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Apache Arrow VS Redis โ„ข

Compare Apache Arrow VS Redis and see what are their differences

Apache Arrow logo Apache Arrow

Apache Arrow is a cross-language development platform for in-memory data.

Redis logo Redis

Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.
  • Apache Arrow Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-03
  • Redis Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-19

Redis is an open source (BSD licensed), in-memory data structure store, used as a database, cache and message broker. It supports data structures such as strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets with range queries, bitmaps, hyperloglogs, geospatial indexes with radius queries and streams. Redis has built-in replication, Lua scripting, LRU eviction, transactions and different levels of on-disk persistence, and provides high availability via Redis Sentinel and automatic partitioning with Redis Cluster.

Apache Arrow features and specs

  • In-Memory Columnar Format
    Apache Arrow stores data in a columnar format in memory which allows for efficient data processing and analytics by enabling operations on entire columns at a time.
  • Language Agnostic
    Arrow provides libraries in multiple languages such as C++, Java, Python, R, and more, facilitating cross-language development and enabling data interchange between ecosystems.
  • Interoperability
    Arrow's ability to act as a data transfer protocol allows easy interoperability between different systems or applications without the need for serialization or deserialization.
  • Performance
    Designed for high performance, Arrow can handle large data volumes efficiently due to its zero-copy reads and SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) operations.
  • Ecosystem Integration
    Arrow integrates well with various data processing systems like Apache Spark, Pandas, and more, making it a versatile choice for data applications.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Arrow

  • Complexity
    The use of Apache Arrow can introduce additional complexity, especially for smaller projects or those which do not require high-performance data interchange.
  • Learning Curve
    Getting accustomed to Apache Arrow can take time due to its unique in-memory format and APIs, especially for developers who are new to columnar data processing.
  • Memory Usage
    While Arrow excels in speed and performance, the memory consumption can be higher compared to row-based storage formats, potentially becoming a bottleneck.
  • Maturity
    Although rapidly evolving, some Arrow components or language implementations may not be as mature or feature-complete, potentially leading to limitations in certain use cases.
  • Integration Challenges
    While Arrow aims for broad compatibility, integrating it into existing systems may require substantial effort, affecting development timelines.

Redis features and specs

  • Performance
    Redis is an in-memory data store, which allows it to provide extremely fast read and write operations. This makes it ideal for applications requiring real-time interactions.
  • Data Structures
    Redis offers a variety of data structures, such as strings, hashes, lists, sets, and sorted sets. This flexibility helps developers manage data more efficiently in different scenarios.
  • Scalability
    Redis supports horizontal scalability with features like clustering and partitioning, allowing for easy scaling as your application grows.
  • Persistence
    Though primarily an in-memory store, Redis provides options for data persistence, such as RDB snapshots and AOF logs, enabling data durability across reboots.
  • Pub/Sub Messaging
    Redis includes a built-in publish/subscribe messaging system, which can be used to implement real-time messaging and notifications.
  • Simple API
    Redis has a simple and intuitive API, which can speed up development time and make it easier to integrate Redis into various application stacks.
  • Atomic Operations
    Redis supports atomic operations on data structures, reducing the complexity of concurrent programming and making it easier to maintain data consistency.

Possible disadvantages of Redis

  • Memory Usage
    Being an in-memory data store, Redis can become expensive in terms of memory usage, especially when working with large datasets.
  • Data Persistence Limitations
    While Redis offers data persistence, it is not as robust as traditional databases. There can be data loss in certain configurations, such as when using asynchronous persistence methods.
  • Complexity in Scaling
    Although Redis supports clustering, setting up and managing a Redis cluster can be complex and may require significant DevOps expertise.
  • Single-threaded Nature
    Redis operates on a single-threaded event loop, which can become a bottleneck for certain workloads that could benefit from multi-threading.
  • Limited Query Capabilities
    Compared to traditional relational databases, Redis offers limited querying capabilities. Complex queries and joins are not supported natively.
  • License
    As of Redis 6 and higher, the Redis modules are under the Server Side Public License (SSPL), which may be restrictive for some use cases compared to more permissive open-source licenses.

Apache Arrow videos

Wes McKinney - Apache Arrow: Leveling Up the Data Science Stack

More videos:

  • Review - "Apache Arrow and the Future of Data Frames" with Wes McKinney
  • Review - Apache Arrow Flight: Accelerating Columnar Dataset Transport (Wes McKinney, Ursa Labs)

Redis videos

What is Redis? | Why and When to use Redis? | Tech Primers

More videos:

  • Review - Improve your Redis developer experience with RedisInsight, Redis Labs
  • Review - Redis Labs "Why NoSQL is a Safe Bet"
  • Review - Redis Enterprise Overview with Yiftach Shoolman - Redis Labs
  • Review - Redis system design | Distributed cache System design
  • Review - What is Redis and What Does It Do?
  • Review - Redis Sorted Sets Explained

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Arrow and Redis)
Databases
10 10%
90% 90
Big Data
100 100%
0% 0
NoSQL Databases
5 5%
95% 95
Key-Value Database
6 6%
94% 94

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apache Arrow and Redis

Apache Arrow Reviews

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Redis Reviews

Redis Alternative for App Performance | Gigaspaces
Redis offers a RESTful API for accessing data stored within its in-memory technology data structures. This API provides a simple and efficient way to interact with Redis, enabling developers to leverage its capabilities seamlessly in their applications. Developers also need to manage the Redis cached data lifecycle, itโ€™s the application responsibility to store the data &...
Are Free, Open-Source Message Queues Right For You?
A notable challenge with Redis Streams is that it doesn't natively support distributed, horizontal scaling. Also, while Redis is famous for its speed and simplicity, managing and scaling a Redis installation may be complex for some users, particularly for persistent data workloads.
Source: blog.iron.io
Redis vs. KeyDB vs. Dragonfly vs. Skytable | Hacker News
1. Redis: I'll start with Redis which I'd like to call the "original" key/value store (after memcached) because it is the oldest and most widely used of all. Being a long-time follower of Redis, I do know it's single-threaded (and uses io-threads since 6.0) and hence it achieves lesser throughput than the other stores listed above which are multi-threaded, at least to some...
Memcached vs Redis - More Different Than You Would Expect
Remember when I wrote about how Redis was using malloc to assign memory? I lied. While Redis did use malloc at some point, these days Redis actually uses jemalloc. The reason for this is that jemalloc, while having lower peak performance has lower memory fragmentation helping to solve the framented memory issues that Redis experiences.
Top 15 Kafka Alternatives Popular In 2021
Redis is a known, open-source, in-memory data structure store that offers different data structures like lists, strings, hashes, sets, bitmaps, streams, geospatial indexes, etc. It is best utilized as a cache, memory broker, and cache. It has optional durability and inbuilt replication potential. It offers a great deal of availability through Redis Sentinel and Redis Cluster.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Redis should be more popular than Apache Arrow. It has been mentiond 226 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache Arrow mentions (40)

  • Show HN: Typed-arrow โ€“ compileโ€‘time Arrow schemas for Rust
    I had no idea what Arrow is: https://arrow.apache.org or arrow-rs: https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Show HN: Pontoon, an open-source data export platform
    - Open source: Pontoon is free to use by anyone Under the hood, we use Apache Arrow (https://arrow.apache.org/) to move data between sources and destinations. Arrow is very performant - we wanted to use a library that could handle the scale of moving millions of records per minute. In the shorter-term, there are several improvements we want to make, like:. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Unlocking DuckDB from Anywhere - A Guide to Remote Access with Apache Arrow and Flight RPC (gRPC)
    Apache Arrow : It contains a set of technologies that enable big data systems to process and move data fast. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Using Polars in Rust for high-performance data analysis
    One of the main selling points of Polars over similar solutions such as Pandas is performance. Polars is written in highly optimized Rust and uses the Apache Arrow container format. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Kotlin DataFrame โค๏ธ Arrow
    Kotlin DataFrame v0.14 comes with improvements for reading Apache Arrow format, especially loading a DataFrame from any ArrowReader. This improvement can be used to easily load results from analytical databases (such as DuckDB, ClickHouse) directly into Kotlin DataFrame. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
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Redis mentions (226)

  • Hacktoberfest 2025 with Ghostfolio
    The software is fully written in TypeScript and organized as an Nx workspace, utilizing the latest framework releases. The backend is based on NestJS in combination with PostgreSQL as a database together with Prisma and Redis for caching. The frontend is developed with Angular. - Source: dev.to / 6 days ago
  • Redis Explained: What It Is, Why You Need It, and How to Install It the Easy Way
    Hereโ€™s the thing: sometimes itโ€™s not your databaseโ€™s fault. Whatโ€™s missing is a speed booster in your architecture: Redis. - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
  • Real-Time Sync Alternatives: Vaultrice vs. localStorage, DIY, Firebase, Pusher
    This is the path of ultimate control. You spin up a Node.js server, add the socket.io library for WebSocket communication, and use a Redis instance to manage connection state and pub/sub messaging across multiple server instances. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Is Your Fraud Screening Process Ignoring Local Patterns?
    Your Database: This is your system's memory. It can be a fast in-memory store like Redis for temporary data (perfect for velocity checks) or a persistent relational database like PostgreSQL for long-term data (like blacklists). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Redis vs. Memcached: How to Choose Your NoSQL Champion
    Redis is also an in-memory system with exceptional performance. But unlike Memcached, Redis is known as a "data structure server." It doesn't just support simple key-value pairs; it offers a rich variety of complex data structures like Lists, Hashes, Sets, and Sorted Sets. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Arrow and Redis, you can also consider the following products

Apache Parquet - Apache Parquet is a columnar storage format available to any project in the Hadoop ecosystem.

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

DuckDB - DuckDB is an in-process SQL OLAP database management system

Apache Cassandra - The Apache Cassandra database is the right choice when you need scalability and high availability without compromising performance.

Apache Spark - Apache Spark is an engine for big data processing, with built-in modules for streaming, SQL, machine learning and graph processing.

ArangoDB - A distributed open-source database with a flexible data model for documents, graphs, and key-values.