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Comparing MongoDB Atlas and Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB

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APPLIES TO: MongoDB

Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB provides a powerful fully managed MongoDB compatible database while seamlessly integrating with the Azure ecosystem. This allows developers to reap the benefits of Azure Cosmos DB's robust features such as global distribution, 99.999% high availability SLA, and strong security measures, while retaining the ability to use their familiar MongoDB tools and applications. Developers can remain vendor agnostic, without needing to adapt to a new set of tools or drastically change their current operations. This ensures a smooth transition and operation for MongoDB developers, making Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB a compelling choice for a scalable, secure, and efficient database solution for their MongoDB workloads.

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Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vs MongoDB Atlas

Feature Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB Vendor-managed MongoDB Atlas
MongoDB wire protocol Yes Yes
Compatible with MongoDB tools and drivers Yes Yes
Global Distribution Yes, globally distributed with automatic and fast data replication across any number of Azure regions Yes, globally distributed with manual and scheduled data replication across any number of cloud providers or regions
SLA covers cloud platform Yes "Services, hardware, or software provided by a third party, such as cloud platform services on which MongoDB Atlas runs are not covered"
99.999% availability SLA Yes No
Instantaneous Scaling Yes, database instantaneously scales with zero performance impact on your applications No, requires 1+ hours to vertically scale up and 24+ hours to vertically scale down. Performance impact during scale up may be noticeable
True active-active clusters Yes, with multi-primary writes. Data for the same shard can be written to multiple regions No
Vector Search for AI applications Yes, with Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore Vector Search Yes
Integrated text search, geospatial processing Yes Yes
Free tier 1,000 request units (RUs) and 25 GB storage forever. Prevents you from exceeding limits if you want Yes, with 512 MB storage
Live migration Yes Yes
Azure Integrations Native first-party integrations with Azure services such as Azure Functions, Azure Logic Apps, Azure Stream Analytics, and Power BI and more Limited number of third party integrations
Choice of instance configuration Yes, with Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore Yes
Expert Support Microsoft, with 24x7 support for Azure Cosmos DB. One support team to address all of your Azure products MongoDB, Inc. with 24x7 support for MongoDB Atlas. Need separate support teams depending on the product. Support plans costs rise significantly depending on response time chosen
Support for MongoDB multi-document ACID transactions Yes, with Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore Yes
JSON data type support BSON (Binary JSON) BSON (Binary JSON)
Support for MongoDB aggregation pipeline Yes Yes
Maximum document size 16 MB 16 MB
JSON schema for data governance controls Currently in development Yes
Integrated text search Yes Yes
Integrated querying of data in cloud object storage Yes, with Synapse Link Yes
Blend data with joins and unions for analytics queries Yes Yes
Performance recommendations Yes, with native Microsoft tools Yes
Replica set configuration Yes, with Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore Yes
Automatic sharding support Yes Limited, since the number of shards must be configured by the developer. Extra costs apply for additional configuration servers.
Pause and resume clusters Currently in development Yes
Data explorer Yes, using native Azure tooling and MongoDB tooling such as Robo3T Yes
Cloud Providers Azure. MongoDB wire protocol compatibility enables you to remain vendor-agnostic Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud
SQL-based connectivity Yes Yes
Native data visualization without 3rd party BI tools Yes, using Power BI Yes
Database supported in on-premises and hybrid deployments No Yes
Embeddable database with sync for mobile devices No, due to low user demand Yes
Granular role-based access control Yes Yes
Encryption of data in-flight Yes Yes
Encryption of data at rest Yes Yes
Client-side field level encryption Yes Yes
LDAP Integration Yes Yes
Database-level auditing Yes Yes

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