Amazon DocumentDB
Amazon DocumentDB is a cloud, fully managed document database service compatible with MongoDB APIs and drivers.
What Amazon DocumentDB is
Amazon DocumentDB is a cloud, fully managed document database service compatible with MongoDB APIs and drivers. It handles JSON and BSON documents, transactions, vector search, and documents up to 16 MB. Applications can typically migrate using supported MongoDB APIs and drivers without code changes or downtime, although not every MongoDB API is supported. Serverless deployments adjust capacity to workload demand and support Multi-AZ deployments and read replicas. A cluster can include up to 15 read replicas through one read-query endpoint. Storage grows automatically in 10 GiB increments to a maximum of 4 PiB. Native integrations include Amazon CloudWatch, AWS IAM, AWS Backup, and Amazon OpenSearch Service zero-ETL integration. Encryption at rest with AWS KMS, encryption in transit with TLS, and CloudWatch monitoring are available without additional cost. AWS lists content management, e-commerce, mobile and web applications, and generative and agentic AI as use cases. Pricing is paid, with a 30-day trial for eligible new users. Serverless examples are $0.08 a month Standard and $0.09 a month I/O-Optimized.
Good
- MongoDB APIs and drivers support typical migrations
- Serverless capacity scales with workload demand
- Up to 15 read replicas per cluster
- Storage grows to 4 PiB
- Supports JSON, BSON, transactions, and vector search
Watch out
- Does not support every MongoDB API
- No free plan
- Free trial excludes AWS GovCloud and China Ningxia
- Pricing includes several usage dimensions
Who it suits
It suits teams building cloud applications that use MongoDB APIs and need managed document storage, scaling, replicas, or vector search. It also fits listed content, commerce, mobile, web, and generative-AI use cases.
Verdict
Amazon DocumentDB combines managed cloud operation with MongoDB compatibility, scaling, replicas, and large automatic storage growth. Check API compatibility and configuration-based charges before choosing it.
Plans and prices
From Amazon DocumentDB's own pricing page, checked 22 Sep 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Serverless — Standard | — | 0.5 DCU starting capacity · 0.5 DCU capacity increments · Up to 15 read replicas |
| Serverless — I/O-Optimized | — | 0.5 DCU starting capacity · 0.5 DCU capacity increments · Up to 15 read replicas |
| Provisioned On-Demand — Standard | — | 10-minute minimum billing period · Up to 15 read replicas |
| Provisioned On-Demand — I/O-Optimized | — | 10-minute minimum billing period · Up to 15 read replicas |
| Amazon DocumentDB free trial | Free | 750 hours/month of db.t3.medium · 30 million I/Os · 5 GB storage · 5 GB backup storage · Free for 30 days for eligible new users |
| Free trial | Free | 750 db.t3.medium instance-hours/month · 30 million I/Os · 5 GB storage · 5 GB backup storage · 30 days |
| Amazon DocumentDB Serverless (Standard) | $0.08 a month | 0.5 DCU minimum · 0.5 DCU increments · compute example excludes storage and other costs · $0.0822 per DCU-hour in the US East (N. Virginia) pricing example; capacity billed per second |
| Amazon DocumentDB Serverless (I/O-Optimized) | $0.09 a month | 0.5 DCU minimum · 0.5 DCU increments · compute example excludes storage and other costs · $0.0905 per DCU-hour in the US East (N. Virginia) pricing example; capacity billed per second |
| DocumentDB Serverless | — | Starts at 0.5 DCU · Standard example $0.0822 per DCU-hour · I/O-Optimized example $0.0905 per DCU-hour · up to 15 read replicas · DocumentDB Capacity Units billed per second |
| DocumentDB I/O-Optimized | — | No database I/O charge · pricing example uses $0.3047/hour db.r5.large and $0.30/GB-month storage · On-demand instances per second with 10-minute minimum; storage billed separately |
| DocumentDB Standard | — | Storage as low as $0.10/GB-month · I/O $0.20 per million requests in pricing example · backup storage equal to data storage free · On-demand instances per second with 10-minute minimum; storage and I/O usage billed separately |
The facts
Each one read from Amazon DocumentDB's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- API and SDKs
- The management API is available through HTTP, the AWS CLI, AWS SDKs and CloudFormation, with documented operations, parameters, errors and examples.checked 15 Oct 2026
- AWS background
- AWS says it launched in 2006 and is part of Amazon.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Backups
- Point-in-time recovery can restore to any second within a configurable retention period of up to 35 days.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Cluster types
- The service offers instance-based clusters and elastic clusters; elastic clusters target millions of reads and writes per second with petabyte-scale storage.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Compatibility limit
- Amazon DocumentDB supports a vast majority of MongoDB APIs customers use, but not every MongoDB API.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- AWS publishes a developer guide, API reference, CLI reference, compatibility tables, quotas, tutorials, migration tools and SDK code examples.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Encryption and monitoring
- The pricing page says encryption at rest with AWS KMS, encryption in transit with TLS, and CloudWatch monitoring are available at no additional cost.checked 3 Oct 2026
- High availability
- The storage volume keeps six copies across three Availability Zones and replicas can provide automated failover.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- DocumentDB integrates with CloudWatch metrics and alarms, AWS Lambda change-stream event sources, IAM, KMS, AWS Backup and OpenSearch zero-ETL pipelines.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Lambda limitation
- Lambda event-source mappings support DocumentDB 4.0 and 5.0 instance-based regional clusters, but not 3.6, elastic or global clusters.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Latest release
- DocumentDB 8.0.2 was released September 28, 2026 with planner, indexing and query improvements.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: G2 reviewers
- Repeated complaints mention higher cost, vendor lock-in, migration difficulty, missing MongoDB features, slow feature updates and limited multi-region or instance choices.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: Gartner reviewers
- Reviewers cite VPC-only access requiring SSH tunneling for Compass, high minimum instance and I/O costs, reduced customization and AWS lock-in.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: PeerSpot reviewers
- PeerSpot feedback includes high cost, difficult performance tuning, custom data pipelines for analysts, network setup delays and uneven support.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: Software Advice
- One review says the product could be more user-friendly for nontechnical users.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: TrustRadius reviewers
- Users report lagging MongoDB-version support, limited data types, a 32-shard cluster ceiling and desire for deeper MongoDB expertise.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Migration
- AWS documents migration from MongoDB 3.6 or 4.0 using Database Migration Service or mongodump, mongorestore, mongoimport and mongoexport.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Mobile availability
- TrustRadius lists the deployment as SaaS and says there is no mobile application; no dedicated app-store listing was found.checked 15 Oct 2026
- MongoDB compatibility
- Engine 8.0 supports MongoDB API drivers for versions 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0, and adds views and collation support.checked 15 Oct 2026
- MongoDB drivers
- Applications can connect with MongoDB drivers, while AWS documents JDBC, ODBC, Studio 3T and DataGrip connectivity.checked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Founded
- 2006checked 28 Sep 2026
- Maker identity
- Amazon Web Services, Inc. is headquartered in Seattle, launched in 2006 and reports more than 10,001 employees on LinkedIn.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Parent legal company
- Amazon.com, Inc. is a Delaware corporation incorporated in 1996 with its registered office in Wilmington, Delaware.checked 15 Oct 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Nochecked 22 Sep 2026
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