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Upstash

Serverless data platform with pay-per-request Redis, vector database, message queue (QStash) and durable workflows.

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Upstash is a hosted data platform for serverless and edge apps. Its core is a Redis-compatible database, and alongside it sit QStash (HTTP message delivery and scheduling), Upstash Workflow (multi-step jobs built on QStash), a vector database and smaller services.

The key idea is that everything is reachable over HTTPS as well as the normal protocol. Upstash Redis speaks the Redis wire protocol, so existing clients work, and it also offers a REST API where each command maps to a URL path. So runtimes without TCP, such as Vercel Edge and Cloudflare Workers, can use it through SDKs like @upstash/redis. QStash works the other way round: you hand it a message and a public URL, and it delivers the request to your endpoint, retrying on failure and running cron schedules.

For a small team: writes always go to disk too, so Redis can serve as a primary store and not just a cache; a global database adds read replicas in other regions with writes routed to one primary region; ready-made libraries cover rate limiting and similar patterns; and a monthly budget can cap pay-as-you-go spend, throttling the database instead of billing past it. It runs on AWS, Google Cloud and Fly.io, and is a hosted service only.

Limits: Redis sharding (cluster mode) is not supported, data is encrypted at rest only with the Prod Pack add-on, and SOC 2 covers Redis on the Pro and Enterprise plans. QStash and Workflow need a publicly reachable HTTP endpoint.

Where it fits

Background Jobs & Cron · Serverless queueSimple scheduled calls and delayed HTTP jobs on serverless or edge hosting, via QStash.Trade-off: A message is an HTTP call to your endpoint, so the endpoint's time limit still applies to the work.Vector Database · Managed vector storeA serverless vector index billed per request, alongside Upstash Redis and QStash, reached over HTTP from edge functions.Trade-off: Closed source and hosted only; per-request pricing gets expensive at very high query volume.

How Upstash itself is built

4 tools, from its own code, website and Product Hunt page.

ClerkNext.jsResendVercel

Who uses it

2 makers' products, each linked to the source that shows it.

The maker says so 2Subprocessor list 1Declared in code 2How evidence is collected →
DubOpen-source link management and attribution platform for short links, conversion trackin…

“We use Upstash for caching and queues – it's been incredibly reliable for us since day one!”

Background Jobs & CronMaker says so +1 · source ↗

What makers say

1 makers on why they use Upstash, in their own words on Product Hunt.

We use Upstash for caching and queues – it's been incredibly reliable for us since day one!
DubSep 2026 ↗

Loved and watch-outs

Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises, with how Product Hunt tags its reviews.

Most loved
  • Its serverless Redis is the default cache and shared-state store in Next.js and Vercel side projects, with nothing to operate. PHHNHN 2HN 3
  • It speaks the Redis protocol, so it is easy to swap for another Redis-compatible store later. HNHN 2
  • Upstash Vector handles embeddings for you, a text-in, text-out option for teams without vector infrastructure. HNHN 2
Watch-outs
  • Databases get temporarily rate-limited under traffic spikes, taking apps down during a front-page surge. HNHN 2HN 3
  • Paying per transaction costs more than running a Redis-compatible store on one VM. HN
  • Databases provisioned through Vercel's integration were painful to migrate away from. HN
On Product Hunt 5.0★ · 36 reviews
serverless Redis 7easy to use 4Qstash 4scalability 4fast performance 3developer experience 2
Read the reviews on Product Hunt ↗

Reliability and open issues

Incidents on its status page6 in the last 90 days, 1 major · 28 in the last yearFrom its own status page, 2026-10-02. Vendors decide what they post; one page can cover several products.

Alternatives to Upstash

All alternatives by situation →
Trigger.devLong-running TypeScript tasks — AI calls, media processing — that would time out in a serverless function.Open sourceFree tier23 makers · background jobs & cron
InngestEvent-driven, multi-step workflows where each step retries on its own and your code stays in your existing app.Open sourceFree tier16 makers · background jobs & cron
TemporalLong-running, multi-step workflows — payments, onboarding, AI agent loops — whose state must survive crashes and deploys, in Go, Java, Python, TypeScript and more.Open sourceFree tier29 makers · background jobs & cron
BullMQNode apps on a long-running server that already have Redis — free and fully in your control.Open sourceFree tier1 makers · background jobs & cron
pgvectorApps already on Postgres that want vector search in the same database, joined with normal tables.Open sourceFree tier
ChromaPrototyping RAG on your laptop with a pip or npm install and no server to run.Open sourceFree tier13 makers · vector database
PineconeA fully hosted index with nothing to operate, sized by usage.Free tier55 makers · vector database
QdrantHeavy metadata filtering alongside vector search, self-hosted from one binary or on its managed cloud.Open sourceFree tier18 makers · vector database
WeaviateHybrid search that mixes keyword and vector results, with built-in modules that can create embeddings for you.Open sourceFree tier16 makers · vector database

On Product Hunt, people weigh it against: Supabase, Cloudflare, Neon, Render, Convex, PlanetScale, Turso, Pinecone, Prisma, Xano.

Questions makers ask about Upstash

Can I use my existing Redis client?

Yes. Upstash Redis supports the Redis client protocol up to version 8.4 over TCP, plus an HTTPS REST API for runtimes that cannot open TCP connections. source ↗

Does it work from edge runtimes like Vercel Edge or Cloudflare Workers?

Yes. The REST API exists for serverless and edge runtimes where TCP is restricted; each Redis command and its arguments become path segments of an authenticated HTTPS request. source ↗

Is data lost if a server crashes?

No. Persistence is always on; every write is stored in memory and on block storage, and paid databases are also replicated to multiple instances. Upstash says this makes it usable as a primary database. source ↗

Which regions can I deploy in?

Databases run on AWS regions across North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa, plus several Google Cloud regions. A global database lets you add read regions and change them while it is running. source ↗

Is Upstash SOC 2, GDPR and HIPAA compliant?

Redis databases on the Pro and Enterprise support plans are SOC 2 compliant, the company states GDPR compliance with a DPA, and Upstash Redis is HIPAA compliant, with other products still in progress. Encryption at rest requires the Prod Pack add-on. source ↗

Can I cap my bill if traffic spikes?

On pay-as-you-go you can set a monthly budget per Redis database. When the cost reaches it, Upstash emails you and throttles the database instead of charging more. source ↗

What happens when my database hits its throughput limit?

Requests are throttled temporarily, so commands wait for capacity and latency rises briefly; normal flow resumes once traffic drops or the plan is upgraded. source ↗

Does Upstash support Redis Cluster?

Replication is supported, but sharding is not. source ↗

Is Upstash free?

Yes — there is a free tier a small product can run on; paid use starts at $0.2 per 100K commands. source ↗

Is Upstash open source or self-hostable?

Not open source, and hosted only.

Can AI coding agents work with Upstash?

It serves an llms.txt docs index; v0 set it up natively.

Who uses Upstash?

2 makers' products we track, each with a source. source ↗