Amazon DocumentDB vs Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
Amazon DocumentDB
aws.amazon.com
Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
azure.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | Amazon DocumentDB | Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 11 | 10 |
| Spec score · Document Databases | 9.0 (#1) | 8.1 (#9) |
| Spec score · Transaction Data Store Software | 8.9 (#3) | 7.9 (#22) |
| Spec score · NoSQL Databases | 9.0 (#4) | 7.9 (#15) |
| Spec score · Database Software | 8.5 (#28) | 8.1 (#42) |
| Founded | 2006 | 1975 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | DocumentDB integrates with CloudWatch metrics and alarms, AWS Lambda change-stream event sources, IAM, KMS, AWS Backup and OpenSearch zero-ETL pipelines. | Change feed supports event-driven architectures and streaming pipelines using Azure Functions and Spark. |
| Security | AWS documents VPC isolation, KMS encryption at rest, TLS in transit, IAM/RBAC controls, Secrets Manager and FedRAMP High authorization in GovCloud. | Microsoft recommends private endpoints, disabling public network access, and client-side encryption with Always Encrypted for sensitive data. |
| Vector search | Release notes list HNSW vector indexes and vector search support for DocumentDB 5.0. | Yes |
| What it does | Amazon DocumentDB is a fully managed cloud document database designed to run MongoDB-compatible applications, drivers and tools. | Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL is a fully managed cloud database using a schema-agnostic JSON document model with SQL-like querying. |
Plans
Amazon DocumentDB
- Serverless — StandardPrice not published
- Serverless — I/O-OptimizedPrice not published
- Provisioned On-Demand — StandardPrice not published
- Provisioned On-Demand — I/O-OptimizedPrice not published
- Amazon DocumentDB free trialFree
- Free trialFree
- Amazon DocumentDB Serverless (Standard)$0.08 a month
- Amazon DocumentDB Serverless (I/O-Optimized)$0.09 a month
- DocumentDB I/O-OptimizedPrice not published
- DocumentDB ServerlessPrice not published
Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Free tierFree
- 30-day free trialPriced on request
- Standard provisioned throughputPriced on request
- Standard provisioned throughputPrice not published
- Autoscale provisioned throughputPriced on request
- Autoscale provisioned throughputPrice not published
- ServerlessPriced on request
- ServerlessPrice not published
- Azure Cosmos DB free tierFree
- Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL — standard provisioned throughputPrice not published
In their own words
Amazon DocumentDB
Amazon DocumentDB has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL is a fully managed cloud database built around schema-agnostic JSON documents and SQL-like querying. It supports global data distribution, multi-region writes, and automatic failover, with configurable consistency controls and transactions. Search includes vector and hybrid similarity capabilities for workloads such as retrieval-augmented generation and AI agents. Throughput can use standard provisioned, autoscale provisioned, or serverless models. The service lists SDKs for.NET, Java, JavaScript/Node.js, Python, Go, and Rust. Its change feed can support event-driven architectures and streaming pipelines using Azure Functions and Spark; no-ETL analytical workflows are available through Azure Synapse Link or Fabric mirroring. Microsoft states that NoSQL data has service-level agreements including less than 10 millisecond read and write latency and 99.999 percent availability. A free tier includes 1,000 RU/s and 25 GB of storage for one account per Azure subscription, and a 30-day trial is listed. The Azure Cosmos DB emulator provides a no-cost local development environment for Windows or Linux. The pricing page notes that the selected compute pricing model and API cannot be changed after selection.