If you plan to run Valkey® in a product or a paid service, the first question is whether you need to pay for it or ask anyone first. Is Valkey free for commercial use? Yes. Valkey uses the BSD 3-Clause license, a permissive open source license, so you can use it at no cost in commercial work.
This post explains what the license lets you do, the three conditions it sets and how it compares with Redis® licenses. It’s part of the Valkey Tutorial. It isn’t legal advice; for a specific case, ask a lawyer.
The Short Answer
- You can use Valkey in commercial products and services, for free.
- You can change Valkey’s code, and you don’t have to publish your changes.
- You can sell products and services that include Valkey.
- You must keep the copyright notice and license text with any copy you share.
- You can’t use the copyright holders’ or contributors’ names to promote your product without their written permission.
What the BSD 3-Clause License Says
Valkey’s license is in a file called COPYING in its GitHub repository. It names two copyright holders, the Valkey contributors (from 2024) and Redis Ltd. (2006 to 2020), because Valkey still includes BSD-licensed Redis code from before the fork.
The license lets anyone use and share the code, in source or compiled form, changed or not, as long as three conditions are met:
- Keep the notice in source code. If you share the source code, keep the copyright notice, the list of conditions and the disclaimer.
- Include the notice with compiled copies. If you share Valkey in compiled form, for example inside an app or a container image, include the same notice in its documentation or other materials.
- Don’t use their names to promote your product. The copyright holders’ and contributors’ names can’t be used to endorse or promote your product without written permission.
The rest of the license is a disclaimer: Valkey comes “as is”, with no warranty, and its authors aren’t liable for damages from using it.
What This Means in Practice
| You want to… | Allowed? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Run Valkey as the cache for your company’s website | Yes | Nothing extra |
| Offer Valkey to customers as a paid hosted service | Yes | Keep the notices with any copies you distribute |
| Ship Valkey inside a product or a container image | Yes | Include the license text with it |
| Change Valkey’s code and keep your changes private | Yes | Nothing extra; the license doesn’t require you to publish changes |
| Call your product “Valkey” or use the Valkey logo | Not covered by the license | Follow the LF Projects trademark policy |
The License Doesn’t Cover the Name
The BSD license covers the code, not the name. Valkey® is a registered trademark of LF Projects, LLC. Its trademark policy lets you use the name to make true, factual statements, but not in a way that suggests the project sponsors or endorses your product.
Other Valkey Projects Have Their Own Licenses
The tools around Valkey come from separate repositories, each with its own license. All of them allow commercial use:
| Project | License |
|---|---|
| Valkey server | BSD 3-Clause |
| valkey-json, valkey-bloom and valkey-search (modules) | BSD 3-Clause |
| Valkey GLIDE (official client libraries) | Apache 2.0 |
| valkey-py (Python client) | MIT |
| Valkey Admin (the official GUI) | Apache 2.0 |
How Redis Licenses Compare
Redis OSS 7.2 and earlier also use BSD 3-Clause. Redis Community Edition 7.4 to 7.8 uses RSALv2 or SSPLv1, which Redis’s licensing page says aren’t open source licenses. From Redis 8, you can choose RSALv2, SSPLv1 or AGPLv3. AGPLv3 is an OSI-approved open source license, but it requires derivative works to be released under AGPLv3 too. Check that page for the exact version you run.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | What happens | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Leaving out the license text when you ship Valkey | You break conditions 1 and 2 of the license | Keep the COPYING text with every copy you share |
| Thinking the license lets you use the Valkey name or logo freely | The name is a registered trademark, covered by a separate policy | Follow the LF Projects trademark policy |
| Assuming every Valkey project uses BSD 3-Clause | Valkey GLIDE and Valkey Admin use Apache 2.0, and valkey-py uses MIT | Check the license file of each project you use |
FAQ
Do I have to pay to use Valkey in production?
No. Valkey costs nothing to use under the BSD 3-Clause license, including commercial use in production.
Do I have to publish my changes to Valkey?
No. The license doesn’t require you to share your changes. If you share copies, keep the copyright notice and license text with them.
Can I sell a hosted Valkey service?
Yes. The license puts no limit on offering Valkey as a service. Just don’t call your service “Valkey” in a way that suggests the project endorses it.
Is Valkey open source?
Yes. BSD 3-Clause is an approved open source license at the Open Source Initiative.
Conclusion
Valkey is free for commercial use. Its BSD 3-Clause license lets you use, change, ship and sell it, as long as you keep its copyright notice and license text with the copies you share, and don’t use its authors’ names to promote your product. The Valkey name is a separate trademark with its own policy.
Related
- Valkey Tutorial — Part 1: What Is Valkey? The In-Memory Key-Value Store Explained
- Valkey vs Redis: What’s the Difference?
Additional Resources
- Valkey COPYING file on GitHub
- The BSD 3-Clause License, at the Open Source Initiative
- LF Projects trademark policy
- Redis licenses, on redis.io
- Valkey client libraries
- Valkey Admin on GitHub
Valkey® is a registered trademark of LF Projects, LLC. Redis® is a registered trademark of Redis Ltd. Any rights therein are reserved to Redis Ltd. Other names mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. JD Bots isn’t affiliated with the Valkey project, LF Projects or Redis Ltd., and isn’t endorsed, supported or certified by them.
