The quantum speed limit (QSL) sets a bound on the minimum time required for a quantum system to evolve between two states. For open quantum systems this quantity depends on the dynamical map describing the time evolution in presence of the environment, on the evolution time τ, and on the initial state of the system. We consider a general single qubit open dynamics and show that there is no simple relationship between memory effects and the tightness of the QSL bound. We prove that only for specific classes of dynamical evolutions and initial states, there exists a link between non-Markovianity and the QSL. Our results shed light on the connection between information back-flow between system and environment and the speed of quantum evolution.