Dragonfly is a Redis-compatible, in-memory data store you can self-host free or run as a managed cloud service. See 2026 pricing, features, and alternatives.
Category
Databases
Pricing
Open Source / Freemium (self-hosted free; managed cloud is paid), from Free (self-hosted); Dragonfly Cloud starts around $36/month
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 18, 2026
Founded
2022
Headquarters
Tel Aviv, Israel and San Francisco, California, USA (dual headquarters)
Free TrialAPIOpen SourceFreemiumSelf-Hosted
Overview
Dragonfly (DragonflyDB) is an in-memory data store built as a high-performance, drop-in replacement for Redis and Memcached, founded in 2022 by former Google engineers Roman Gershman and Oded Poncz.
The company is dual-headquartered in Tel Aviv and San Francisco and raised 21 million dollars in combined seed and Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures and Quiet Capital.
Key Features
Written from scratch in C++ with a shared-nothing, multi-threaded architecture, Dragonfly scales across all CPU cores while remaining wire-compatible with Redis's RESP2 and RESP3 protocols and over 240 Redis commands.
The source code is publicly available under the Business Source License 1.1, which permits free self-hosting and modification but restricts offering Dragonfly itself as a competing hosted database service; the license converts to Apache 2.0 after a set number of years.
Pricing
Self-hosting Dragonfly is free under its source-available license.
Dragonfly Cloud, the managed service, starts with a self-serve Flex plan around 36 dollars per month, a Business plan around 2,000 dollars per month for advanced security and support, and custom Enterprise pricing for air-gapped deployments, with on-demand usage priced around 8 dollars per gigabyte of memory per month.
Key Features
Redis-protocol compatibility — Supports RESP2 and RESP3 and over 240 Redis commands, so existing Redis clients and tools work without code changes.
Multi-threaded, shared-nothing architecture — Written in C++ to scale across all available CPU cores, unlike Redis's traditionally single-threaded core.
Memcached compatibility — Can also serve as a drop-in replacement for Memcached-based caching layers.
Source-available under BSL 1.1 — Code is free to self-host and modify, with a restriction against offering it as a competing hosted database service.
Fully managed Dragonfly Cloud — One-click provisioning on AWS, GCP, or Azure with horizontal and vertical scaling and a monitoring dashboard.
Bring-your-own-cloud deployment — Business and Enterprise tiers let customers run Dragonfly Cloud inside their own cloud account.
Enterprise security controls — SSO, multi-factor authentication, custom SLAs, and air-gapped infrastructure support at higher tiers.
Improved memory efficiency — Marketed memory efficiency gains of around 20 percent compared with equivalent Redis deployments.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Free to self-host with source code publicly available on GitHub
Drop-in compatibility with existing Redis clients and tooling minimizes migration work
Multi-threaded architecture delivers higher throughput per server than single-threaded Redis in many workloads
Offers both a self-hosted path and a fully managed cloud option for teams that want either
Cons
Business Source License 1.1 is not an OSI-approved open-source license and restricts competing hosted offerings
Managed Business tier starts around 2,000 dollars per month, a steep jump from the self-serve Flex tier
Younger company (founded 2022) with a smaller ecosystem and community than long-established Redis
Enterprise pricing is not published and requires a direct sales conversation
Pricing
Self-Hosted (Open Source) Free N/A
Flex (Dragonfly Cloud) From $36/month Monthly
Business (Dragonfly Cloud) From $2,000/month Monthly
Dragonfly's source code is publicly available on GitHub under the Business Source License 1.1, which allows free self-hosting and modification but is not an OSI-approved open-source license; it converts to Apache 2.0 after a set number of years.
Is Dragonfly compatible with Redis?
Yes. Dragonfly implements the RESP2 and RESP3 protocols and over 240 Redis commands, so most existing Redis clients and tools work without modification.
How much does Dragonfly Cloud cost?
Dragonfly Cloud starts with a Flex plan around 36 dollars per month, a Business plan around 2,000 dollars per month, and custom Enterprise pricing for large organizations.
Who founded Dragonfly?
Dragonfly was founded in March 2022 by former Google engineers Roman Gershman and Oded Poncz.
Can I self-host Dragonfly for free?
Yes. Dragonfly can be self-hosted at no cost under its source-available license; Dragonfly Cloud is the paid, fully managed alternative.
What are Dragonfly's main competitors?
Dragonfly competes with Redis, Redis's own managed cloud, KeyDB, Valkey, and Memcached.