Sidequest.js
Why Choose Sidequest.js?
Take Back Control of Your Job Queues
In 2025, managing background job queues is still a recurring headache for teams using Node.js.
Redis is usually the first choice: it’s fast, familiar, and widely used. Initially, it seems perfect. But as your project grows, hidden costs quickly surface—operational complexity, technical risks, unpredictable spending, and increasingly expensive infrastructure.
Sidequest.js was built for teams that want simplicity, reliability, and total control over their background job queues.
The Challenge with Redis Queues
Redis excels at what it was designed for: fast caching and temporary in-memory data storage with high availability for simple operations.
However, when Redis is used as the sole source for critical queues, significant challenges arise:
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Limited Durability: Redis primarily stores data in memory. Even with strategies like snapshots or AOF, the risk of losing critical jobs during outages is real and can compromise essential processes.
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Unpredictable Memory Usage: Redis relies entirely on RAM. Unexpected queue growth results in exponential costs for more powerful and expensive hardware simply to ensure job integrity.
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Complex Cluster Management: Scaling Redis for high availability and performance requires specialized expertise. Redis Cluster is challenging to configure correctly, with frequent issues like unbalanced shards and failed failovers.
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High Cloud Costs: Managed Redis services quickly become costly, especially considering the overprovisioning necessary to handle sudden traffic spikes.
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Lack of Transactional Integration: Redis doesn’t support atomic transactions with relational databases, leaving room for data inconsistencies and complicating business logic.
Redis is excellent as a cache, but critical queues require a system built from the ground up with durability, consistency, and operational simplicity in mind.
Full Control of Your Infrastructure
You already invest in robust databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, or MariaDB.
Why add further complexity with external queue services?
Teams often pay heavily for managed solutions, creating technological and financial dependencies. With Sidequest.js, your queue runs directly within your existing infrastructure, without extra costs or external dependencies.
Predictable Costs
External queue solutions charge based on requests and storage, making costs hard to predict.
Sidequest.js eliminates surprises. Your costs are limited to the database you already maintain and know well.
Cloud-Agnostic: Flexibility Without Lock-In
Moving between providers like AWS, GCP, Azure, OCI, or even back to on-premises is simpler with Sidequest.js. Unlike external services that require rewriting queues and code, Sidequest.js is designed to run seamlessly in any environment.
Operational Simplicity
Complexity comes at a hidden cost. With Sidequest.js, your team doesn’t have to learn how to operate separate systems or monitor additional clusters.
Just Node.js and your existing database. One simple tool that’s easy to configure, operate, and maintain.
Real-World Performance
Few companies genuinely need to process millions of jobs per second globally. For the vast majority, a well-designed SQL queue already meets all performance requirements, providing ample capacity with far less complexity.
Culture of Clarity and Autonomy
With Sidequest.js, your team gains deeper insight into the entire system, turning job queues from external “black boxes” into clear, predictable components of your infrastructure.
This approach fosters more mature teams and more resilient systems.
Sidequest.js: Jobs Under Your Control
Sidequest.js is free, open-source, and offers a straightforward, dependency-free alternative for managing your background job queues with peace of mind.
Less complexity, more autonomy.
Sidequest.js. Background jobs, your way.