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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)
9th
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
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Managed NoSQL Databases (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Spanner is 4.4%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MongoDB Atlas is 14.5%, down from 14.6% 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.
Laksiri Bala - PeerSpot reviewer
Room for improvement in data handling leads to enhanced cost-effective data management performance
It would be beneficial if MongoDB Atlas could better support OLTP aspects and data frames, as well as enhance its capabilities for data pipelines and visualization dashboards. Furthermore, supporting the medallion architecture could be a valuable addition, and incorporating improved spatial and vector handling for geographical data could make it more competitive. Enhancing vector processing for AI capabilities would also be critical.

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."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"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."
"We can scale the solution if we need to."
"You can start quickly on projects which allow you to store many things."
"The features that I have found most valuable include the very easy integrations. The integrations are fantastic. I have not faced any challenges from the integration standpoint."
"It's a good solution for NoSQL databases."
"The product is user-friendly."
"The stability and performance are great. The high availability feature is great. Moreover, I am happy with the automated backup and restore functionality."
"Being schemaless is what I like best about MongoDB Atlas."
"The product is simple to use and enterprise-ready. It is also open-source."
"It has a flexible integration with our easy API."
 

Cons

"The tool needs to improve horizontal scaling."
"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 cost can be a bit high."
"It would be great if it were easier to integrate MongoDB Atlas with AWS services. Technical support for MongoDB Atlas could be better."
"The installation was straightforward except for the network hardware because it was a little complicated to make the connection with our VPC on AWS."
"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."
"The product's data aggregation feature needs to work faster."
"MongoDB Atlas is effective for unstructured and semi-structured data, but when it comes to OLTP transactions, its performance declines."
"The initial configuration fine-tuning for performance can be time-consuming."
"The initial setup is not too difficult but can be somewhat tricky."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise, I heard that Google Cloud Spanner is on the higher side."
"The solution is expensive."
"Google Cloud Spanner is an expensive solution."
"It is expensive."
"The purchasing process through the AWS Marketplace was very good."
"Pricing could always be better."
"We pay for a 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."
"For our service, it was around 300 to 600 euros per month, which was acceptable for our customers."
"It is too expensive. They need to work on this."
"Comparing the price between the MongoDB and Microsoft SQL Server, we are using the enterprise edition of Microsoft SQL Server, which is more expensive than MongoDB."
"It is an open-source platform."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Retailer
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing 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 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: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.