vs

MongoDB vs Percona Server for MongoDB

MongoDB: The default document database: flexible BSON documents, rich queries and built-in sharding. Percona Server for MongoDB: Drop-in MongoDB Community build with enterprise features like encryption, LDAP and hot backup.

key differences

  • Only MongoDB has vector search.

choose mongodb for

  • +Product catalogs with highly variable attributes
  • +Content management and user-generated content
  • +Mobile and web backends that evolve their schema weekly
  • +IoT and event data with time-series collections

best at · OLTP, Content, Metadata

choose percona-server-mongodb for

  • +Self-hosted MongoDB in regulated environments needing encryption and audit
  • +Replacing MongoDB Enterprise Advanced to cut licence costs
  • +MongoDB on Kubernetes with an open operator

best at · OLTP, Content, Metadata

overview
Primary model
Document
Document
Also supports
Search Engine, Vector, Time-Series, Spatial
Spatial, Time-Series
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
MongoDB, Inc.
Percona
First release
2009
2015
Latest version
9.0.4 (Oct 14, 2026)
8.0.34-15 (Oct 22, 2026)
License
Source-availableServer Side Public License v1 (Community); commercial (Enterprise)
Source-availableServer Side Public License v1
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
80.5
5.9
Rank
#4
#372
GitHub stars
28.7K
251
Stack Overflow questions
175.2K
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Tunable, Causal
Tunable, Causal
Schema
Flexible
Flexible
Architecture
Primary replica, Distributed, Client server
Primary replica, Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
–
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
MongoDB Query API (MQL), Aggregation pipeline
Client languages
C, C++, C#, Go, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, PHP
C, C#, Go, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby
Best for
OLTP, Content, Metadata, IoT
OLTP, Content, Metadata, Time-series

MongoDB vs Percona Server for MongoDB: FAQ

What is the difference between MongoDB and Percona Server for MongoDB?

MongoDB: The default document database: flexible BSON documents, rich queries and built-in sharding. Percona Server for MongoDB: Drop-in MongoDB Community build with enterprise features like encryption, LDAP and hot backup. Only MongoDB has vector search.

When should I choose MongoDB over Percona Server for MongoDB?

Choose MongoDB for product catalogs with highly variable attributes; content management and user-generated content; and mobile and web backends that evolve their schema weekly. Choose Percona Server for MongoDB for self-hosted MongoDB in regulated environments needing encryption and audit; replacing MongoDB Enterprise Advanced to cut licence costs; and MongoDB on Kubernetes with an open operator.

Is MongoDB or Percona Server for MongoDB more popular?

MongoDB ranks #4 on the WhichDB Score (80.5/100) and Percona Server for MongoDB ranks #372 (5.9/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are MongoDB and Percona Server for MongoDB open source?

Not in the OSI sense. MongoDB is source-available: you can read the code, but the license restricts some uses, typically offering it as a competing managed service. License: Server Side Public License v1 (Community); commercial (Enterprise). Not in the OSI sense. Percona Server for MongoDB is source-available: you can read the code, but the license restricts some uses, typically offering it as a competing managed service. License: Server Side Public License v1.