The Redis open-source licences are the licences under which Redis Ltd. distributes the freely available Redis server, its former add-on modules and its developer tools. The licence depends on the version. Redis 7.2 and earlier use the permissive BSD-3-Clause licence. Redis Community Edition 7.4 uses a dual source-available licence, RSALv2 or SSPLv1. Redis Open Source 8 and later is tri-licensed, and the user “may select one of the following three license options”: RSALv2, SSPLv1 or the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPLv3).[1] Redis describes Redis Open Source as “available as both source available and OSI-compliant open source software”.[1] Catalog proof: Redis Open Source 8+ is licensed under the user's choice of RSALv2, SSPLv1 or AGPLv3; Licence depends on version: BSD-3-Clause to 7.2, RSALv2/SSPLv1 for 7.4 to 7.8.
Editions
| Product | Version | Licence | Name used by Redis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redis | 7.2 and earlier | BSD-3-Clause | Redis (Redis OSS) |
| Redis Community Edition | 7.4 (7.4.x to 7.8.x) | RSALv2 or SSPLv1 | Redis Community Edition |
| Redis Open Source | 8.0.0 and later | RSALv2 or SSPLv1 or AGPLv3 | Redis Open Source |
| Redis Stack | up to 6.2.4 | RSALv1 | Redis Stack |
| Redis Stack | 6.2.6 and later | RSALv2 or SSPLv1 | Redis Stack |
| Redis Insight | before 2.0 | Redis Insight license terms | Redis Insight |
| Redis Insight | 2.0 and later | SSPLv1 (non-paying users) | Redis Insight |
| Redis for VS Code | any | SSPLv1 (non-paying users) | Redis for VS Code |
Source: Licenses page, “Full license information”.[1]
The modules followed a longer path. RediSearch, RedisJSON and RedisBloom started under AGPLv3. They then moved through Apache 2.0 with the Commons Clause (RediSearch and RedisJSON) and RSALv1, before reaching RSALv2 or SSPLv1. RedisTimeSeries, RedisGraph and RedisGears went from RSALv1 (and, for early RedisGraph, Apache 2.0 with the Commons Clause) to RSALv2 or SSPLv1.[1] With Redis 8, “RediSearch, RedisJSON, RedisTimeSeries, and RedisBloom are now included as integral components of Redis Open Source and subject to the same tri-license”, and the module version numbers match the Redis version.[1] Redis announced in 2024 that Redis Stack would reach end of life once Redis 8 was available.[3]
Licence history
BSD to dual licence (2024). On 2024-03-20, Redis announced that “Starting with Redis 7.4, Redis will be dual-licensed” under RSALv2 and SSPLv1, and would “no longer be distributed under the three-clause Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)”.[3] The change was “not retroactive”, so earlier releases “remain under the 3-clause BSD license” indefinitely.[3] Redis also said it would backport critical security patches to BSD-licensed versions until Redis Community Edition 9.0 was released.[3] The stated target was cloud and managed service providers. “Organizations providing competitive offerings to Redis will no longer be permitted to use new versions of the source code of Redis free of charge”, while for end users using new releases “for their internal or personal usage, there is no change”.[3] Catalog proof: The 2024 change targeted competitive offerings; internal use is unaffected.
AGPLv3 added (2025). On 2025-05-01, Redis announced “Adding the OSI-approved AGPL as an additional licensing option for Redis, starting with Redis 8”. It also announced that Redis Stack technologies would be integrated into core Redis 8 under AGPL.[4] The licences page calls this “not a license change, but rather the inclusion of an option”. It also says there are “no plans to change or add to the current Redis Open Source license configuration”.[1] The addition “does not affect customers and partners using our Redis Cloud or Software products under a commercial license”.[1] Catalog proof: Adding AGPLv3 does not affect commercial Redis Cloud or Software customers.
Metrics
No licence metric applies. The licences are royalty-free and do not count installations, cores or users. Paid use is governed by the commercial agreements described in Redis licensing.
The three licence options
RSALv2. Redis wrote this licence itself. It grants “a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, non-sublicensable, non-transferable license to use, copy, distribute, make available, and prepare derivative works of the Software”.[2] The main limitation is that “You may not make the functionality of the Software or a Modified version available to third parties as a service”. That includes offering a product or service “the value of which entirely or primarily derives from the value of the Software”.[2] Licensing notices must be kept. Recipients must receive the terms, and modified copies must carry prominent modification notices.[2] A violation terminates the licences automatically. Ceasing the violation within 30 days of a notice reinstates them retroactively, but a second violation ends them permanently.[2] Redis states that “RSALv2 is not an open source license”.[1] Catalog proof: RSALv2 forbids offering the software's functionality to third parties as a service; RSALv2 licences terminate on violation but are reinstated if cured within 30 days of notice.
SSPLv1. The Server Side Public License was created by MongoDB. Redis summarises it as allowing free use, modification and redistribution, with the requirement that anyone providing the product as a service must publicly release modifications “as well as the source code of your management layers under SSPL”. Redis calls it copyleft and “not an open source license”.[1] See MongoDB licensing for the licence’s origin.
AGPLv3. Redis describes AGPLv3 as an OSI-approved copyleft licence designed for software that runs over a network. Derivative works must also be licensed under AGPLv3.[1] Redis’s FAQ distinguishes three cases. Moving from Community Edition 7.4 or Redis Stack to Redis 8 has no impact. Using Redis-provided code as-is has no impact. Operators who run a modified version as a network server “are required to provide the source code of the modified version running there to the users of that server”.[1]
Counting / floors
Not applicable to the free licences. In inventory work, the useful count is of installations by version band. Each band carries different obligations: BSD-3-Clause up to 7.2, RSALv2 or SSPLv1 for 7.4, and a choice of three from 8.0.[1] The RSALv2 and SSPLv1 limits mainly matter where Redis is offered to third parties as a service. That applies to managed service providers, and to software vendors whose product’s value “entirely or primarily derives” from Redis.[2]
Virtualization & partitioning
Not applicable. None of the licences restricts hosts, virtual machines or containers.
Cloud / BYOL
Hosting Redis 7.4 or later for internal applications in a public cloud is internal use. Offering Redis 7.4 or later to others as a managed service falls under the RSALv2 service limitation, or the SSPLv1 or AGPLv3 source-disclosure duties, depending on the licence chosen.[1][2] Redis said in 2024 that cloud service providers “will be able to deliver Redis 7.4 only after agreeing to licensing terms with Redis”.[3]
Tools: Redis Insight and Redis for VS Code
“Both Redis Insight and Redis for VS Code are provided under a commercial license to paying Redis customers. Community users and non-paying individuals use these tools under the SSPLv1 license.”[1] Redis Insight versions before 2.0 use separate Redis Insight license terms.[1] For commercial customers, the Redis Software Support Policy lists Redis Insight as a supported component in four of its five Support Packages.[6] Catalog proof: Redis Insight and Redis for VS Code: commercial licence for paying customers, SSPLv1 for others.
Relationship with the commercial products
Redis Software and Redis Cloud contain code that is also published under these licences. For the customer, the commercial licence “supersedes the terms of such licenses for those portions of the Software”.[5] Customers of the commercial products therefore look to the Redis Software Agreement or Redis Cloud Agreement, not to RSALv2, SSPLv1 or AGPLv3. Catalog proof: The commercial licence supersedes open-source or source-available terms for included portions.
Out of scope
- Redis client libraries, which Redis said in 2024 would “remain open source licensed”.[3]
- The full texts of SSPLv1 and AGPLv3, and third-party forks of Redis.