Memcached vs Varnish Cache(2026)
Memcached is better for teams that need extremely fast. Varnish Cache is the stronger choice if extremely high throughput http caching. Memcached is open-source (from $0) and Varnish Cache is open-source (from $0).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
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Memcached
Memcached is the battle-tested, open-source distributed memory caching system used by Facebook, YouTube, and Wikipedia for caching database query results and API responses at massive scale.
Starting at $0
Visit MemcachedVarnish Cache
Varnish Cache is a high-performance HTTP accelerator used by the world's busiest websites. It caches HTTP responses in memory, offloading backends and serving millions of requests per second.
Starting at $0
Visit Varnish CacheHow Do Memcached and Varnish Cache Compare on Features?
| Feature | Memcached | Varnish Cache |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | open-source |
| Starting price | $0 | $0 |
| In-memory key-value store | ✓ | — |
| Multi-threaded | ✓ | — |
| Simple protocol | ✓ | — |
| LRU eviction | ✓ | — |
| Consistent hashing | ✓ | — |
| SASL authentication | ✓ | — |
| Binary protocol | ✓ | — |
| HTTP/HTTPS reverse proxy | — | ✓ |
| VCL configuration language | — | ✓ |
| Edge Side Includes (ESI) | — | ✓ |
| Health checks | — | ✓ |
| Grace mode | — | ✓ |
| Hit-for-pass | — | ✓ |
| Varnish Enterprise | — | ✓ |
Memcached Pros and Cons vs Varnish Cache
Memcached
Varnish Cache
Should You Use Memcached or Varnish Cache?
Choose Memcached if…
- •Extremely fast
- •Simple and battle-tested
- •Multi-threaded (great CPU utilization)
Choose Varnish Cache if…
- •Extremely high throughput HTTP caching
- •Flexible VCL
- •Battle-tested at internet scale