Explanation
Why the waste happens and who it affects.
However, many deployments still default to Redis OSS, incurring higher hourly costs and unnecessary data write charges. For compatible workloads, continuing to use Redis OSS instead of Valkey represents a missed opportunity for savings and modernization.
Billing model
The pricing dimensions that drive this cost.
MemoryDB charges based on provisioned instance hours, with costs varying by engine type. Valkey instances offer ~30% lower hourly rates and no data write charges up to 10 TB/month. Selecting Redis OSS instead of Valkey can lead to unnecessarily high instance-hour and data-written costs.
How to detect
3 checks to find it in your estate.
- Identify MemoryDB clusters running the Redis OSS engine rather than Valkey
- Review the MemoryDB console or cost reporting data for engine metadata
- Assess whether workloads are compatible with Valkey (which is Redis API-compatible)
How to fix
4 ways to remove the waste.
- Migrate eligible MemoryDB clusters to use the Valkey engine
- Validate API compatibility and performance requirements prior to migration
- Use zero-downtime upgrade capabilities where possible for seamless transition
- Consider making Valkey the default engine for new MemoryDB deployments
Documentation
Vendor references for pricing and configuration.