Inside Azure Managed Redis: Why choose standalone mode?

Azure Managed Redis introduces clustered mode as the flexible, scalable default. But alongside it, you’ll also find a standalone option. If clustering with a single shard can scale out seamlessly, why would anyone choose standalone mode? In this second post of the “Inside Azure Managed Redis” series, we’re exploring why standalone still exists, the scenarios where it makes sense, and share that non-clustered mode is now generally available in Azure Managed Redis.

At first glance, clustered mode seems like the obvious choice, and it is when you create a new Azure Managed Redis resource. Start small, and you’ll get a cache with one shard that can scale up by adding more shards as your workload grows, all without changes to your client app. Yet standalone continues to play an important role.

The first reason is simplicity. Non-clustered mode is a lighter-weight deployment with fewer moving parts. For developers building proof-of-concepts, running functional tests, or experimenting with new features, standalone mode minimizes complexity. It’s easy to provision, cheaper to run, and perfectly adequate for workloads that don’t require horizontal scaling.

Second, compatibility. Some existing apps and libraries assume a single endpoint and don’t handle cluster logic well. While most Redis clients now support cluster mode, standalone remains a reliable option for teams modernizing legacy apps at their own pace.

Third, cost efficiency. Standalone avoids the overhead of managing a cluster when it isn’t needed. For small dev/test environments, this means lower costs while still benefiting from Redis Software under the hood.

For production, clustered mode is the best fit. It helps support growth, resilience, and scale. But standalone remains a valuable entry point: a quick, cost-effective way to get started with Azure Managed Redis before workloads mature. With non-clustered mode now generally available, developers have even more flexibility in adopting Azure Managed Redis.