Introduction to MongoDB Alternatives
MongoDB is a database management system. It uses a document-oriented database model and supports various forms of data. It is a non-relational database technology used for big data applications where the data is in the unstructured format. Instead of tables and rows, the architecture uses collections and documents. Hence the data in MongoDB is essential ‘schema-less’, which makes MongoDB a very fast and scalable application. MongoDB is written in C++ which makes it faster than most of the other competitors. MongoDB is very efficient in cases where significant scalability and caching for real-time analytics on unstructured data is required. MongoDB is very much suitable for Mobile apps, content management, real-time analytics, and applications involving IoT. Like everything else, MongoDB has its pros and cons. Let’s dive in further to analyze the limitations of MongoDB and other alternatives that are suitable for various requirements.
Pros and Cons of MongoDB
Following are the different pros and cons of mongodb:
Pros of MongoDB:
- MongoDB can be used to store the unstructured data.
- In a way that is relatively straightforward to update.
- It offers a high insert rate which is useful in a situation where the write load is high.
Cons of MongoDB:
- It is not built for transactional data.
- There is no function or stored procedure where the logic can be bound.
- All NoSQL, most solutions are not ACID-compliant.
- MongoDB does not provide durability as a function of the tool, it does let you tune the configuration of a replica set but that means one should be willing to sacrifice enough performance.
Alternatives of MongoDB
Below are the top 8 MongoDB Alternatives:
1. RethinkDB
RethinkDB is a scalable DBMS system that is open source. It helps in making real-time building apps much easier. This alternative of MongoDB offers a flexible query language, interactive operations, API monitoring, and is easy to install and learn.
Features:
- Helps you to build saleable real-time apps easily
- You can build modern apps using any web framework
- Helps you pair with real-time technologies like SignalR and Socket.io
- You can integrate the latest advances in technology
- Using joins, develop location-aware apps becomes easier
2. OrientDB
OrientDB is another open source NoSQL multi-model database. Organizations can now unlock the true power of graph databases. This can be done without any need of deploying multiple systems to handle different data types. This helps optimize performance and security while supporting scalability.
Features:
- Focused on Scalability and Performance
- Unified Multi-Model API – for quicker deployment
- TinkerPop3 for fast and effective upgrades
- Enhanced query planner and executor
3. CouchDB
CouchDB is also an open source NoSQL Database System. This tool is built to offer web accessibility which supports a variety of devices. Data here is stored in JSON format, and organized into key-value pairs which are similar to the MapReduce format.
Features:
- Allows you to run a single logical database server. This server can be run on any number of virtual machines
- CouchDB tool also provides interaction with external tools like HTTP proxy servers, load balancers, etc.
- Authentication and Session Support is provided that ensures security and durability
- The multi-node cluster allows you to save data efficiently and redundantly
4. ArangoDB
ArangoDB is another multi-model DBMS technology that is widely used. It supports three types of data models with a single database core and a single query language AQL. This query language is declarative which means it does not support create and drop commands but the language helps one to compare various data and their patterns by using one single query.
Features:
- This tool is designed to create a multi-node database model which supports key/value pairs, document, and graphs
- It can operate as a highly scalable database cluster for all data model
- This distributed database can be run in one data center and the data can be replicated to another datacentre without disturbing the authenticity of the data
- High-security features are installed in order to safeguard the data
5. PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is a very popular and widely used open-source database management system. This alternative of MongoDB provides support for SQL for relational as well as JSON for non-relational queries. Hence it performs efficiently with both, structured and unstructured data.
Features:
- Provides support for multi-version concurrency control
- Efficiently uses client-server network architecture
- Offers standby server and high availability in order to maintain the flow
- Object-oriented model and ANSI-SQL2008 compatible tool
6. Cassandra
The Apache Cassandra is an ideal choice for the user if scalability and high availability are required and at the same time not affecting its performance. This alternate of MongoDB offers support for replication of data across multiple data centers. Hence providing with security and durability without compromising on the efficiency.
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Features:
- Data is replicated to multiple nodes to give a fault-tolerance system and ensure durability
- Hence the network bottlenecks are reduced as every node in the cluster is separate and can function independently
- Support for contracts and services from third parties can be made possible using this tool
- Helps you to choose between synchronous or asynchronous replication for each update
7. IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant is another popularly used distributed database management system and Data here is stored in JSON format. It helps to store web and mobile apps which allow you to maintain data accessibility and availability at user’s convenience whenever required.
Features:
- All data nodes are deployed on clusters which are distributed across all the zones hence reducing inter-dependability
- A synchronized model that replicates readable & writable copies of data across multiple clusters to maintain durability
- Enhances the apps with the key-value pairs, MapReduce, full-text search and queries that support geospatial data
- Flexible JSON schema and powerful API that has compatibility with Apache CouchDB can be leveraged hence increasing the efficiency.
8. Cockroach DB
Cockroach DB is a distributed open source SQL database that is developed by Cockroach Labs. It is an open source project which was highly inspired by Google Spanner. It has inherited many functions from the same.
Features:
- Scalability, distributed SQL system with ACID transactions are the basic features
- Ensuring that the user’s scaling business-critical applications which are always available and correct is a very important feature of this tool
- Offers support for containerized deployments
- Multi-datacenter and multi-region deployments
Even though MongoDB has many features that are useful in many use cases, it is important to understand one’s business requirement before choosing a DBMS. One should always consider various tools available, functions and features offered and compare them according to the business use case. Only then zero down to the final decision.
Recommended Articles
This has been a guide to MongoDB Alternatives. Here we discuss different alternatives of MongoDB like Cockroach DB, Cassandra, RethinkDB, etc with their features. You may also look at the following article to learn more:
