Memcached

Mac · Linux · Self-hosted · API

Freedom report

Two barsScore 6.5

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely2 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Memcached is ranked #5 of 26 in caching software on Freedom251. It runs on API, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

Memcached plans and pricing

All plans

Memcached Free Free & open source Self-hosted software · no hosted plan or price listed memcached.org · 30 Sept 2026

Compared on caching software

Free plan: Yes
Deployment: self_hosted
Cache targets: database-call results, API-call results, page-rendering results
Data persistence: Yes
High availability: Yes
Supported cache engines: Text protocol, Meta Text protocol, Binary protocol, SASL authentication

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The record

Purpose: Memcached is a distributed in-memory key-value cache intended to speed up dynamic web applications by reducing database load.
Cached data: It stores small chunks of arbitrary data, such as strings and objects, including results from database calls, API calls, or page rendering.
Cluster model: Clients use a key-based hashing algorithm to select a server, while servers operate independently without synchronization or replication.
Expiration and eviction: Items can expire after a specified time, and the default eviction policy is least recently used (LRU).
Performance: The documentation says queries on slow machines should run well under 1 ms and high-end servers can serve millions of keys per second.
Developer audience: The documentation describes Memcached as a developer tool and says it is not code acceleration software or database middleware.
Language support: The maker says its API is available for most popular languages.
Installation: The downloads page provides a source tarball and installation instructions, including package prerequisites for Debian/Ubuntu and Red Hat/CentOS.
TLS security: Memcached 1.5.13 and later supports authentication and encryption via TLS when built with TLS enabled and used with a TLS-capable client.
SASL security: SASL can authenticate clients but does not encrypt communications, and the documentation says it is not suitable for use over the internet.
Flash storage: The optional extstore feature moves values to external storage while keeping keys and the hash table in memory, and requires Memcached 1.6.0 or newer.
Flash storage limit: Extstore requires flash storage rather than rotational media, and a Memcached restart effectively empties its flash data.
Item size limit: The use cases documentation cites a 1 MB item-size limit.
Support: The project directs users to its Discord chat, documentation, and mailing list for questions, and points to Cache Forge for business support.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Caching Software in 2026#5 of 26

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Sources

memcached.org· checked 30 Sept 2026
docs.memcached.org· checked 30 Sept 2026
memcached.org/downloads· checked 30 Sept 2026
docs.memcached.org/features/tls/· checked 30 Sept 2026
docs.memcached.org/protocols/binarysasl/· checked 30 Sept 2026
docs.memcached.org/features/flashstorage/· checked 30 Sept 2026
docs.memcached.org/userguide/usecases/· checked 30 Sept 2026
memcached.org/about· checked 30 Sept 2026