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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
6.6
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
NoSQL Databases (3rd), Managed NoSQL Databases (5th), In-Memory Data Store Services (1st), Vector Databases (3rd), AI Software Development (9th)
 

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 7.3%, up 5.1% compared to last year.
Redis, on the other hand, focuses on In-Memory Data Store Services, holds 22.0% mindshare, up 20.1% since last year.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Cloud Spanner7.3%
Amazon RDS12.6%
MongoDB Atlas11.5%
Other68.6%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
In-Memory Data Store Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Redis22.0%
Amazon ElastiCache15.3%
Google Cloud Memorystore11.9%
Other50.800000000000004%
In-Memory Data Store Services
 

Featured Reviews

Ethan Lo - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructuer Security at Premise Data
A stable and scalable relational database that ensures a return on investment for its users
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. You can change Google Cloud Spanner's resource configuration, which is done through processing units. Suppose you set up Google Cloud Spanner initially with a hundred processing units, and then you run out of resources since your database used too much CPU. In the aforementioned scenario, you can scale up or down and face no downtime in the production phase. The solution's features are important when running a company twenty-four hours, seven days a week.
RituRaj - PeerSpot reviewer
SDE 2 at Virtusa
Caching has improved response times and reduces database load for high-traffic applications
Redis is very reliable, but it could be improved in areas such as monitoring, debugging, and feasibility into memory use. Better built-in tools for observability would help teams manage it more effectively at scale. Managing memory efficiently and troubleshooting issues can sometimes require additional tooling, so these areas can also be improved.One practical challenge I experienced is managing memory efficiently. Since Redis is in-memory, we need to carefully configure eviction policies and monitor usage. Debugging cache-related issues such as stale data or cache invalidation can sometimes be tricky. Additionally, tuning memory usage and eviction policies needs to be planned very carefully.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"Google Cloud Spanner is stable."
"We can scale the solution if we need to."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"The online interface is very fast and easy to use."
"I find Redis valuable primarily for its caching capabilities, particularly in handling cache requests effectively. Its simplicity in managing key-value pairs for caching is one of its strengths, making it a preferred choice over more complex databases like MongoDB for specific use cases. However, I haven't explored Redis extensively for managing complex data structures beyond caching, as MongoDB might be more suitable for such scenarios."
"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."
"Redis is a simple, powerful, and fast solution."
"The solution's technical support team is good...The solution's initial setup process was straightforward."
"Redis provides an easy setup and operation process, allowing users to quickly connect and use it without hassle."
"Redis is a simple service that does what it promises."
"The in-memory data makes it fast."
 

Cons

"The tool needs to improve horizontal scaling."
"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 tool lacks to offer AI features."
"I want to improve the deployment of cameras and surveillance infrastructure."
"The initial setup of Redis was difficult, with a rating of two or three out of ten."
"There is room for AWS to provide more options for server types or a way to configure more or less memory for them."
"If we use a lot of data, it will eventually cost us a lot."
"It's actually quite expensive."
"The solution's pricing for a local installation is very expensive."
"Making management easier, especially for teams operating large Redis clusters, would be helpful."
"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 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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise10
 

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 needs improvement with Redis?
I have faced a few challenges and limitations with Redis. Although it is extremely powerful, there are challenges and areas for improvement depending on the use case. The first challenge is memory ...
What is your primary use case for Redis?
The main use case for Redis is caching. Caching is the primary purpose of using Redis for my organization, as I use it to cache frequently accessed data to improve application performance and reduc...
What advice do you have for others considering Redis?
If somebody is looking to use Redis, it is much easier and more scalable for making most database queries faster, especially for repeated pages while fetching data. It helps tremendously in handlin...
 

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 Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MongoDB and others in Database as a Service (DBaaS). Updated: August 2026.
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