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IBM MQ 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
IBM MQ offers cost-effective, reliable integration, enhancing efficiency, minimizing data loss, and achieving ROI within two years.
Sentiment score
6.5
Redis enhances speed, reduces costs by 40%, boosts efficiency, and offers scalability, stability, and high availability, increasing customer trust.
It's a product which integrates the external systems with internal systems or among the systems themselves, making it an essential technology component required to integrate multiple systems.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
IBM MQ support is efficient yet inconsistent, with quick issue resolution but delays and documentation improvements needed for complex issues.
Sentiment score
1.0
Most users lack direct Redis support experience; reviews vary from knowledgeable and fast to low-rated service.
We cannot hold on to the project for a long time just to wait for IBM to fix the issues.
The response time for IBM MQ support could be better because when we are using IBM MQ and something goes wrong, support is required as the resource availability of the IBM product is very limited.
With containerized flavors of these products, we are having a tough time dealing with PMRs because the versions are new to IBM.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM MQ scales well across environments but may face challenges with configuration and hardware in certain scenarios.
Sentiment score
7.7
Redis is highly scalable, supporting clustering and cloud integration, making it ideal for enterprise and growing data needs.
IBM MQ handles many thousands of messages in a second, indicating good scalability.
In our environment, we do not have horizontal scaling for IBM MQ, but as demand increases, we would just vertically scale it.
Performance-wise, it is scalable, and other features such as DR, DC, replication, and active passive mode are complex to configure, but it remains scalable.
Data migration and changes to application-side configurations are challenging due to the lack of automatic migration tools in a non-clustered legacy system.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
IBM MQ is praised for stability, minimal downtime, and reliability, with strong performance and regular updates enhancing user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.7
Redis is highly reliable, handling heavy loads with strong uptime, requiring minimal maintenance, and proving dependable across infrastructures.
We have never had any downtime or crashes since it's been running.
The transaction is always guaranteed with IBM MQ, which is the main reason I have been working with it for fifteen years while dealing with financial transactions or messages.
Redis is fairly stable.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM MQ users seek enhanced security, user interfaces, monitoring, cloud integration, graphical admin, mobile/web support, and cost-effective training.
Redis struggles with cluster development, cloud integration, documentation, user experience, and requires enhancements in security and enterprise features.
Having a graphical user interface would improve usability.
The pricing model for IBM MQ could be more flexible for clients.
They don't meet our standards due to the timing to get a person with knowledge.
Data persistence and recovery face issues with compatibility across major versions, making upgrades possible but downgrades not active.
 

Setup Cost

IBM MQ's high cost is justified by performance and scalability, yet some prefer open-source alternatives for affordability.
Redis offers cost-effective options but may incur additional fees for RAM and managed services, requiring careful cost evaluation.
It's possible to get some training, but the cost of this learning is expensive.
The price of IBM MQ is definitely on the higher side.
I am not exactly sure about the licensing cost compared to similar products, but I assume it is affordable since we continue to use it, and it is also used by our customers.
Since we use an open-source version of Redis, we do not experience any setup costs or licensing expenses.
 

Valuable Features

IBM MQ is valued for reliable data transfer, seamless integration, scalability, security, and ease of administration across industries.
Redis offers high-speed in-memory storage, efficient caching, multiple data structures, scalability, and durability for reliable, scalable applications.
These are financial transactions, so we do not want to lose the message at any cost.
There is a saying that for the last 30 years IBM MQ has never been hacked.
It's time-tested, very stable, highly resilient, and has all the features to troubleshoot even if something goes wrong.
It functions similarly to a foundational building block in a larger system, enabling native integration and high functionality in core data processes.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM MQ
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
170
Ranking in other categories
Business Activity Monitoring (1st), Message Queue (MQ) Software (1st), Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) (1st)
Redis
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
NoSQL Databases (7th), In-Memory Data Store Services (1st), Vector Databases (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Md Al-Amin - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and secure performance consistently enhances message transfer
IBM MQ is more reliable and secure than other software. There is a saying that for the last 30 years IBM MQ has never been hacked. It is more secure and reliable. Whenever the configuration is done, I do not have to touch it again. It works fine, it is stable, and its communication is to the point and accurate. All performance-related aspects are better. Performance-wise, it is scalable, and other features such as DR, DC, replication, and active passive mode are complex to configure, but it remains scalable. The pricing model for IBM MQ could be more flexible for clients.
Yaseer Arafat - PeerSpot reviewer
Unmatched Performance and Scalability for Modern Applications
Redis has room for improvement in a few areas. Enhanced tools for managing and monitoring clusters would be beneficial, as would built-in security mechanisms like advanced encryption and granular access controls. Simplifying setup and configuration could make Redis more accessible to new users. Introducing more enterprise-grade features, such as better multi-tenancy support and improved backup and restore capabilities, would also be advantageous. For the next release, it would be great to see enhanced cluster management tools, native multi-region supports for better data redundancy, integrated analytics for deeper insights, AI and ML integration features, and improved developer experience through enhanced SDKs and tools.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
37%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is MQ software?
Hi As someone with 45+ years of experience in the Transaction and Message Processing world, I have seen many "MQ" solutions that have come into the market place. From my perspective, while each pro...
What are the differences between Apache Kafka and IBM MQ?
Apache Kafka is open source and can be used for free. It has very good log management and has a way to store the data used for analytics. Apache Kafka is very good if you have a high number of user...
How does IBM MQ compare with VMware RabbitMQ?
IBM MQ has a great reputation behind it, and this solution is very robust with great stability. It is easy to use, simple to configure and integrates well with our enterprise ecosystem and protocol...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

WebSphere MQ
Redis Enterprise
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Deutsche Bahn, Bon-Ton, WestJet, ARBURG, Northern Territory Government, Tata Steel Europe, Sharp Corporation
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 IBM MQ vs. Redis and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.