[Answered ]-Python Django cache vs store in model field? Which is more efficient?

A cache is a cache is cache, however you implement it, and the main problem with caches is invalidation.

As Melvyn rightly answered, the case for the cache framework is that it’s (well, can be, depending on which backend you choose) outside your database. Whether it’s a pro or cons really depends on your database load, infrastructure and whatnots… if you already use the cache framework (for more than plain unconditional full-page caching I mean) and want to mimimize the load on your database then it’s possibly worth the added complexity.

Else storing your computed result in the db is quite straightforward and doesn’t require additional servers, install etc. I’d personnally go for a dedicated model – to avoid unnecessary overhead at the db level -, including both the cached result and a checksum of the params on which this result depends (canonical memoization pattern) so you can easily detect whether it needs to be recomputed. I found this solution to be easier to maintain than trying to detect changes to each and any of those params and invalid/recompute the cache “on the fly” (which is what can make proper cache invalidation difficult or at least complex to implement) but this again depends on what those params are and where they come from.