glossary2 min read

What is Redis?

Redis is a blazing-fast in-memory database for caching, sessions, and real-time data.

Redis stores data in memory for microsecond read/write speeds — 100-1000x faster than disk-based databases. Common uses: caching (store frequently accessed data to reduce database load), session storage (user login state), rate limiting (track API usage per user), real-time leaderboards (sorted sets), pub/sub messaging, and job queues. Redis supports data structures beyond key-value: strings, lists, sets, sorted sets, hashes, streams, and more.