May 02, 2025 14:06:00

Redis returns to open source software after licensing changes spark criticism

The database management system 'Redis' announced that it will add

AGPLv3 , a license for free software, to its license options and move to an open source license model on May 1, 2025. Redis is a popular NoSQL database that has been provided under a permissive license, but in 2024 it adopted a license that was not recognized as an open source license, which led to strong backlash from the community.

Redis is now available under the OSI-approved AGPLv3 open source license.
https://redis.io/blog/agplv3/

Redis 'returns' to open source with AGPL license • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/01/redis_returns_to_open_source/

Redis is open source again -
https://antirez.com/news/151

Redis has announced that in March 2024, the license for Redis 7.4 and later will be changed from the traditional 'Three-clause BSD License (BSD-3)' to the dual license 'Redis Source Available License 2.0 (RSALv2)' and 'Server Side Public License (SSPLv1)'.

Redis changes license and is no longer open source software, but it has no impact on end users - GIGAZINE

The move was intended to force major cloud providers AWS and Google to pay the bills and is said to have had no significant impact on end users.

However, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) has criticized SSPL as a 'faux-open' because SSPLv1 requires commercial services that use the software to make the code public, which effectively restricts its use by cloud providers. It was also criticized that Redis, which uses SSPL, is no longer open source licensed software because it violates Section 6 of the OSI's 'Open Source Definition,' which prohibits discrimination against the fields in which SSPL is used.

Regarding this point, Redis developer Salvatore Sanfilippo, aka “antirez,” explained in a blog post, “I felt that SSPL was not accepted by the community in practice. OSI did not accept SSPL, and the software community did not consider it an open license.”

Then, Redis CEO Rowan Trollope updated his official blog on May 1, 2025, announcing that AGPLv3, which is approved as an open source license by OSI, will be added as a license option from the current Redis 8.

At the same time as this announcement, it was also revealed that Sanfilippo, whose departure from Redis in 2020 caused great upheaval in the community, had returned as a developer evangelist for Redis in November 2024.

However, according to The Register, an IT news site, the move to the open source AGPL license has not silenced all criticism of Redis, because AGPLv3 is still considered a more permissive license than BSD-3 due to its strict restrictions on commercial use.

'AGPL is a middle ground and is probably the most restrictive open source license in use,' said Peter Zaitsev, co-founder of open source consulting firm Percona. 'But for customers who want to continue using Redis, AGPL is clearly the better approach.'

In addition, in a Hacker News thread discussing Sanfilippo's blog, a comment was posted saying, 'I made some small, but personally great, improvements to Redis under the original license. Then, when the unexpected license change to SSPL was announced, I personally started using Redict (a fork of Redis). And I felt betrayed as a genuine contributor to the FOSS codebase. I have a lot of respect for antirez and recognize him as a kind and compassionate member of the FOSS community, but no matter what Redis has announced or done, they have completely lost my trust and I will continue to use the Redis fork as long as it exists.'