Best Document Databases in 2026
21 document databases ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
| # | Platform | Score | Why | From | Free plan | Paid from | Deployment model | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  RavenDB | 8.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | both | View |
| 2 | Firestore | 8.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | cloud | View |
| 3 | Amazon DocumentDB | 8.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $0.08/mo | No | — | cloud | View |
| 4 |  Couchbase Lite | 7.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | cloud | View |
| 5 | Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL | 7.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | — | — | — | View |
| 6 | SurrealDB | 7.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $0.19/mo | Yes | — | both | View |
| 7 | Apache CouchDB | 6.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | self_hosted | View |
| 8 | Percona Server for MongoDB | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | both | View |
| 9 |  PouchDB | 6.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | self_hosted | View |
| 10 | IBM Cloudant | 6.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | — | — | — | View |
| 11 | DocumentDB | 6.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | both | View |
| 12 |  LiteDB | 6.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | self_hosted | View |
| 13 | RethinkDB | 5.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | both | View |
| 14 |  UnQLite | 5.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | self_hosted | View |
| 15 |  restdb.io | 5.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | 19 /mo | cloud | View |
| 16 | Apache AsterixDB | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | self_hosted | View |
| 17 | BaseX | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | self_hosted | View |
| 18 |  eXist-db | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | self_hosted | View |
| 19 | JayDB | 5.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | 0.05 /mo | both | View |
| 20 |  JasDB | 4.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | self_hosted | View |
| 21 |  TinyDB | 4.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | self_hosted | View |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which document database is ranked first on Inferse?
RavenDB is ranked #1 of 21 with a score of 8.9. Firestore is second and Amazon DocumentDB third.
How many of these have a free plan?
15 of the 21 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Amazon DocumentDB has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.08/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it. Paid placements never change a rank.