Cache Engines
cachly runs two cache engines: Dragonfly for maximum throughput and Valkey for cluster-ready workloads. Both are fully Redis-protocol compatible — your existing clients work unchanged.
Dragonfly
Ultra-fast, multi-threaded, Redis-compatible
- ✓Up to 25× throughput vs. single-threaded engines
- ✓Shared-nothing architecture – scales with CPU cores
- ✓Fully Redis-compatible (RESP2/3)
- ✓Built-in tiered storage (RAM + SSD) – Dragonfly Tier
- ✓Automatic memory management with dashtable allocator
Best for high-throughput workloads where raw performance matters most. Used on Speed, Business & Enterprise tiers.
Valkey
Open-source, cluster-ready, community-driven
- ✓True Cluster Mode with automatic sharding
- ✓Linear horizontal scaling across nodes
- ✓Automatic failover with replica promotion
- ✓100% Redis protocol compatible
- ✓Active open-source community (Linux Foundation)
Best for cluster deployments that need horizontal scaling and HA. Used on Free, Dev & Pro tiers.
How to Choose an Engine
| Feature | Dragonfly | Valkey |
|---|---|---|
| Max Throughput | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Cluster Mode | — | ✓ |
| Tiered Storage | ✓ (SSD) | — |
| Multi-threaded | ✓ (native) | io-threads |
| Redis Compatibility | RESP2/3 | RESP2/3 |
| License | BSL 1.1 | BSD-3 |
Setting the Engine via API
POST /api/v1/instances
{
"name": "my-cache",
"engine": "dragonfly", // "dragonfly" | "valkey"
"tier": "hobby"
}See the API Reference for all available fields.