vs

MongoDB vs RavenDB

MongoDB: The default document database: flexible BSON documents, rich queries and built-in sharding. RavenDB: ACID document database for .NET and beyond, with auto-indexing, Corax search and multi-master replication.

key differences

  • Licensing: MongoDB is source-available (Server Side Public License v1 (Community); commercial (Enterprise)); RavenDB is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 or commercial licence).
  • MongoDB is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than RavenDB (≤ 10 TB).
  • Only MongoDB has joins, in-memory.
  • Only RavenDB has pub/sub, time travel.
  • RavenDB can run embedded in your application process.

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 ravendb for

  • +.NET business applications and line-of-business systems
  • +Embedded databases in desktop or edge applications
  • +Search-heavy catalogs and content
  • +Multi-site deployments needing offline-tolerant replication

best at · OLTP, Search, Vector search

overview
Primary model
Document
Document
Also supports
Search Engine, Vector, Time-Series, Spatial
Search Engine, Time-Series, Vector, Spatial
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
MongoDB, Inc.
RavenDB Ltd. (Hibernating Rhinos)
First release
2009
2010
Latest version
9.0.4 (Oct 14, 2026)
7.2.7 (Oct 20, 2026)
License
Source-availableServer Side Public License v1 (Community); commercial (Enterprise)
Open source (copyleft)AGPL-3.0 or commercial licence
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
80.5
30.9
Rank
#4
#84
GitHub stars
28.7K
4K
Stack Overflow questions
175.2K
2.5K
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Active active
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Tunable, Causal
Strong, Eventual
Schema
Flexible
Schemaless
Architecture
Primary replica, Distributed, Client server
Distributed, Multi primary, Embedded, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
✓
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
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
RQL (Raven Query Language), LINQ
Client languages
C, C++, C#, Go, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, PHP
C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Go, PHP, Ruby
Best for
OLTP, Content, Metadata, IoT
OLTP, Search, Vector search, Time-series

MongoDB vs RavenDB: FAQ

What is the difference between MongoDB and RavenDB?

MongoDB: The default document database: flexible BSON documents, rich queries and built-in sharding. RavenDB: ACID document database for .NET and beyond, with auto-indexing, Corax search and multi-master replication. Licensing: MongoDB is source-available (Server Side Public License v1 (Community); commercial (Enterprise)); RavenDB is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 or commercial licence). MongoDB is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than RavenDB (≤ 10 TB). Only MongoDB has joins, in-memory.

When should I choose MongoDB over RavenDB?

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 RavenDB for .NET business applications and line-of-business systems; embedded databases in desktop or edge applications; and search-heavy catalogs and content.

Is MongoDB or RavenDB more popular?

MongoDB ranks #4 on the WhichDB Score (80.5/100) and RavenDB ranks #84 (30.9/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are MongoDB and RavenDB 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). Yes. RavenDB is open source. License: AGPL-3.0 or commercial licence.