At a glance
| Data model | Document (BSON documents in collections) |
| Query language | MongoDB Query API and aggregation pipeline; no SQL |
| Consistency model | Tunable per operation with read concern and write concern; reads go to the primary by default |
| Replication | Replica sets: one primary, secondaries with automatic election |
| Partitioning or sharding | Sharded clusters using a shard key (ranged or hashed) |
| Transactions | Multi-document ACID transactions on replica sets and sharded clusters |
| Deployment and cloud availability | Self-managed on Linux, Windows and macOS, Docker and Kubernetes; managed as MongoDB Atlas on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud |
| Licensing | Community Server: SSPL v1.0 (not OSI-approved); Enterprise Advanced: commercial, price by quote |
| Release model | Major releases supported for five years; from 9.0 self-managed gets majors and annual x.5 Feature Update releases |
MongoDB is the reference document database: flexible documents, a rich query and aggregation language, multi-document transactions and built-in sharding. Community Server costs nothing to run yourself, but it is under the SSPL rather than an OSI-approved licence, and Enterprise Advanced pricing is by quote, so check both the licence and the support model before you commit.
Overview
MongoDB is the document database developed by MongoDB, Inc. Records are BSON documents (a binary JSON-like format) held in collections, and documents in one collection may differ unless you add schema validation. Applications use the MongoDB Query API and aggregation pipelines through official drivers. A replica set has one primary and secondaries for failover, and sharded clusters spread collections across replica sets by a shard key. The current stable release is 9.0, which MongoDB published on 28 September 2026 (9.0.4 followed on 13 October 2026).
You can run MongoDB three ways: Community Server, free under the SSPL v1.0; Enterprise Advanced, a commercial subscription that adds MongoDB Enterprise Server (with the in-memory storage engine, auditing and Kerberos authentication), Ops Manager, the Enterprise Kubernetes Operator and 24/7 support; or MongoDB Atlas, the managed cloud service. Each major version is supported for five years, with optional two-year Extended Lifecycle Support for Enterprise Advanced customers. The free GUI is MongoDB Compass; for local installs see how to install MongoDB, and for sensor data see MongoDB time series collections.
Key features
- Flexible BSON documents with optional JSON Schema validation; 9.0 adds a constraint validation level that guarantees every document in a collection meets the rules
- MongoDB Query API with aggregation pipelines, including $lookup joins between collections
- Replica sets for automatic failover and sharded clusters for horizontal scale
- Multi-document ACID transactions, with a new cap on concurrent multi-document transactions in 9.0 (default 10,000)
- Time series collections, which 9.0 stores as a single namespace and allows to be renamed
- Queryable Encryption, with prefix, suffix and substring queries on encrypted strings generally available in 9.0
- Query statistics enabled by default in 9.0 ($queryStats samples 1 percent of operations) and per-query settings for find and aggregate
Integrations and ecosystem
Pros and cons
Pros
- Mature document model with a large driver, tooling and skills ecosystem
- Replication, sharding and transactions in the free Community Server
- Same database runs self-managed or on Atlas across three clouds, so you can move between them
- Five-year support window per major version, published on MongoDB's versions page
Cons
- The SSPL is not OSI-approved, and offering MongoDB as a service triggers its source-disclosure terms
- Enterprise Advanced pricing is not published; you must talk to sales
- Auditing, Kerberos authentication and the in-memory engine are Enterprise Server features, not in Community
- Document design and shard key choice need care; poor choices are hard to change later
Pricing
MongoDB Community Server is free to download and run under the SSPL v1.0. MongoDB Enterprise Advanced, the self-managed commercial offering (Enterprise Server, Ops Manager, the Enterprise Kubernetes Operator, a commercial licence and 24/7 support), has no published price: the pricing page only offers a conversation with a solutions advisor. The managed MongoDB Atlas service has its own Free, Flex and Dedicated tiers, covered in our MongoDB Atlas profile and Atlas pricing guide.
Pricing checked on the vendor's official page on 7 November 2026. Prices change; confirm before buying.
Who it is best for
Application teams that want a flexible document model with replication and sharding built in, and the option to run the same database themselves or on MongoDB Atlas.
Typical use cases
- Product catalogues and content management with varied attributes per item
- User profiles, sessions and application state for web and mobile back ends
- Event and IoT data in time series collections
- Operational data layer that consolidates records from several source systems
Who should look elsewhere
- Heavily relational workloads with many joins and strict schemas: see MongoDB vs PostgreSQL.
- Organisations whose policy requires an OSI-approved open source licence for the database server.
Verdict
MongoDB is the default choice for a general-purpose document database, with the features most teams need already in the free Community Server. Weigh the SSPL terms and the quote-only Enterprise Advanced subscription against managed Atlas, and model your documents and shard keys carefully before scale makes changes expensive.
Frequently asked questions
Is MongoDB open source?
Not in the OSI sense. MongoDB Community Server releases after 16 October 2018 are under the Server Side Public License v1.0, which is source-available and free to use; earlier releases were AGPL v3.0. MongoDB sells commercial licences with Enterprise Advanced.
What is the difference between MongoDB and MongoDB Atlas?
MongoDB is the database you can run yourself (Community Server or Enterprise Advanced). MongoDB Atlas is MongoDB, Inc.'s managed service that runs the same database for you on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud; its tiers and prices are in our Atlas pricing guide.
What is the latest version of MongoDB?
MongoDB 9.0 is the current stable release: 9.0.0 came out on 28 September 2026 and 9.0.4, with security fixes, on 13 October 2026. 8.0 and 7.0 are listed as previous stable releases.
How much does MongoDB Enterprise Advanced cost?
MongoDB does not publish a price. The pricing page lists Enterprise Advanced features (commercial licence, Enterprise Server, support) and asks you to contact a solutions advisor about sizing and support plans.
Sources
- MongoDB release notes index
- Release notes for MongoDB 9.0
- MongoDB versions and upgrade paths
- MongoDB Community Edition licensing
- MongoDB Enterprise Advanced
- MongoDB pricing
Checked November 2026.
Listed in: NoSQL & Distributed Databases.
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