Direct answer: at published prices, 30 days/month and roughly one command = one request, managed Redis in 2026 costs about: 1GB + 10M commands — Upstash 20, Memorystore Basic 35.77, ElastiCache Serverless 61.34; 10GB + 100M commands — Memorystore Basic 197.10, Upstash 202.25, ElastiCache Serverless 613.43; 50GB + 1B commands — Memorystore Basic 693.50, Upstash 2,012.25, ElastiCache Serverless 3,068.30 USD per month. Upstash’s per-command billing is lowest for a small cache with few commands; once you reach a steady 10GB/100M commands, Memorystore’s per-GB-hour pricing is cheaper; ElastiCache Serverless has a high storage rate but very cheap ECPU, fitting “small data, huge command volume” workloads. With HA/SLA, Upstash’s +200/database Prod Pack and Memorystore Standard reorder the list.
This guide is for architecture, backend and procurement teams running session caches, leaderboards, rate limits, queue deduplication, real-time recommendations and hot-data caches. Data cut-off: 6 November 2026; prices come from the US pricing pages of Upstash Redis, Google Cloud Memorystore for Redis and Amazon ElastiCache Serverless, in USD, excluding tax; all TCOs are editorial calculations, not vendor quotes. The meters — commands, requests, GB-hours, ECPU — differ, so official facts, editorial assumptions and non-comparable items are kept separate.
Upstash 0.2/100K commands (2/million), first 1GB storage free then 0.25/GB; Memorystore Basic 1–4GiB 0.049/GiB-hour, 5–10GiB 0.027, 36–100GiB 0.019; ElastiCache Serverless storage 0.084/GB-hour, ECPU 0.0023/million. Small cache/few commands: Upstash lowest; 10GB/100M: Memorystore lowest; 50GB/1B: Memorystore still lowest; Serverless is storage-heavy and compute-cheap, fitting small data with huge command volume.
Three meters: per command, per GB-hour, storage + ECPU
Upstash: pay-as-you-go 0.20 per 100K commands (2.00/million), the first 1GB of storage per database free, then 0.25/GB; the first 10 databases on a paid account have no per-database fee, additional ones 0.50/database/month; bandwidth is free up to 200GB/month, then 0.03/GB; Fixed plans start at 10/month with included commands/storage; Prod Pack adds 200/database/month for SLA, multi-zone HA, encryption at rest, SOC2 and Prometheus/Datadog. Memorystore for Redis: provisioned GiB-hours; Basic 1–4GiB 0.049, 5–10GiB 0.027, 11–35GiB 0.023, 36–100GiB 0.019, >100GiB 0.016/GiB-hour; Standard (regional/HA) 1–4GiB 0.064, 5–10GiB 0.054, 11–35GiB 0.046, 36–100GiB 0.035/GiB-hour; billed per second, priced per full hour. ElastiCache Serverless: data storage 0.084/GB-hour (minimum 1GB metered) + ECPU 0.0023/million; a cache request under 1KB is typically estimated at 1 ECPU; no node management.
| Platform | Meter | Published price | Boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upstash Redis PAYG | Commands + storage | 0.20/100K commands; first 1GB free, then 0.25/GB | 10 databases free; 200GB bandwidth; Prod Pack +200/database |
| Memorystore Basic | GiB-hour | 1–4GiB 0.049; 5–10GiB 0.027; 36–100GiB 0.019 | Single zone/no HA; provisioned capacity |
| Memorystore Standard | GiB-hour | 1–4GiB 0.064; 5–10GiB 0.054; 36–100GiB 0.035 | Regional/HA; provisioned capacity |
| ElastiCache Serverless | GB-hour + ECPU | Storage 0.084/GB-hour; ECPU 0.0023/million | Minimum 1GB storage; actual usage |
Sources: Upstash Redis Pricing, Google Cloud Memorystore for Redis Pricing and Amazon ElastiCache Pricing (US/US East, accessed 6 November 2026). USD, excluding tax; Memorystore uses us-central1 Basic/Standard public rates; ElastiCache uses US East Serverless rates; replication/multi-zone, backups, transfer and support are separate.
Three tiers: Upstash wins the small cache, Memorystore overtakes at 10GB
For 1GB/10M commands, 10GB/100M and 50GB/1B: Upstash 20 / 202.25 / 2,012.25; Memorystore Basic 35.77 / 197.10 / 693.50; ElastiCache Serverless 61.34 / 613.43 / 3,068.30. Annual: Upstash 240 / 2,427 / 24,147; Memorystore Basic 429.24 / 2,365.20 / 8,322; ElastiCache 736.08 / 7,361.16 / 36,819.60. At 10GB, Memorystore is only about 2.5% below Upstash, but at 50GB/1B it is about one-third of Upstash and one-fourth of ElastiCache.
| Monthly scenario | Upstash PAYG | Memorystore Basic | ElastiCache Serverless |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB + 10M commands | 20.00 | 35.77 | 61.34 |
| 10GB + 100M commands | 202.25 | 197.10 | 613.43 |
| 50GB + 1B commands | 2,012.25 | 693.50 | 3,068.30 |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. Upstash = commands/100K × 0.20 + max(0, GB − 1) × 0.25; Memorystore = GB × tier GiB-hour price × 730; ElastiCache = GB × 0.084 × 730 + commands/1M × 0.0023 (1 ECPU/request). Excludes tax, replication/multi-zone, backups, transfer, support and migration; Memorystore bills provisioned capacity even if unused.
HA/SLA tier: Upstash +200/database, Memorystore Standard steadier
Upstash’s 20/202.25/2,012.25 is PAYG without SLA/multi-zone HA; Prod Pack adds 200/database/month for 220 / 402.25 / 2,212.25. Memorystore Standard (regional/HA) is 46.72 / 394.20 / 1,277.50 for 1/10/50GiB. ElastiCache Serverless’s 61.34 / 613.43 / 3,068.30 is storage + ECPU; multi-zone/HA coverage depends on its product description/SLA. In short, when HA/SLA is required, Memorystore Standard is below Upstash Prod Pack at all three tiers; Upstash’s advantage is mainly a small cache/bursty traffic without an SLA.
| HA/SLA tier | 1GB + 10M | 10GB + 100M | 50GB + 1B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upstash PAYG + Prod Pack | 220.00 | 402.25 | 2,212.25 |
| Memorystore Standard | 46.72 | 394.20 | 1,277.50 |
| ElastiCache Serverless | 61.34 | 613.43 | 3,068.30 |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. Upstash Prod Pack +200/database/month (SLA, multi-zone HA, encryption, SOC2, etc.); Memorystore Standard 1–4GiB 0.064, 5–10GiB 0.054, 36–100GiB 0.035/GiB-hour × 730; ElastiCache is storage + ECPU with no extra HA line. Excludes tax, backups, transfer, support and migration; actual SLA/multi-zone terms depend on contract.
Break-even: about 17.9M commands at 1GB, 97.4M at 10GB, 341M at 50GB
Upstash vs Memorystore Basic: at 1GB, Memorystore is 35.77/month while Upstash storage is free, so Memorystore is cheaper above about 17.9M commands/month; at 10GB, Memorystore is 197.10 and Upstash storage is 9GB × 0.25 = 2.25, so the cross is about 97.4M commands; at 50GB, Memorystore is 693.50 and Upstash storage 12.25, so the cross is about 341M commands. Below those points, Upstash’s per-command model is more flexible; above them, provisioned capacity is cheaper. Command size/complexity changes ECPU and Upstash command counts; use your own real command volume.
| Capacity | Memorystore Basic/month | Upstash storage/month | Break-even commands/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB | 35.77 | 0 | About 17.9M |
| 10GB | 197.10 | 2.25 | About 97.4M |
| 50GB | 693.50 | 12.25 | About 341M |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. Break-even = (Memorystore monthly − Upstash storage) ÷ (0.20/100K commands); excludes tax, SLA/HA, replication, backups, transfer and support. Memorystore capacity is tier-priced and jumps at tier boundaries; Upstash commands include reads/writes and replica commands.
Which option fits which scenario?
Session cache/rate limits/small database, bursty traffic, below about 18M commands/month: Upstash PAYG, per command, first 1GB free, 10 databases free; add Prod Pack for SLA/multi-zone. Steady 10GB+, predictable commands, lowest unit price: Memorystore Basic; HA/regional: Memorystore Standard. Very small data (1GB class) but huge command volume on AWS: ElastiCache Serverless, storage 0.084/GB-hour + ECPU 0.0023/million; ECPU is cheap but the 1GB minimum raises small-cache bills. Need Redis enterprise modules (JSON, Search, TimeSeries): Redis Cloud/Enterprise is outside this TCO. Need global multi-region low latency: Upstash global replication/Prod Pack or Memorystore Standard, with replication/region fees.
| Scenario | First choice | Why | Check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small cache/burst/few commands | Upstash PAYG | 0.2/100K commands, 1GB free | Prod Pack, command count, bandwidth |
| Steady 10GB+/predictable | Memorystore Basic | 0.027/0.019 GiB-hour | Provisioned capacity, single zone |
| HA/regional | Memorystore Standard | About 2× Basic, regional | SLA, replication, failover |
| Small data/many commands/AWS | ElastiCache Serverless | ECPU 0.0023/million | 1GB minimum, ECPU counting |
| Enterprise modules/JSON/Search | Redis Cloud/Enterprise | Modules/enterprise features | Outside this TCO |
| Global multi-region low latency | Upstash/Standard | Replication/multi-zone | Replication commands, region fees |
Sources: the three official pricing pages (accessed 6 November 2026). This is an editorial decision matrix, not vendor advice; actual latency, throughput, failover, persistence, replication consistency and support response were not tested.
What should procurement and acceptance specify?
At least ten things: data capacity, commands/second and monthly total, read/write ratio, command size/complexity, replication/multi-zone, persistence/backups, SLA/failover, connections, bandwidth/transfer, migration/client compatibility. Run a 2–4 week POC on real traffic and record command volume, hit rate, P95/P99 latency, memory/fragmentation, replication lag, failover and the bill; do not compare only “per GB” or “per million commands”.
- Capacity: current/peak data, growth, fragmentation, eviction policy.
- Commands: monthly total, peak ops/s, read/write ratio, batching/Lua/transactions.
- Command size: value/return-set size; ElastiCache ECPU is request/byte-based.
- Replication: multi-zone/read replicas; whether replica commands are billed; lag.
- Persistence: RDB/AOF, backup frequency, recovery RTO/RPO.
- SLA: availability, failover, support response, status page.
- Connections: connection caps, TLS, pooling, serverless cold start.
- Bandwidth: ingress/egress, cross-region, internet egress.
- Compatibility: Redis version, modules/extensions, client/driver.
- POC: 2–4 weeks of real traffic; commands, hit rate, P95/P99, memory, replication and bill.
FAQ
What is cheapest for 1GB and 10M commands?
Upstash 20, Memorystore Basic 35.77, ElastiCache Serverless 61.34 per month. Upstash’s 1GB storage is free and 10M commands cost about 20; Memorystore is 1GiB × 0.049 × 730; ElastiCache is 1GB × 0.084 × 730 plus a little ECPU. For a small cache with few commands, Upstash is lowest.
What about 10GB and 100M commands?
Memorystore Basic 197.10, Upstash 202.25, ElastiCache 613.43. Memorystore is only about 2.5% lower; if commands keep growing, Memorystore’s fixed capacity is steadier. For HA, Memorystore Standard is 394.20.
What about 50GB and 1B commands?
Memorystore Basic 693.50, Upstash 2,012.25, ElastiCache 3,068.30. Memorystore’s 36–100GiB tier at 0.019/GiB-hour is lowest; Upstash’s 1B commands × 2/million = 2,000; ElastiCache storage 50GB × 0.084 × 730 ≈ 3,066, with ECPU only about 2.30.
Why is ElastiCache Serverless so expensive?
Its storage rate 0.084/GB-hour ≈ 61.32/GB-month is far above Memorystore’s 0.019–0.049/GiB-hour, while ECPU at 0.0023/million is very cheap. The ECPU advantage only shows with small data and huge command volume; 50GB is dominated by storage.
Does Upstash’s 20 dollars include SLA/HA?
No. PAYG base pricing has no SLA/multi-zone HA; Prod Pack adds 200/database/month for SLA, multi-zone HA, encryption, SOC2, etc. With it, the 1GB tier is 220, above Memorystore Standard at 46.72; for HA, Memorystore is cheaper.
What is the difference between Memorystore Basic and Standard?
Basic is single-zone/no HA at 0.049/0.027/0.019 GiB-hour; Standard is regional/HA at 0.064/0.054/0.035. At 10GB, Basic is 197.10 and Standard 394.20; choose Standard for failover/SLA.
How do I use the break-even?
About 17.9M commands/month at 1GB, 97.4M at 10GB, 341M at 50GB. Below the break-even Upstash is more flexible; above it, Memorystore’s fixed capacity is cheaper. Recalculate with your own 30-day command volume and storage growth, not peak ops/s × time.
What hidden costs should we expect?
Replication/multi-zone commands, backups/persistence, cross-region/egress, connections/TLS, Prod Pack, Memorystore provisioned capacity, ElastiCache’s 1GB minimum, support/SLA, migration and monitoring. Upstash replica commands are billed too (e.g., primary + read region: 100K writes cost 2×); Memorystore/ElastiCache replication/backups are separate.
Research method and limitations
This article separates “official facts” from “editorial modelling”: Upstash command/storage/Prod Pack rates, Memorystore Basic/Standard GiB-hour tiers and ElastiCache Serverless storage/ECPU rates come from the three US pricing pages (accessed 6 November 2026); the 1GB/10GB/50GB and 10M/100M/1B-command totals are arithmetic on published unit prices, not vendor quotes. It does not compare actual latency, throughput, hit rate, persistence, replication consistency, failover or support response.
Eight limitations: (1) only US/US East public list prices are used, excluding tax, discounts, commitments and regional differences; (2) one command ≈ one request and ElastiCache 1 ECPU/request (<1KB) are assumed; command size/complexity changes the result; (3) Upstash uses PAYG; Fixed plans/Prod Pack are not in the main table; (4) Memorystore bills provisioned capacity even when unused; (5) ElastiCache covers Serverless only, not node-based/reserved/Savings Plans; (6) replication/multi-zone, backups/persistence, transfer, connections, support, migration and monitoring are excluded; (7) Redis Cloud/Enterprise and Azure Cache for Redis are excluded; (8) prices and terms can change by contract, region and exchange rate. Treat this as a unit-conversion template and replace assumptions with a 2–4 week real-traffic POC.
Sources and basis
- Upstash, Redis Pricing: upstash.com/pricing/redis. PAYG 0.20/100K commands (2.00/million); first 1GB storage per database free, then 0.25/GB; first 10 databases on paid accounts free; bandwidth 200GB free, then 0.03/GB; Prod Pack +200/database/month. Accessed 6 November 2026.
- Google Cloud, Memorystore for Redis Pricing: cloud.google.com/memorystore/docs/redis/pricing. Basic 1–4GiB 0.049, 5–10GiB 0.027, 11–35GiB 0.023, 36–100GiB 0.019/GiB-hour; Standard 1–4GiB 0.064, 5–10GiB 0.054, 11–35GiB 0.046, 36–100GiB 0.035; us-central1. Accessed 6 November 2026.
- Amazon Web Services, ElastiCache Pricing: aws.amazon.com/elasticache/pricing. Serverless data storage 0.084/GB-hour (minimum 1GB), ECPU 0.0023/million; same-region transfer 0.01/GB; backup 0.085/GiB-month. Accessed 6 November 2026.
Data cut-off 6 November 2026; prices are public list prices excluding tax; all models are editorial calculations. This is not procurement advice.