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Redis โ„ข VS PostGIS

Compare Redis VS PostGIS and see what are their differences

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Redis logo Redis

Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

PostGIS logo PostGIS

Open source spatial database
  • 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.

  • PostGIS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-18

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.

PostGIS features and specs

  • Open Source
    PostGIS is open-source, meaning it is free to use and has a strong community support for development and troubleshooting.
  • Integration with PostgreSQL
    PostGIS extends PostgreSQL, a robust relational database management system, providing powerful geospatial capabilities along with traditional SQL features.
  • Rich Geospatial Functions
    PostGIS offers a comprehensive range of geospatial functions and data types, making it suitable for complex spatial queries and analyses.
  • Cross-platform Support
    Being cross-platform, PostGIS can run on various operating systems including Windows, Linux, and macOS, offering flexibility in deployment.
  • Active Community and Documentation
    PostGIS benefits from an active user community and extensive documentation, which aids in learning and problem-solving.
  • Scalability
    Built on PostgreSQL, PostGIS inherits its scalability features, which support large datasets and extensive query capabilities.
  • Customization and Extension
    PostGIS's open architecture allows for customization and the development of extensions to meet specific geospatial needs.

Possible disadvantages of PostGIS

  • Complexity
    The setup and maintenance of PostGIS can be complex for users without prior experience in PostgreSQL or geospatial databases.
  • Performance Overhead
    For extremely large datasets and very high-performance needs, the additional geospatial functionality can introduce some performance overhead.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a significant learning curve associated with mastering PostGIS, particularly for users who are not familiar with GIS or SQL.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running intensive geospatial queries can be resource-intensive, requiring significant memory and processing power.
  • Limited Advanced GIS Features
    While PostGIS offers extensive GIS features, it may fall short compared to specialized GIS software for certain advanced spatial analytics or visualization tasks.
  • Dependency on PostgreSQL
    As PostGIS is an extension to PostgreSQL, users are dependent on PostgreSQL updates and limitations, which might not always align with geospatial needs.

Analysis of PostGIS

Overall verdict

  • Yes, PostGIS is highly regarded for its capabilities in managing and analyzing spatial data. It is a powerful tool for those needing advanced spatial functionalities and is often recommended due to its open-source nature and extensive community support.

Why this product is good

  • PostGIS is considered a robust spatial database extender for PostgreSQL, offering extensive support for geographic objects, which enables it to manage and analyze spatial data efficiently. It provides a wide range of functions for spatial queries, including geometry and geography data types, and it supports spatial indexing and topological relationships. Its integration with PostgreSQL ensures reliability, scalability, and performance, making it a popular choice for GIS professionals.

Recommended for

  • Geographic Information System (GIS) professionals
  • Organizations managing spatial databases
  • Developers building applications requiring spatial data processing
  • Environmental scientists and urban planners
  • Businesses needing location-based data analysis

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

PostGIS videos

Como Instalar o PostgreSQL com PostGIS | ALL com GEO

More videos:

  • Review - Paul Ramsey: This Is PostGIS
  • Review - A New Dimension To PostGIS : 3D

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Redis and PostGIS)
Databases
100 100%
0% 0
Maps
0 0%
100% 100
NoSQL Databases
100 100%
0% 0
Database Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

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.

PostGIS Reviews

The Top 10 Alternatives to ArcGIS
For those in the engineering and GIS community, PostGIS is a well-known open source extension for the PostgreSQL database that allows for spatial data to be stored, managed, and queried. The software enables users to conduct complex geospatial analyses and โ€“ because it is built on top of the powerful open-source database PostgreSQL โ€“ it can handle large datasets with ease....

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Redis seems to be a lot more popular than PostGIS. While we know about 226 links to Redis, we've tracked only 1 mention of PostGIS. 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.

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 / 30 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
View more

PostGIS mentions (1)

  • Efficient Distance Querying in MySQL
    This is an interesting article about strategies to use when traditional indexes just won't do, but for the love of the index please use MySQL's (or postgres' or sqlite's) built in spatial index for this particular class of problems. It will does this sort of thing much, much more efficiently than 99% of in house solutions. https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/spatial-types.html... - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

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

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

Slick - A jquery plugin for creating slideshows and carousels into your webpage.

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

Sequel Pro - MySQL database management for Mac OS X

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

Maptitude - Maptitude is a mapping software that is fitted with GIS features that avail maps and other forms of data regarding the surrounding geographical areas. Read more about Maptitude.