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Google Cloud Spanner vs Redis comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Spanner
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Database as a Service (DBaaS) (8th)
Redis
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
NoSQL Databases (5th), Managed NoSQL Databases (7th), In-Memory Data Store Services (1st), Vector Databases (3rd), AI Software Development (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Database Services solutions, they serve different purposes. Google Cloud Spanner is designed for Database as a Service (DBaaS) and holds a mindshare of 7.8%, up 4.1% compared to last year.
Redis, on the other hand, focuses on In-Memory Data Store Services, holds 22.7% mindshare, up 14.7% since last year.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Cloud Spanner7.8%
Amazon RDS12.6%
MongoDB Atlas12.1%
Other67.5%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
In-Memory Data Store Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Redis22.7%
Amazon ElastiCache17.8%
Google Cloud Memorystore14.2%
Other45.3%
In-Memory Data Store Services
 

Featured Reviews

LJ
System Architect at UST Global España
Offers good performance to users
The tool lacks to offer AI features. In the future, I would like the product to offer AI features to users. Nowadays, we are creating small acronyms for our SQL Server. We put some templates. If I just put your name and stop it, the entire cloud can be explored, but such features are not there in Google Cloud Spanner. As a layman rather than a developer, if I create a tool or a procedure. If I write a procedure and then when you describe a procedure, a dummy procedure will be written for you, and it will be available for you as a template in SQL Server, but such kind features are not there in Google Cloud Spanner.
reviewer2811600 - PeerSpot reviewer
SDE 1 at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Caching and session design has improved performance and now supports high-traffic workloads
Overall, Redis is a powerful and reliable tool, but there are a few areas for improvement. One limitation is that Redis is memory-based, so scaling can become expensive compared to disk-based systems. While it offers persistence options, it is not always ideal for large datasets where cost efficiency is critical. Another area is cache consistency; Redis itself does not enforce consistency with the primary database, so developers need to carefully design cache invalidation strategies. More built-in mechanisms or patterns to simplify this would be helpful. Additional areas where Redis could improve include monitoring, security, and ease of use in large-scale ecosystems. From a monitoring perspective, while Redis provides basic metrics, deep visibility into issues such as memory fragmentation, hot keys, or latency spikes often requires external tools; more built-in, user-friendly options would make diagnosing production issues quicker. Regarding security, Redis has improved over time, but historically, it required careful configurations; features such as authentication and encryption exist but are not always enabled by default, posing a risk if not properly set up. A strong, secure by default configuration would be beneficial. In terms of ease of use, while Redis is straightforward for basic use cases, managing clusters and persistence strategies can become complex at scale, so better abstractions or tooling for distributed setups and operations would make it more developer-friendly.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We can scale the solution if we need to."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"Google Cloud Spanner is stable."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its scalability. Scalability comes with two options, among which Google Cloud Spanner can scale horizontally, compared to other relational databases that scale vertically."
"The application deployment in the cloud is the best feature of the infrastructure."
"The ability to fetch and save data quickly is valuable."
"The most valuable features of Redis are its ease of use and speed. It does not have access to the disc and it is fast."
"The solution's technical support team is good...The solution's initial setup process was straightforward."
"Redis is better tested and is used by large companies. I haven't found a direct alternative to what Redis offers. Plus, there are a lot of support and learning resources available, which help you use Redis efficiently."
"I use Redis mostly to cache repeated data that is required."
"The best thing about Redis is its ability to handle large amounts of data without frequently hitting the database. You can store data in temporary memory, especially for high-volume data."
"Redis provides an easy setup and operation process, allowing users to quickly connect and use it without hassle."
"Redis has multiple valuable features such as being a free and reliable open-source tool."
 

Cons

"The cost can be a bit high."
"Google came up with something called Cloud Spanner Emulator, which fails to work like the real product if I want to develop some code and run a database locally on my machine."
"The cost can be a bit high."
"The tool lacks to offer AI features."
"The tool needs to improve horizontal scaling."
"I want to improve the deployment of cameras and surveillance infrastructure."
"Redis could be improved by introducing a GUI to display key-value pair database information, as it is currently a CLI tool with no visual representation."
"The tool should improve by increasing its size limits and handling dynamic data better. We use the client ID or associate it with a key for static content. The solution will not be easy for a beginner. Unless you understand SQL data, it will be difficult to understand and use Redis. It also needs to be user-friendly."
"The solution's pricing for a local installation is very expensive."
"There are some features from MongoDB that I would like to see included in Redis to enhance its overall efficiency, such as the ability to perform remote behaviour. MongoDB is more efficient in handling updates than deletions and is quicker in processing updates, but it can be slower regarding deletions. This can sometimes pose a challenge, especially when dealing with large datasets or frequent data manipulations that involve deletions. In such cases, I often rewrite columns or update values instead of directly deleting data, as it can be more efficient."
"For the PubSub feature, we had to create our own tools to monitor the events."
"The initial setup of Redis was difficult, with a rating of two or three out of ten."
"The only thing is the lack of a GUI application. There was a time when we needed to resolve an issue in production. If we had a GUI, it would have been easier."
"The development of clusters could improve. Additionally, it would be helpful if it was integrated with Amazon AWS or Google Cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"Google Cloud Spanner is an expensive solution."
"Price-wise, I heard that Google Cloud Spanner is on the higher side."
"It is expensive."
"Redis is an open-source solution. There are not any hidden fees."
"We saw an ROI. It made the processing of our transactions faster."
"Redis is an open-source product."
"The tool is open-source. There are no additional costs."
"Redis is not an overpriced solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Media Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Spanner?
Google Cloud Spanner has all the features of a traditional relational database, including schemas, SQL queries, ACID transactions, and provides excellent integration and monitoring tools as well as...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Spanner?
Price-wise, I heard that Google Cloud Spanner is on the higher side. I am not sure if this is a rumor or if it's fake news, but I believe that having BigQuery and GCP together could be a little cos...
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Spanner?
The tool lacks to offer AI features. In the future, I would like the product to offer AI features to users. Nowadays, we are creating small acronyms for our SQL Server. We put some templates. If I ...
What do you like most about Redis?
Redis is better tested and is used by large companies. I haven't found a direct alternative to what Redis offers. Plus, there are a lot of support and learning resources available, which help you u...
What needs improvement with Redis?
The disadvantage of Redis is that it's a little bit hard to have too many clusters or too many nodes and create the clusters. The sync between the nodes is easier to implement with Couchbase, for e...
What is your primary use case for Redis?
Redis is used for a part of a booking engine for travel, specifically for the front part to get some sessions and information about the sessions. If a customer or user is using the sites in differe...
 

Also Known As

Google Spanner
Redis Enterprise
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Streak, Optiva, Mixpanel
1. Twitter 2. GitHub 3. StackOverflow 4. Pinterest 5. Snapchat 6. Craigslist 7. Digg 8. Weibo 9. Airbnb 10. Uber 11. Slack 12. Trello 13. Shopify 14. Coursera 15. Medium 16. Twitch 17. Foursquare 18. Meetup 19. Kickstarter 20. Docker 21. Heroku 22. Bitbucket 23. Groupon 24. Flipboard 25. SoundCloud 26. BuzzFeed 27. Disqus 28. The New York Times 29. Walmart 30. Nike 31. Sony 32. Philips
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Spanner vs. Redis and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
885,376 professionals have used our research since 2012.