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Google Cloud Spanner vs MongoDB Atlas comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Spanner
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
8th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
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
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Managed NoSQL Databases (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Spanner is 4.0%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MongoDB Atlas is 15.0%, up from 14.0% 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
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.
Luca Botti - PeerSpot reviewer
Supportive features enable effective data management and growth
I find MongoDB Atlas highly scalable and easy to use, with very good support. The pricing is quite scalable and applies to various scenarios, both for smaller and bigger companies. MongoDB Atlas has supported our data growth well, and my overall impression is very positive. It is easy to work with and has a reliable support structure. For structured data storage and performance, it provides a comprehensive solution, and the feedback was generally positive.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a very scalable solution."
"Google Cloud Spanner is stable."
"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."
"We can scale the solution if we need to."
"Administering the solution is easy."
"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."
"It is nice because our developers create tables whenever they need to sync data."
"The most valuable feature is the schemaless architecture."
"The initial setup of MongoDB Atlas is straightforward...It is a scalable solution."
"The key feature of MongoDB Atlas that has been helpful for us is the ease of deploying new databases."
"What I found most valuable in MongoDB Atlas is its Elasticsearch feature. It also has high availability, so it's stable."
"As a tester, it was easy to validate data, access data, make active run queries against it, and retrieve data from it."
 

Cons

"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."
"The cost can be a bit high."
"I want to improve the deployment of cameras and surveillance infrastructure."
"It would be better if there were more integration capabilities with other products."
"If it could be cheaper, that would make us happy."
"The product does not have ORM."
"In the past, MongoDB offered more features for free, but now it's quite limited. The free version is limited, and you need to pay extra to fully utilize it. The pricing could be improved."
"A few areas that we have noticed as being problematic with the MongoDB Atlas include user access to the platform. Currently, it is difficult to restrict and control what actions a user can perform within the solution, which poses a challenge from an internal auditing perspective."
"Querying a dataset is not very intuitive, so I think that it can be improved."
"The product's file storage documentation needs improvement."
"The initial setup is not too difficult but can be somewhat tricky."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."
"Google Cloud Spanner is an expensive solution."
"Price-wise, I heard that Google Cloud Spanner is on the higher side."
"The solution is expensive."
"The solution is fairly priced."
"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."
"For our service, it was around 300 to 600 euros per month, which was acceptable for our customers."
"The solution is fairly priced. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"I am using the free version of the solution."
"We pay for a license."
"It is too expensive. They need to work on this."
"The price of MongoDB Atlas is highly affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Retailer
11%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Healthcare Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MongoDB Atlas?
The pricing is quite acceptable and scalable. For our service, it was around 300 to 600 euros per month, which was acceptable for our customers. We could scale up for better performance and scale d...
What needs improvement with MongoDB Atlas?
I am not an expert on what improvements could be made to MongoDB. The service is continually evolving with new features while maintaining reasonable pricing, making it attractive for developers.
 

Also Known As

Google Spanner
Atlas
 

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: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.