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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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Want to try vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB with no commitment? Create an Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB Cluster for free.

Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vs MongoDB Atlas

Feature Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB MongoDB Atlas by MongoDB, Inc
Compatible with MongoDB tools and drivers Yes Yes
MongoDB wire protocol Yes: v8 (private preview), v7, v6, v5, v4 v7, v6, v5. Mongo Atlas does not support older versions such as v4 and soon v5 (End of life in October 2024)
Global Distribution Yes, globally distributed with automatic and fast data replication across any number of Azure regions Yes, globally distributed with automatic and fast data replication across supported cloud providers or regions
99.999% availability SLA Yes No. MongoDB Atlas offers a 99.995% availability SLA
SLA covers cloud platform Yes No. For more details, read the MongoDB Atlas SLA
Instantaneous and automatic scaling Yes, ​Azure Cosmos DB RU-based deployments automatically and instantaneously scale 10x with zero performance impact and vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB autoscale tiers instantly scale (private preview). ​​​Atlas dedicated instances managed by users, or scale automatically after analyzing the workload over a day.
Dev/Test dedicated Clusters Yes, with non-HA vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB clusters saving you 50%. No, Clusters must always be HA, causing you to pay for unecessary compute.
Multi-region writes (also known as multi-master) ​​Yes. With multi-region writes, customers can update any document in any region, enabling 99.999% availability SLA ​​​Yes. With multi-region zones, customers can configure different write regions per shard. Data within a single shard is writable in a single region.​​
Limitless scale ​​Azure Cosmos DB provides ability to scale RUs up to and beyond a billion requests per second, with unlimited storage, fully managed, as a service​. ​​vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB deployments support scaling through sharding ​​​​MongoDB Atlas deployments support scaling through sharding​.
Independent scaling for throughput and storage Yes, with RU-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB No
Vector Search for AI applications Yes, with vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB Yes, with MongoDB Atlas dedicated instances
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. vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB offers Free Tier with 32GB storage forever. Yes, with 512 MB storage
Live migration Yes Yes
Azure Integrations Native first-party integrations with Azure services Third party integrations, including some native Azure services
Choice of instance configuration Yes, with vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB Yes
Expert Support 24x7 support provided by Microsoft for Azure Cosmos DB. An Azure Support contract covers all Azure products, including Azure Cosmos DB, which allows you to work with one support team without additional support costs 24x7 support provided by MongoDB for MongoDB Atlas with various SLA options available
Support for MongoDB multi-document ACID transactions Yes, with vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB Yes
JSON data type support BSON (Binary JSON) BSON (Binary JSON)
Support for MongoDB aggregation pipeline Yes. Supporting MongoDB wire protocol v7, v6, and v5 in vCore and RU architectures.​ Yes
Maximum document size 16 MB in vCore and RU architecture 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 vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB Yes
Sharding support Azure Cosmos DB supports automatic, server-side sharding. It manages shard creation, placement, and balancing automatically Multiple sharding methodologies supported to fit various use cases. Sharding strategy can be changed without impacting the application
Pause and resume clusters Currently in development Yes
Data explorer Yes, using native Azure tooling and Azure Cosmos DB Explorer. Support for third party tools such as Robo3T Yes, using native MongoDB tools such as Compass and Atlas Data Explorer. Support for third party tools such as Robo3T
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, with Atlas Charts
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
Multi-document ACID transactions across collections and partitions Yes Yes
Continuous backup with on-demand restore Yes Yes

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