Frequently Asked Questions
General
What’s the difference between BetterDB and RedisInsight?
BetterDB is built for Valkey-first observability with historical persistence. Key differences:
- Historical data: BetterDB persists metrics, slowlogs, and audit trails for days/months
- Valkey features: First-class support for COMMANDLOG, SLOT-STATS, and other Valkey-specific features
- Pattern analysis: Aggregated slowlog patterns showing “GET user:* is 80% of slow queries”
- Anomaly detection: Automatic baseline detection and alerting
Does BetterDB work with Redis?
Yes! BetterDB is fully compatible with Redis 6.0+. Valkey-specific features gracefully degrade when connected to Redis.
Is BetterDB open source?
BetterDB follows an open-core model:
- Core monitoring features are MIT licensed
- Pro/Enterprise features (anomaly detection, extended retention, etc.) require a license
- See our pricing page for details
Technical
How much overhead does BetterDB add?
BetterDB is designed for minimal overhead:
- Uses read-only commands (INFO, SLOWLOG, CLIENT LIST, etc.)
- Default poll interval: 1 second for metrics, 60 seconds for client snapshots
- Benchmarked at <0.5% CPU overhead on typical workloads
- Uses a dedicated connection (doesn’t consume application pool)
What data does BetterDB persist?
Depending on your tier and storage backend:
- Slowlog entries and patterns
- ACL audit trail events
- Client connection snapshots
- Anomaly detection events
- Key analytics snapshots (Pro+)
Can I use BetterDB with a Redis/Valkey cluster?
Yes! BetterDB automatically detects cluster mode and:
- Discovers all nodes in the cluster
- Aggregates metrics across nodes
- Shows cluster topology and slot distribution
- Tracks slot migrations
What ports does BetterDB need?
- Outbound to Valkey/Redis: Your configured DB_PORT (default 6379)
- Outbound to PostgreSQL: 5432 (if using postgres storage)
- Inbound HTTP: Your configured PORT (default 3001)
- Outbound HTTPS: For license validation (optional, with offline fallback)
Deployment
Can I run multiple BetterDB instances?
Yes! Self-hosted BetterDB has no instance limits. You can run as many BetterDB monitors as you need.
Does BetterDB support high availability?
For the self-hosted version:
- BetterDB itself is stateless (state is in PostgreSQL)
- Run multiple instances behind a load balancer
- Each instance connects to the same PostgreSQL database
How do I backup BetterDB data?
BetterDB stores all persistent data in your configured storage backend:
- PostgreSQL: Use standard pg_dump/pg_restore
- Memory: No persistence (data lost on restart)
- SQLite (dev only): Backup the .db file