For most new projects, the answer is to speak the Redis protocol and keep the server swappable: Valkey is the low-risk default if you want a permissively licensed fork, Redis itself is fine if you use a managed offering or its AGPL option fits your situation, and Dragonfly is worth testing only if a single node's throughput or memory efficiency is your actual bottleneck. The license matters mostly if you redistribute the server or resell it as a service. For an app that merely connects to a cache, the client code is identical in all three cases.

This post covers what changed, how to test compatibility in an afternoon, and where each option has real limits. Details are as of late 2026; check the projects' own license files before making a legal decision.

What actually changed with Redis licensing?

In 2024, Redis moved from the BSD license to a dual source-available arrangement (RSALv2 and SSPL).…