Memorystore for Valkey vs Dragonfly Cloud: choose the project behind the service
Compare engine governance, replicated RAM prices, and the scaling decisions your team will own with Memorystore for Valkey and Dragonfly Cloud.
Choose Memorystore for Valkey if you want managed Valkey on Google Cloud with control over capacity and customer-deployed autoscaling. Dragonfly Cloud runs its own engine, with one company controlling licensing for future releases. Compare that long-term dependency alongside the starting RAM rate and the way each service handles capacity changes.
At a glance
| Dimension | Memorystore for Valkey | Dragonfly Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| price (w/ 2 replicas) | from $32.40/GB-month | from $24.00/GB-month |
| availability | Google Cloud | AWS, Google Cloud, Azure |
| engine + version | Valkey 9 | proprietary |
| uptime SLA | 99.99% | 99.95% |
| support SLA | from 5 minutes | from 1 hour |
| autoscaling | via Memorystore Cluster Autoscaler | autoscaling (business tier) |
| maximum size | 28 TB | 15 TB |
About Google Cloud Memorystore
Google Cloud Memorystore for Valkey is a managed caching service built on Valkey. It offers cluster-enabled and cluster-disabled deployments in Google Cloud, with customers choosing node types, capacity, and topology. Memorystore for Redis and Redis Cluster are separate related offerings.
About Dragonfly Cloud
Dragonfly Cloud is a managed service built on the Dragonfly engine. Dragonfly is a separate implementation with a Redis-compatible API. The service offers standalone datastores and sharded Swarm deployments, with client requirements that depend on the selected mode.
Recent updates
September 24, 2026 - Memorystore’s current Valkey 9 release became generally available. Teams evaluating Valkey 9 can now select that release. The current version table lists that release as the default. Upgrades cannot be downgraded.
September 2, 2026 - Momento introduced Cluster and Flex capacity for Momento Cache. Both provide dedicated, managed Valkey resources. Cluster exposes topology choices, while Flex selects topology within capacity bounds, giving teams a choice in how they configure capacity while Momento operates the cluster.
Choose the engine and its governance
Memorystore provides managed Valkey on Google Cloud. We recommend Valkey over Redis because it is widely backed across the tech industry and continues to advance the state of the art. Dragonfly is a separate engine maintained by DragonflyDB, Ltd., whose licensing control exposes adopters to changes in future releases.
Redis Inc.’s March 2024 licensing change illustrates why that control matters. Momento’s RIP Redis article examines that history and its implications for teams choosing a long-term dependency.
Assign autoscaling and client responsibilities
With Memorystore, your team chooses from six regular clustered node types, each with predefined CPU and memory. You can deploy the Memorystore Cluster Autoscaler to adjust shard counts from CPU and memory demand. Your team configures and operates that automation.
Dragonfly Swarm provides managed horizontal scaling. It requires cluster-aware clients, and cluster mode cannot change on an existing datastore. Dragonfly supports memory and compute resizing, and its Business plan lists autoscaling. (Dragonfly datastore documentation)
Try Momento Cache
If an upcoming sharding transition would complicate application clients, evaluate Momento Cache for a stable standalone interface backed by managed Valkey.
Momento Cache puts dedicated, high-performance Valkey behind a managed gateway that keeps client integration stable as your application grows. Choose Cluster for direct control over instance types, shards, and replicas, or Flex to set capacity and replication bounds while Momento selects the topology. Both include built-in autoscaling and fully managed cluster operations.
Talk to a Momento solution engineer to evaluate the capacity model and configuration that fit your workload.
Frequently asked questions
Should I size Dragonfly to its burst bandwidth?
Plan around sustained bandwidth. Dragonfly’s AWS Standard 12.5 GB configuration lists 0.5 Gbps baseline and 10 Gbps temporary, nonguaranteed burst. The figures vary with cloud, memory, and compute tier. (Dragonfly bandwidth guidance)
Can Memorystore use clients without cluster mode?
Yes. Cluster-disabled mode uses one shard and ordinary clients. Cluster-enabled mode supports sharding and requires cluster-aware clients. Choose the mode at creation, because it cannot change in place.