Upstash

What Upstash does

Upstash runs managed data infrastructure on a serverless model: you don't provision servers, and you pay per request rather than for idle capacity. The platform covers several products:

• Redis — serverless Redis with in-memory speed and disk-based persistence, automatic scaling, a 99.99% uptime guarantee, and multi-region replication. Common uses include caching, session management, rate limiting, leaderboards, and chat.
• Vector — a serverless vector database that handles hundreds of millions of vectors, uses a disk-based algorithm for efficiency, and supports metadata filtering with SQL syntax alongside similarity search.
• QStash — serverless messaging over HTTP, with CRON-based scheduling and automatic retries for failed tasks.
• Workflow — durable serverless function orchestration that removes function timeouts and retries failed steps automatically.
• Box — secure cloud containers for AI agents, with built-in Claude Code and Codex agents, full shell/filesystem/git access, auto freeze/resume, and usage-based pricing.
• Blob — serverless file storage with global CDN replication, direct browser uploads, S3 compatibility, and 1 TB of free egress per month on pay-as-you-go.

Serverless and edge focus

The distinguishing feature is HTTP-based APIs for Redis, Vector, QStash, and Search. Standard Redis clients are also supported via the Redis protocol. SDKs are available for TypeScript and Python, and the platform is optimized for environments like Vercel Edge.

Data is replicated across 8+ regions, and regions can be added or removed without downtime. Pricing starts free and scales with usage; the site states you never pay more than a cap price.

The homepage cites 160B Redis commands, 210M QStash messages, 15M workflow runs, and >99.99% weekly average uptime.

Upstash also offers a remote MCP server for connecting coding agents to your account, and runs an open-source program. There's a dedicated enterprise offering and a customers page, though the homepage excerpt doesn't detail specific customers or enterprise terms.

Pricing

Per-request pricing with a free tier. The homepage shows an example of 12,004 requests and 420KB of storage costing $0.02. Detailed pricing is on the site's pricing pages (per product, e.g. /pricing/redis). Exact tier details aren't in the excerpt, so check the pricing page for current numbers.

Alternatives

• Supabase — Postgres plus auth, storage, and realtime; a broader backend-as-a-service if you want a relational database instead of Redis.
• Neon — serverless Postgres with branching and autoscaling, similar pay-for-usage model but SQL-based.
• PlanetScale — serverless MySQL built on Vitess, with Postgres available too.
• Turso — SQLite for production, distributed and edge-ready.
• Render — cloud platform for deploying web services, databases, and cron, if you want general hosting alongside managed data.
• Railway — deploy web apps, databases, and services with automatic scaling.
• Convex — reactive backend combining database, functions, and realtime in one product.
• DigitalOcean — a general cloud with managed databases, if you prefer traditional infrastructure over serverless.

FAQ

Is Upstash only Redis? No. Redis is the flagship product, but the platform also includes Vector (vector database), QStash (messaging), Workflow (durable functions), Box (containers for AI agents), Blob (file storage), and Search.

Can I use Upstash from serverless and edge functions? Yes — that's the core design. Products expose HTTP/REST APIs so they work from environments like Vercel Edge where persistent connections aren't available. Standard Redis clients also work via the Redis protocol.

How does pricing work? Per-request, with a free tier and a guaranteed cap price. The homepage example shows 12,004 requests plus 420KB storage costing $0.02. See the pricing pages for current tiers.

Does Upstash offer an SLA? The site advertises a 99.99% uptime guarantee for Redis. Enterprise terms aren't detailed in the homepage content — the enterprise page would have specifics.

Is there a free tier? Yes, the site says "Start for Free" and pricing "scales to zero."

Which languages have SDKs? The homepage shows TypeScript and Python examples. Check the docs for the full list.