Dragonfly vs Garnet(2026)
Dragonfly is better for teams that need dramatically faster than redis. Garnet is the stronger choice if microsoft research backing. Dragonfly is open-source (from $0) and Garnet is open-source (from $0).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
By Bikram Nath
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Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a modern in-memory data store fully compatible with Redis and Memcached APIs, but up to 25x faster and more memory-efficient thanks to its multi-threaded, shared-nothing architecture.
Starting at $0
Visit DragonflyGarnet
Garnet is Microsoft Research's open-source, Redis-compatible cache store built for cloud and edge workloads — with exceptional throughput, low latency, and strong consistency options.
Starting at $0
Visit GarnetHow Do Dragonfly and Garnet Compare on Features?
| Feature | Dragonfly | Garnet |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | open-source |
| Starting price | $0 | $0 |
| Redis API compatible | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-threaded | ✓ | — |
| Up to 25x faster than Redis | ✓ | — |
| Lower memory usage | ✓ | — |
| Snapshots + replication | ✓ | — |
| Managed cloud | ✓ | — |
| Lua scripting | ✓ | — |
| RESP3 protocol | — | ✓ |
| Cluster mode | — | ✓ |
| Strong/eventual consistency | — | ✓ |
| Pub/sub | — | ✓ |
| Scripting | — | ✓ |
| C# native | — | ✓ |
Dragonfly Pros and Cons vs Garnet
Dragonfly
Garnet
Should You Use Dragonfly or Garnet?
For most teams, Dragonfly is the better default: it offers dramatically faster than redis and is open-source (from $0). Choose Garnet instead if microsoft research backing matters more than newer, less battle-tested. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value dramatically faster than redis or microsoft research backing more.
Choose Dragonfly if…
- •Dramatically faster than Redis
- •Drop-in Redis replacement
- •Less memory usage
Choose Garnet if…
- •Microsoft Research backing
- •Excellent benchmark numbers
- •Redis compatible