# NoSQL databases: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "NoSQL database" and as "document or key-value database service", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/nosql-databases/2026-10

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/nosql-databases/index.md

**Standing:** MongoDB leads with 74% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 54 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [MongoDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/mongodb/index.md) | 74% | 13% | 82 |
| 2 | [Amazon DynamoDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-dynamodb/index.md) | 11% | 21% | 67 |
| 3 | [Couchbase](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/couchbase/index.md) | 4% | 9% | 43 |
| 4 | [Redis](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/redis/index.md) | 2% | 15% | 55 |
| 5 | [ScyllaDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/scylladb/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 21 |
| 6 | [PostgreSQL](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/postgresql/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 11 |
| 7 | [Google Cloud Firestore](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-cloud-firestore/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 11 |
| 10 | [Apache Cassandra](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-cassandra/index.md) | 0% | 17% | 52 |
| 11 | [Neo4j](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/neo4j/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 28 |
| 12 | [Azure Cosmos DB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-cosmos-db/index.md) | 0% | 19% | 21 |
| 46 | [Apache CouchDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-couchdb/index.md) | 0% | 46% | 13 |
| 63 | [Apache HBase](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-hbase/index.md) | 0% | 43% | 14 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 72 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Google Cloud Firestore, PostgreSQL with JSON
- GPT-5.4 mini: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Couchbase
- Perplexity Sonar: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Azure Cosmos DB
- Grok 4.20: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra
- Mistral Small: Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB; alternatives Azure Cosmos DB, Redis
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, PostgreSQL
- Llama 4 Maverick: MongoDB
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Neo4j, PostgreSQL
- Kimi K2: MongoDB; alternatives Couchbase
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra, Couchbase
- MiniMax M2.5: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Couchbase
- GPT-6 Luna: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, PostgreSQL
- Muse Glimmer 30B: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB

## Sources the answers cite

67 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- mongodb.com: 33 answers, 64 citations
- thectoclub.com: 23 answers, 23 citations
- couchbase.com: 19 answers, 43 citations
- guideflow.com: 19 answers, 19 citations
- aerospike.com: 18 answers, 18 citations
- instaclustr.com: 16 answers, 16 citations
- g2.com: 15 answers, 18 citations
- infoworld.com: 15 answers, 17 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://thectoclub.com/tools/best-nosql-database (23 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/nosql-database-software (19 answers)
- https://aerospike.com/blog/ten-best-nosql-cloud-databases (16 answers)
- https://couchbase.com/blog/nosql-database-evaluation-guide (16 answers)
- https://instaclustr.com/education/nosql-database/nosql-databases-types-use-cases-and-8-databases-to-try (14 answers)
- https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tools/best-nosql-database-software-for-enterprises/129744861 (11 answers)
- https://daily.dev/blog/top-10-nosql-dbaas-providers-2024 (11 answers)
- https://pingcap.com/article/top-10-nosql-databases-to-consider-2024 (11 answers)
- https://dnsstuff.com/best-nosql-databases (8 answers)
- https://infoworld.com/article/2265797/how-to-choose-the-right-nosql-database-2.html (8 answers)

## Warned against

- Amazon DynamoDB: 14 of 67 labels negative. "Avoid DynamoDB as a primary application database unless your use case is a clean fit for key-value patterns" (Kimi K2, direct prompt)
- MongoDB: 11 of 82 labels negative. "MongoDB's own docs warn that sharded clusters require careful planning and that poor shard-key choice can hurt scalability and performance." (GPT-5.4 mini, negative prompt)
- Apache Cassandra: 9 of 52 labels negative. "No built-in auth/encryption in older releases; relies on manual config. Vulnerable to unauthorized access if not tuned." (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Apache HBase: 6 of 14 labels negative. "HBase (consider migrating to modern alternatives)" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: MongoDB at 73%.

- MongoDB: 59% to 73%, +14. Cleared the floor by 3 points · rank 1 of 69, unchanged.
- Redis: 6% to 2%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 4 of 69, unchanged.
- Azure Cosmos DB: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 5 → 12 of 69.
- Couchbase: 7% to 4%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 3 of 69, unchanged.
- ScyllaDB: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 14 → 5 of 69.
- PostgreSQL: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 of 69, unchanged.
- Google Cloud Firestore: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 13 → 7 of 69.
- Neo4j: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 7 → 11 of 69.
- Amazon DynamoDB: 11% to 10%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 2 of 69, unchanged.
- Apache Cassandra: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 10 of 69.
- Apache CouchDB: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 18 → 44 of 69.
- Apache HBase: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 48 → 65 of 69.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.