire protocol, same drivers.
Why also offer Valkey?
Redis's license change put the upstream project under a source-available license that restricts redistribution. Valkey is the Linux Foundation's BSD-licensed fork of the last truly-open Redis version. For greenfield projects, Valkey is the safer long-term bet; for existing apps that depend on the upstream version, Redis on Layerbase still works.
Can I connect with redis-cli and existing drivers?
Yes. The endpoint speaks the standard Redis wire protocol on the allocated TLS port. redis-cli, ioredis, redis-py, go-redis, Jedis: anything that talks Redis works. The connection string format matches what you would point at a self-hosted Redis.
Is there a serverless / HTTP driver?
Yes. Redis-family databases on Layerbase also speak the Upstash REST API, picked via the hostname suffix. That makes it usable from Cloudflare Workers and other edge runtimes that cannot hold a TCP connection.
What about persistence and backups?
AOF persistence is enabled by default on every Redis database. Paid plans add scheduled snapshots (7d or 30d retention) with one-click restore. Free databases keep AOF persistence; backups become available on paid plans.
Is there a free Redis tier?
Yes. Redis runs on the Free plan at $0/mo with no card: 2 databases, 5 GB of storage, and up to 20 concurrent connections. There is no trial clock, so the plan does not expire. A free Redis database hibernates after 1 hour with no connections and wakes on the next connection in roughly 1 to 5 seconds, as long as your client sends the TLS servername.
What happens to a free Redis database when I stop using it?
It hibernates after 1 hour idle, keeping its hostname, port, and data. If it stays hibernated for 14 days (7 days if you never connected to it) it is archived: the address is released and an explicit Restore, about 10 to 30 seconds, brings it back. Data and backups are kept. After 90 continuous days archived the live resources are reclaimed and the most recent backup is kept and still restorable. Paid plans are never auto-archived.
Can I run the free Redis tier in production?
For a low-traffic side project, yes. For anything that cannot absorb a cold start, no: Free has no always-on pool, so an idle database sleeps and the first request after that pays the wake. Free also caps concurrent connections at 20 and gives you 1 manual backup slot rather than scheduled snapshots. Solo at $5/mo and Pro at $15/mo lift all three.