Overview
Upstash Redis is a Redis-compatible database run as a multi-tenant serverless service. Beyond the usual TCP protocol it offers an HTTP REST API, which lets edge and serverless runtimes such as Cloudflare Workers, Vercel functions, Deno and AWS Lambda use it without managing connections. Common uses are caching, rate limiting, session storage, leaderboards and simple queues.
The free plan gives one database with 256 MB and 500,000 commands a month. Pay as You Go bills $0.20 per 100,000 commands plus $0.25 per GB of storage after the first gigabyte, and an idle database costs nothing. For steady, command-heavy workloads the Fixed plans charge a flat monthly price with unlimited commands, from $10 for 250 MB to $1,500 for 500 GB.
Databases can add read regions in 14 AWS and 4 Google Cloud locations; writes go to one primary region and are replicated out, so the design favours read-heavy global traffic. Each read region on a Fixed plan adds half the base price.
Production features such as an uptime SLA, multi-zone failover, encryption at rest and the SOC 2 report sit in the separately priced Prod Pack add-on, and strong consistency is listed as coming soon only for Enterprise.
Pricing and plans
Free tier · no card
One database with 256 MB of data, 500,000 commands and 10 GB of bandwidth per month, up to 10,000 commands per second; no IP allowlist, ACL or encryption at rest
At the limit Stops at the limit Commands past the free monthly limit return an error; nothing is charged.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 database, 256 MB, 500K commands/month, 10 GB bandwidth |
| Pay as You Go | $0.20 per 100K commands | Storage $0.25/GB after the first 1 GB, 200 GB bandwidth free then $0.03/GB, up to 100 GB data, 10 databases free then $0.50 each |
| Fixed 250MB | $10/mo | Unlimited commands, 50 GB bandwidth, read regions +$5 each |
| Fixed 1GB | $20/mo | 100 GB bandwidth, read regions +$10 each |
| Fixed 10GB | $200/mo | 1 TB bandwidth, read regions +$100 each |
| Fixed 500GB | $1,500/mo | 20 TB bandwidth, 16,000 commands/sec, read regions +$750 each |
| Enterprise | Custom | Up to 10 TB, HIPAA, Private Link, SAML SSO, dedicated support |
What it does
- REST API
- HTTP access alongside TCP, so edge and serverless functions can use Redis without persistent connections.
- Per-command billing
- Pay as You Go costs $0.20 per 100,000 commands and nothing for an idle database.
- Fixed plans
- Flat monthly prices with unlimited commands, from $10/mo for 250 MB to $1,500/mo for 500 GB.
- Global read replicas
- One primary region plus read regions across 18 AWS and Google Cloud locations, added or removed on a running database.
- Backups
- On-demand backups and optional daily backups kept for 1 or 3 days, restorable to any database in the account.
- Prod Pack
- Add-on for SLA, multi-zone high availability, encryption at rest, RBAC, SOC 2 report and Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog or New Relic monitoring.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Idle databases cost nothing on pay as you go
- Works from edge runtimes through the REST API
- Free plan with 500,000 commands a month and no card
- Flat-price Fixed plans for predictable high-command workloads
- EU regions in Ireland, London, Frankfurt and Belgium
Limitations
- Free plan lacks IP allowlist, ACL and encryption at rest
- Uptime SLA, multi-zone HA and SOC 2 report require the Prod Pack add-on
- Writes always go to the primary region, so global writes see higher latency
- Strong consistency is not offered on self-serve plans
- Daily backups are kept for at most 3 days
Who it suits
Good for
- Rate limiting and caching in serverless and edge functions
- Side projects that need Redis without paying for an idle instance
- Read-heavy global apps that benefit from read regions
Look elsewhere if
- Write-heavy global workloads that need low-latency writes everywhere
- Teams that need the full Redis Stack module set or a dedicated Redis Enterprise cluster
Pricing history
-
Higher throughput and request limits on all plans
Announced: maximum throughput rose from 1k to 10k requests a second, maximum request size from 1 MB to 10 MB and maximum connections from 1k to 10k, on Free, Pay as You Go and Fixed plans. Source ↗
-
Free tier raised to 500K commands a month
Effective 2025-03-12: the free tier moved from 10K commands a day to 500K commands a month, and new fixed-price plans were added. Source ↗
Alternatives to Upstash Redis
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scaleway Managed Databases Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL and serverless Postgres | €0.0156/hr | ||
| Firebase Backend platform with document and realtime databases | Usage-based | Free tier | |
| Crunchy Bridge Managed PostgreSQL on AWS, Azure and GCP | $9/mo | ||
| Redis Cloud Managed Redis | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Convex Reactive backend and document database | $25/mo | Free tier | |
| Neon Serverless Postgres | Usage-based | Free tier |
Questions
Is Upstash Redis free?
Yes. The free plan includes one database with 256 MB and 500,000 commands a month, with no card required.
How much does Upstash Redis cost?
Pay as You Go is $0.20 per 100,000 commands plus storage beyond 1 GB at $0.25 per GB; Fixed plans start at $10 a month for 250 MB with unlimited commands.
Can I use Upstash Redis from Cloudflare Workers?
Yes. Upstash provides an HTTP REST API designed for edge and serverless runtimes that cannot hold TCP connections.
Does Upstash Redis have EU regions?
Yes. AWS Ireland, London and Frankfurt and Google Cloud Belgium are supported.
Does Upstash back up Redis data?
You can take manual backups or enable daily backups kept for 1 or 3 days, and restore them to any database in your account.
Sources read for this page