Serverless Redis
Free Redis, $0/mo with no card: a real endpoint in seconds, 2 databases, 5 GB, TLS by default, and the same redis-cli reflexes you already have. Cloud, desktop, or self-host.
Keys
- session:847STR
- user:1247HASH
- cart:1247LIST
- leaderboardZSET
Free tier
$0/mo, no credit card
Then flat
$5 or $15/mo, no meters
Encrypted
TLS on every plan
Layerbase Cloud
Managed, in seconds
Desktop and CLI
Run it locally or self-host
Serverless driver
Talk to Redis over HTTP from the edge
Every Redis database on Layerbase exposes an Upstash-compatible REST endpoint alongside the normal TLS port. The Connect dialog shows a REST URL and a REST token: hand them to the @upstash/redis client, or to @vercel/kv which takes the same pair, and Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge, and anything else that cannot open a raw TCP socket reads and writes the same keys. redis-cli, ioredis, and redis-py keep working against the same database.
Serverless and edge accessimport { Redis } from '@upstash/redis'
const redis = new Redis({
url: 'YOUR_REST_URL',
token: 'YOUR_REST_TOKEN',
})
await redis.set('key', 'value')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 the Layerbase CLI when compliance requires it
redis-cli -u "rediss://default:password@your-host.cloud.layerbase.dev:6379" ping
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 15 minutes idle and wakes on connect
A free Redis database hibernates after 15 minutes 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.
FAQ
Common Redis questions
Is there a free Redis tier?
Yes, and it is a plan rather than a trial: Free is $0/mo, asks for no card, and has no expiry date. It covers 2 databases, 5 GB of storage, and up to 20 concurrent connections, with TLS on by default, snapshot persistence to disk, 1 manual backup slot you take and restore from the dashboard, a web key-value console, and the Upstash-compatible REST endpoint for edge runtimes. What Free does not include is an always-on pool: a free Redis database hibernates after 15 minutes with no connections, so the first request after an idle spell pays the wake, roughly 1 to 5 seconds, as long as your client sends the TLS servername. Solo at $5/mo and Pro at $15/mo lift the connection cap, add scheduled snapshots, and let you pin a database always-on.
What is Redis?
Redis is an in-memory data store addressed through a small command set over keys and values, with sorted sets, lists, and pub/sub on top. It is the usual pick for caches, session stores, rate limiters, queues, and leaderboards rather than for primary application data. Layerbase runs it as a managed endpoint with TLS, a web key-value console, and an Upstash-compatible REST endpoint for runtimes that cannot hold a TCP socket.
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 does Layerbase offer Valkey as well as Redis?
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 for Redis?
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.
How do persistence and backups work for Redis on Layerbase?
Every Redis database snapshots to disk on the stock RDB save schedule, Free included, and hibernation shuts the server down with a final save, so a sleep and wake cycle does not cost you keys. AOF is off, which is the same trade a default Redis makes. Free also gets 1 manual backup slot, taken and restored from the dashboard; what the paid plans add on top is scheduled snapshots (7d or 30d retention) with one-click restore.
What happens to a free Redis database when I stop using it?
It hibernates after 15 minutes 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.
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 16 engines, not just Postgres.
See how branching worksWhat you get
Everything a Redis database should ship with
The same primitives on every Redis database: TLS, web console, hibernation, and a real dashboard. The rows that need a paid plan say so on the row; nothing here is 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 plan's always-on pool so it never hibernates. Free has no pool, so a free database always sleeps when idle; Solo includes 768 MB of pool and Pro 1.5 GB.
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 (Neon serverless, PlanetScale, Upstash REST, 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 includes 1 manual backup slot you take and restore yourself.
What it costs
What Redis costs on Layerbase
Plans are flat. There is no per-hour compute meter, no per-database line item, and no ingress or egress fee, so the bill does not change shape when your traffic does. You do not need an AWS, GCP, or Azure account either: Layerbase runs the infrastructure.
Scale to zero when idle. No credit card.
The database you pin never sleeps.
Every engine, plus a bigger always-on pool.
Side by side
Hosted Redis, compared
| Provider | Free tier | Billing |
|---|---|---|
| Upstash | 256 MB and 500K commands per month | $0.20 per 100K commands after the free allowance, plus $0.25 per GB stored |
| Redis Cloud | 30 MB | Essentials from $5/mo once you pass the 30 MB free database |
| 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 per month
- Billing
- $0.20 per 100K commands after the free allowance, plus $0.25 per GB stored
Redis Cloud
- Free tier
- 30 MB
- Billing
- Essentials from $5/mo once you pass the 30 MB free database
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 verified September 7, 2026 against each vendor's own pricing and documentation pages: Upstash, Redis Cloud.
Already have data? Migrate it from Railway, Replit, Upstash, and more 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- September 5, 2026
Northflank alternatives: a preview environment is not a database branch
Northflank gives every pull request its own stack, and the database in that stack starts empty unless you seed it or restore it from a backup you already had. Here is exactly how their forks work, what a copy-on-write branch does differently, what each one costs while a PR sits open, and the cases where Northflank is the right answer.
Read - September 5, 2026
Redis Cloud alternatives: pay for the modules, or stop paying for them
Redis Cloud prices itself around the module story: search, JSON, time series, vector sets, Active-Active. If you use those, the bill is buying something real. If you use Redis as a cache, a session store, or a queue, you are paying the module premium for a key-value store. Here is what each tier buys, where a flat plan fits, and when to stay.
Read - September 1, 2026
Build the Redis backend for a WhatsApp bot
Conversation state with TTLs, BullMQ queues for scheduled reminders, idempotency keys for retried webhooks, and per-recipient rate limits, all on one Redis-compatible Valkey.
Read - August 31, 2026
Upstash alternatives: keep the client, change the URL
Upstash bills Redis per command, which is brilliant for a tiny app and a meter for everything else. Every Redis and Valkey on Layerbase exposes the same REST API the @upstash/redis client speaks, and every Valkey carries a QStash-compatible queue. Here is the arithmetic, the code that does not change, and when Upstash is still the right call.
Read - August 29, 2026
Valkey 9 on Layerbase Cloud: what you get, and what 9.1 will add
New Valkey databases on Layerbase run 9.0, and since the August security wave the build is 9.0.5. Here is what actually shipped in Valkey 9, which of it a single managed instance benefits from, what 9.1 added, and what happens to databases already on 8.0 (nothing).
Read
Upstream project
Redis is developed by the Redis project. Layerbase packages and hosts official releases; the engine itself is built upstream.