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Google Cloud Firestore vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

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 Firestore
Ranking in NoSQL Databases
13th
Ranking in Managed NoSQL Databases
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
Ranking in NoSQL Databases
2nd
Ranking in Managed NoSQL Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Database as a Service (DBaaS) (4th), Vector Databases (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Managed NoSQL Databases category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Firestore is 6.2%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 16.3%, down from 16.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed NoSQL Databases Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB16.3%
Google Cloud Firestore6.2%
Other77.5%
Managed NoSQL Databases
 

Featured Reviews

PrathapSankar - PeerSpot reviewer
Has simplified backend development for moderate user applications and supports efficient real-time data updates
A simplified way of building a logical layer on top of Firebase is necessary. Currently, the only option is to use cloud functions or Cloud Run functions. If they come up with an easier way of handling the logical layer between the frontend and backend, that would be beneficial. The UI of Firebase is much better compared to AWS or other Azure, but there is still scope for improving the usability of the UI. Additionally, some more AI features for automation can be added. The security layer can be enhanced, as currently, for data handling, there is just rule-based security; they can add one more layer of data security.
MichaelJohn - PeerSpot reviewer
Very efficient for application-facing scenarios
There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, having a local development emulator or simulator for Azure Cosmos DB would be beneficial. It would be very handy to have a Docker container that developers can use locally. Although, I know there is a free tier and so on and so forth, having a local environment would be nice. For example, SQL Server is very portable. You can even install it on your machine. That is the number one thing that is missing in Azure Cosmos DB. The second improvement area is the IDE of choice. That means how you interact with Azure Cosmos DB. For example, with SQL Server, you have SQL Server Management Studio. I know there is a little bit of support for Azure Cosmos DB in Azure Data Studio, but it is not heavily advertised or it does not feel like first-class citizen support. Developer experience or developer tooling is missing in terms of interacting with the database. Better developer tools or an IDE for interacting with Azure Cosmos DB would enhance the developer experience. Lastly, there is some mixed messaging about what Azure Cosmos DB is, given its multiple APIs. There are so many Azure Cosmos DB APIs available. There is NoSQL. There are MongoDB, Gremlin, and others. There is still some mixed messaging for others who are new to Azure Cosmos DB about what Azure Cosmos DB is. Is this like MongoDB, but then there is also MongoDB in Azure Cosmos DB? I know it well, and I know that the default one is just NoSQL, but others I have interacted with over the last ten years or so get confused.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the main features of Google Cloud Firestore's document management is the real-time listener; whenever there are any changes in the data, all the documents and applications that are reading through that particular document get automatically notified that there was some change, and automatically all the data gets refreshed."
"I use the solution for maps, saving some locations, and chats."
"The most valuable features are Firestore's query capabilities and its real-time syncing functionality."
"The benefits of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB were immediate for us."
"The fact that scalability can be achieved by simply configuring availability zones is very attractive."
"The most valuable aspect of Cosmos DB is its performance."
"The solution is stable."
"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is fast, and its performance is good compared to normal SQL DB."
"Cosmos DB's greatest strengths are its easy setup and affordability, especially for those who understand its usage."
"The high speed of Azure Cosmos DB compared to other competitors is remarkable."
"As a NoSQL database, it offers schema flexibility which simplifies design and reduces initial engineering overhead."
 

Cons

"I initially faced a problem creating groups in individual chats."
"Firestore needs improvements in its querying capabilities, particularly the ability to join tables and merge data from different tables before sending it to the front end."
"For lower volumes, it works fine, but once the volume increases, for use cases where the total number of users is less than 100,000 a month, Firebase is cheaper. But once you go beyond that, it becomes very expensive."
"There should be a simpler way for data migration."
"It is easy to use, but optimization has been a mixed experience. It has been more of trying to figure out how to do so. We have not found much support there, so we have to come up with our own way of optimizing it in different ways. That is one area of improvement."
"Because there is no local way of doing things, Azure Cosmos DB will always be considered expensive."
"The cost can sometimes be high, especially during cross-partition queries with large data amounts."
"We'd like to avoid full DR replication if possible, as this would result in significant cost savings."
"I am disappointed with the lack of compatibility of the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB emulator with Mac."
"Continuing to educate customers on how they can take better advantage of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB without having to completely rewrite their entire application paradigm would be beneficial."
"The API compatibility has room for improvement, particularly integration with MongoDB. You have to connect to a specific flavor of MongoDB. We'd also like a richer query capability in line with the latest Mongo features. That is one thing on our wish list. The current version is good enough for our use case, but it could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Cosmos DB is cost-effective when starting but requires careful management."
"Cost isn’t a big hurdle for us right now. The solution is not costly."
"Pricing is mid- to high-end."
"Cosmos DB is expensive compared to any virtual machine based on conventional RDBMS like MySQL or PostgreSQL."
"It is expensive. The moment you have high availability options and they are mixed with the type of multitenant architecture you use, the pricing is on the higher end."
"The pricing for Cosmos DB has improved, particularly with the new pricing for Autoscale."
"Its pricing structure is quite flexible."
"Its cost is transparent. Pricing depends on the transaction and data size, but overall, it is cheaper compared to hosting it on your corporate network due to other factors like power consumption."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Legal Firm
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise55
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Google Cloud Firestore?
Firestore needs improvements in its querying capabilities, particularly the ability to join tables and merge data from different tables before sending it to the front end. The pricing model is also...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Firestore?
I use Google Cloud Firestore for user management and data storage, primarily for web applications. Firestore helps sync data between different users and stores documents efficiently.
What advice do you have for others considering Google Cloud Firestore?
I highly recommend Google Cloud Firestore due to its cost-effectiveness and real-time syncing capabilities. However, it needs improvements in querying functionalities and a simplified pricing model.
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?
The initial setup is simple and straightforward. You can set up a Cosmos DB in a day, even configuring things like availability zones around the world.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?
The pricing for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is good, but there is a developer factor to consider. It could be economical or expensive depending on usage. Guidance about query consumption of Request U...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?
In terms of improvement for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, while it eliminates the burden of managing database infrastructure, we realized it might not be possible to use various models simultaneously ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Azure DocumentDB, MS Azure Cosmos DB
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
TomTom, KPMG Australia, Bosch, ASOS, Mercedes Benz, NBA, Zero Friction, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Kinectify
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Firestore vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.