Dozzle streams Docker container logs in real time through a web interface, with no agents to install and no database to maintain. It's a Redis-compatible in-memory data store rewritten in C++ with a multi-threaded architecture. Redis is single-threaded, which is its fundamental bottleneck.

Benchmarks show 25x throughput improvement on multi-core machines. Real-world results vary, but even conservative tests show 3-5x gains. It also uses less memory for the same data through better memory management.

Drop-in means drop-in. Point your app at Dragonfly instead of Redis, same port, same commands. Most apps work without code changes. and. Serious traction. Self-hosted is free under BSL-1.1 (converts to Apache-2.0 after 4 years). Dragonfly Cloud is the paid managed service. Pricing starts around $0.023/hr for a basic instance (~$17/mo).

The catch: BSL-1.1 license means you can't offer Dragonfly as a competing managed database service. For internal use, it's fine. Also, while Redis compatibility is high, some edge cases with modules and Lua scripting behave differently. Test your workload before migrating production.

### What's Free

Self-hosted Dragonfly: full Redis/Memcached compatibility, multi-threaded engine, snapshots, replication. Licensed under BSL-1.1 (converts to Apache-2.0 after 4 years). Free for any use except offering it as a competing managed service.

### What's Behind the Paywall

**Dragonfly Cloud:** - **Starter:** ~$17/mo (1 vCPU, 1GB). Good for dev/staging. - **Standard:** ~$50-200/mo depending on instance size. Production workloads. - **Enterprise:** Custom pricing. Dedicated infrastructure, SLA, support.

Cloud adds automatic backups, monitoring dashboard, scaling, and managed infrastructure.

### The License Question

BSL-1.1 restricts offering Dragonfly as a managed database-as-a-service. Using it inside your own product? Fine. Running it on your own infrastructure? Fine. Building "Dragonfly Cloud competitor"? Not allowed until the license converts.

### The Math

Redis Cloud comparable instance: $30-100/mo. Dragonfly Cloud: $17-200/mo. Self-hosted on a $20/mo VPS: outperforms both. If you have ops capacity, self-host.

### Verdict

Self-host for free if you can. The performance gains over Redis are real. Pay for cloud only if you need managed ops.

Dragonfly

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Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid

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