ElastiCache Extended Support for Redis OSS: Dates, Costs and How to Avoid It

The short answer

Standard support for Amazon ElastiCache for Redis OSS versions 4 and 5 ended on January 31, 2026. From 1 February 2026, every cache still running them was automatically enrolled in ElastiCache Extended Support, and it is billed as a premium on top of the node price: 80% of the on-demand node price in years 1 and 2 and 160% in year 3. Redis OSS 6 follows a year later, with standard support ending on 31 January 2027.

You stop paying the moment a cache runs an engine version in standard support. On ElastiCache that means moving to a newer ElastiCache version: Redis OSS 7, or the Valkey engine. The other exit is to run Redis yourself.

ElastiCache Extended Support dates

Extended support covers only the latest patch of each major version. Before enrolment, ElastiCache upgraded v4 clusters to 4.0.10 and v5 clusters to 5.0.6. After 31 January 2029, caches still running Redis OSS versions 4 and 5 are automatically upgraded to the latest version of Valkey.

What you get for the money: security updates for critical and high CVEs, fixes for critical bugs, and support cases within the normal service level agreement. What you do not get is time: it cannot extend a version past three years.

What ElastiCache Extended Support costs

Extended Support applies to node-based clusters. The charge is per node-hour, on every node: primaries and replicas alike. The figures below are us-east-1 on-demand pricing from the AWS price list.

A worked example: an ElastiCache Redis cluster with three shards, each with one replica, is six cache.r6g.large nodes. On version 5 in year 1 it costs $1.236 an hour for the nodes plus $0.99 an hour for extended support, about $1,625 a month. The same six nodes on the Valkey engine cost about $722 a month: AWS prices it 20% below Redis OSS on node-based clusters, with no premium.

Reserved nodes do not help. The RI discount applies to the node price, and the extended support charge is still calculated on the full on-demand price.

How to avoid ElastiCache Extended Support charges

1. Upgrade to ElastiCache for Valkey

AWS describes it as a drop-in replacement for Redis OSS 7, and Amazon ElastiCache supports a cross-engine upgrade in place. The endpoint DNS name stays the same; node IP addresses change. From 5.0.6 or higher, downtime is a failover of a few seconds. From earlier versions, expect 30 to 60 seconds during DNS propagation. A single-node cluster must join a replication group first, and a custom parameter group needs a matching one for the new engine.

aws elasticache modify-replication-group \
  --replication-group-id my-redis-group \
  --engine valkey --engine-version 9.0

Rollback is narrow: ElastiCache only supports rolling back from Valkey 7.2 to Redis OSS 7.1. Test on a staging cluster, including your client library, before production.

2. Upgrade to Redis OSS 7 on ElastiCache

To stay on Redis OSS, go to version 7. Upgrading to 6 only moves the problem to 1 February 2027.

3. Run Redis yourself

Some estates cannot change the engine version yet, usually because of an embedded product. Self-managed Redis 6 or 7.2 on EC2 or Kubernetes avoids the premium, but you inherit patching, failover and backups. Patching matters: CVE-2025-49844, a critical Lua use-after-free in Redis, was fixed in 7.2.11 and 6.2.20 for those lines. Our Valkey vs Redis comparison and guide to the Redis licence change cover which engine to standardise on.

Where OSSeva fits

OSSeva supports self-managed Redis on older versions with backported security fixes, and plans the version upgrade. See Redis extended support and Redis at OSSeva.

Frequently asked questions

Is ElastiCache Extended Support automatic?

Yes. Amazon ElastiCache enrolled caches on Redis OSS 4 and 5 automatically on 1 February 2026. Redis OSS 6 caches will be enrolled on 1 February 2027 unless they are upgraded.

Does it apply to ElastiCache Serverless?

AWS prices Extended Support for provisioned, node-based Redis OSS clusters, and the premium is a percentage of the node price.

When do the charges stop?

When you upgrade the cache to a version in standard support, or delete it. If you upgrade to Redis OSS 6, charges start again on 1 February 2027.