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Amazon DocumentDB vs Amazon DynamoDB

Amazon DocumentDB: AWS's managed MongoDB-API database on a proprietary, Aurora-style storage layer. Amazon DynamoDB: AWS's serverless key-value and document store with single-digit-millisecond reads at any scale.

key differences

  • Amazon DocumentDB is primarily a document database; Amazon DynamoDB is key-value.
  • Amazon DynamoDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Amazon DocumentDB (≤ 1 PB).
  • Transactions: Amazon DocumentDB offers full ACID; Amazon DynamoDB offers limited.
  • Only Amazon DocumentDB has joins, full-text search, vector search, geospatial, compression.
  • Only Amazon DynamoDB has triggers, time travel, streaming ingest.

choose amazon-documentdb for

  • +Lift-and-shift of MongoDB apps already running on AWS
  • +Catalogs, profiles and content stores for AWS-native services
  • +Vector search alongside JSON documents in AWS

best at · OLTP, Content, Metadata

choose amazon-dynamodb for

  • +Serverless application backends on Lambda
  • +User profiles, sessions and shopping carts
  • +High-traffic e-commerce and gaming state
  • +IoT device state and metadata

best at · OLTP, Sessions, Cache

Amazon DocumentDBAWS's managed MongoDB-API database on a proprietary, Aurora-style storage layer.
Amazon DynamoDBAWS's serverless key-value and document store with single-digit-millisecond reads at any scale.
overview
Primary model
Document
Key-Value
Also supports
Vector, Spatial
Document
Type
Managed service
Managed service
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services
First release
2019
2012
Latest version
8.0 (Nov 11, 2025)
–
License
ProprietaryProprietary AWS service
ProprietaryProprietary (AWS service)
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
15.7
63.3
Rank
#204
#14
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
462
14.3K
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Active active
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong, Eventual
Strong, Eventual
Schema
Flexible
Schemaless
Architecture
Shared storage, Primary replica, Serverless
Distributed, Serverless
deployment
Self-hosted
—
—
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
AWS
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
✓
—
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
✓
—
Vector search
✓
—
Geospatial
✓
—
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
✓
✓
Triggers
—
✓
Stored procedures
—
—
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
✓
✓
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
✓
—
Encryption at rest
✓
✓
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
✓
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
✓
—
Streaming ingest
—
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
MongoDB Query API (MQL), Aggregation pipeline
DynamoDB API, PartiQL
Client languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C#, PHP, Ruby
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C#, .NET, Rust, Ruby
Best for
OLTP, Content, Metadata, Vector search
OLTP, Sessions, Cache, Metadata
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Amazon DocumentDB vs Amazon DynamoDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon DocumentDB and Amazon DynamoDB?

Amazon DocumentDB: AWS's managed MongoDB-API database on a proprietary, Aurora-style storage layer. Amazon DynamoDB: AWS's serverless key-value and document store with single-digit-millisecond reads at any scale. Amazon DocumentDB is primarily a document database; Amazon DynamoDB is key-value. Amazon DynamoDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Amazon DocumentDB (≤ 1 PB). Transactions: Amazon DocumentDB offers full ACID; Amazon DynamoDB offers limited.

When should I choose Amazon DocumentDB over Amazon DynamoDB?

Choose Amazon DocumentDB for lift-and-shift of MongoDB apps already running on AWS; catalogs, profiles and content stores for AWS-native services; and vector search alongside JSON documents in AWS. Choose Amazon DynamoDB for serverless application backends on Lambda; user profiles, sessions and shopping carts; and high-traffic e-commerce and gaming state.

Is Amazon DocumentDB or Amazon DynamoDB more popular?

Amazon DynamoDB ranks #14 on the WhichDB Score (63.3/100) and Amazon DocumentDB ranks #204 (15.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Amazon DocumentDB and Amazon DynamoDB open source?

No. Amazon DocumentDB is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Amazon DynamoDB is proprietary, closed-source software.