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Google Cloud Spanner vs MongoDB Atlas comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Spanner
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
8th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MongoDB Atlas
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Managed NoSQL Databases (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2024, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Spanner is 3.8%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MongoDB Atlas is 16.1%, up from 12.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Ethan Lo - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 5, 2023
A stable and scalable relational database that ensures a return on investment for its users
The most valuable feature of the solution is its scalability. Scalability comes with two options, among which Google Cloud Spanner can scale horizontally, compared to other relational databases that scale vertically. You can change Google Cloud Spanner's resource configuration, which is done through processing units. Suppose you set up Google Cloud Spanner initially with a hundred processing units, and then you run out of resources since your database used too much CPU. In the aforementioned scenario, you can scale up or down and face no downtime in the production phase. The solution's features are important when running a company twenty-four hours, seven days a week.
AhmetÖzdemir - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 27, 2022
Allows our business to analyze social media data with machine learning and store the data in MongoDB
I have also used Microsoft SQL databases. There's a distinction between SQL and MongoDB because one of them is based on the schema first. The other is not schema, not permanent, because of ACID compliant databases. The transaction is very important at the SQL, MYSQL, and Postgre databases, so if any transaction fails, it has to roll back because of the schema at most of ACID compliant databases. There are 35 million customers that consume those databases, like a POC system. Lots of transactions passing through the system are based on Microsoft SQL. Only semi-structured data – like a document based system like Twitter and social media data – is based on MongoDB.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The application deployment in the cloud is the best feature of the infrastructure."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its scalability. Scalability comes with two options, among which Google Cloud Spanner can scale horizontally, compared to other relational databases that scale vertically."
"Google Cloud Spanner is stable."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"We can scale the solution if we need to."
"For security reasons, I prefer MongoDB Atlas. It supports role-based access control, so you have an entity for each individual."
"The most valuable feature is that it's all web-based. So one can browse collections just from the web. MongoDB Atlas is very accessible, quick to understand, and quick to learn. People who have never used CLI can hop into the web interface and browse the database."
"MongoDB Atlas is very easy to use and user-friendly, and you get what you're paying for."
"It can store data as a flat file, similar to a file system."
"The product is user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature is the schemaless architecture."
"What I found most valuable in MongoDB Atlas is its Elasticsearch feature. It also has high availability, so it's stable."
"MongoDB Atlas is a platform as a service and it has proven to be particularly valuable due to its self-managing nature. This has allowed us to minimize the amount of time and effort required to manage it, as it effectively manages itself. Additionally, it is a complete solution when looking at its features."
 

Cons

"The cost can be a bit high."
"I want to improve the deployment of cameras and surveillance infrastructure."
"Google came up with something called Cloud Spanner Emulator, which fails to work like the real product if I want to develop some code and run a database locally on my machine."
"The tool lacks to offer AI features."
"The tool needs to improve horizontal scaling."
"They could explore ways to facilitate deploying MongoDB containers within the platform."
"We had some bad trainers when we first came onboard and would rate them fairly low. They did not seem staffed properly to fulfill the training services that they offered."
"We had some edge cases where scalability was an issue where a node went offline, and we had to deal with that."
"The web console isn't very intuitive, especially for large data."
"It would be better if there were more integration capabilities with other products."
"Querying a dataset is not very intuitive, so I think that it can be improved."
"It would be great if it were easier to integrate MongoDB Atlas with AWS services. Technical support for MongoDB Atlas could be better."
"When I edit a document from a document, a lot of clicking is involved, like changing data type manually from a drop-down. It would be super nice if I could just edit the document in a JSON format. The JSON-based document editor should have a multi-language feature. Also, it would be great if there was a connect option from Google Looker Studio."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."
"Google Cloud Spanner is an expensive solution."
"The solution is expensive."
"Price-wise, I heard that Google Cloud Spanner is on the higher side."
"We pay for the license on a monthly basis. It's not cheap or expensive. For smaller companies, it's definitely expensive."
"We pay for a license."
"MongoDB Atlas is more cost-effective than Amazon DocumentDB. It also has a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Apart from the standard licensing cost, you must also pay to get MongoDB Atlas technical support, which is expensive."
"We're currently using the Atlas for the night and don't require a license. However, it can be a problem if you want to use their enterprise environment. Then you need to purchase the license."
"The solution is expensive overall. It does not require a license but if you want the support then you will need to purchase the license. They use a pay-as-you-go model and you are able to receive some discounts by making longer usage commitments."
"It is too expensive. They need to work on this."
"I have seen the cost, and it was pretty cheap."
"The solution is fairly priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Retailer
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Spanner?
Google Cloud Spanner has all the features of a traditional relational database, including schemas, SQL queries, ACID transactions, and provides excellent integration and monitoring tools as well as...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Spanner?
Price-wise, I heard that Google Cloud Spanner is on the higher side. I am not sure if this is a rumor or if it's fake news, but I believe that having BigQuery and GCP together could be a little cos...
What do you like most about MongoDB Atlas?
There are many valuable features, but scalability stands out. It can scale across zones. You can define multiple nodes. They have also partnered with AWS, offering great service with multiple featu...
What needs improvement with MongoDB Atlas?
Searching and browsing through the collection must be made easier.
 

Also Known As

Google Spanner
Atlas
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Streak, Optiva, Mixpanel
Wells Fargo, Forbes, Ulta Beauty, Bosch, Sanoma, Current (a Digital Bank), ASAP Log, SBB, Zebra Technologies, Radial, Kovai, Eni, Accuhit, Cognigy, and Payload.
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Spanner vs. MongoDB Atlas and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
813,418 professionals have used our research since 2012.