# NoSQL databases: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 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

**Standing:** MongoDB leads with 74% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 57 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% | 11% | 82 |
| 2 | [Amazon DynamoDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-dynamodb/index.md) | 12% | 17% | 65 |
| 3 | [PostgreSQL](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/postgresql/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 13 |
| 4 | [Redis](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/redis/index.md) | 2% | 21% | 56 |
| 5 | [Apache Cassandra](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-cassandra/index.md) | 2% | 31% | 54 |
| 6 | [Azure Cosmos DB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-cosmos-db/index.md) | 2% | 25% | 24 |
| 9 | [Apache CouchDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-couchdb/index.md) | 2% | 42% | 12 |
| 10 | [Couchbase](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/couchbase/index.md) | 0% | 16% | 44 |
| 11 | [Neo4j](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/neo4j/index.md) | 0% | 9% | 32 |
| 12 | [ScyllaDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/scylladb/index.md) | 0% | 5% | 20 |
| 13 | [Amazon DocumentDB](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-documentdb/index.md) | 0% | 15% | 13 |
| 14 | [Google Cloud Firestore](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-cloud-firestore/index.md) | 0% | 25% | 16 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 79 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: Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB; alternatives Firebase, Redis
- GPT-5.4 mini: Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB; alternatives Azure Cosmos DB
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Azure Cosmos DB, Couchbase, Neo4j
- Perplexity Sonar: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra, Azure Cosmos DB, Couchbase
- Grok 4.20: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra, Couchbase, Elasticsearch
- Mistral Small: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra, Couchbase, DataStax
- Llama 4 Maverick: MongoDB
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, PostgreSQL
- Kimi K2: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra, Couchbase, Redis
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra, Azure Cosmos DB, Couchbase
- MiniMax M2.5: MongoDB; alternatives Apache Cassandra, Elasticsearch, Neo4j
- GPT-6 Luna: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB, Couchbase
- Muse Glimmer 30B: MongoDB; alternatives Amazon DynamoDB

## Sources the answers cite

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

- mongodb.com: 19 answers, 31 citations
- docs.aws.amazon.com: 17 answers, 23 citations
- couchbase.com: 16 answers, 25 citations
- aws.amazon.com: 16 answers, 22 citations
- github.com: 15 answers, 20 citations
- g2.com: 13 answers, 16 citations
- aerospike.com: 11 answers, 14 citations
- capterra.com: 11 answers, 11 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://github.com/quanpan302/KB-engineering-handbook/blob/main/content/hld/part-2-building-blocks/05-nosql-databases.md (13 answers)
- https://aws.amazon.com/nosql (11 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/it-data/nosql-databases (10 answers)
- https://aerospike.com/blog/ten-best-nosql-cloud-databases (9 answers)
- https://capterra.com/nosql-databases-software (9 answers)
- https://em360tech.com/top-10/best-nosql-databases (8 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/nosql-databases (7 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/nosql-database-software (7 answers)
- https://instaclustr.com/education/nosql-database/nosql-databases-types-use-cases-and-8-databases-to-try (7 answers)
- https://thectoclub.com/tools/best-nosql-database (7 answers)

## Warned against

- Apache Cassandra: 17 of 54 labels negative. "Verdict: Avoid unless you have a team of Cassandra specialists and a use case that truly demands it." (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- Redis: 12 of 56 labels negative. "Avoid Redis as a sole data store for critical financial data." (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)
- Amazon DynamoDB: 11 of 65 labels negative. "AI models and experts often advise avoiding DynamoDB as a primary application database unless your use case is a perfect fit for key-value patterns." (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- MongoDB: 9 of 82 labels negative. "Avoid MongoDB if you need multi-document ACID transactions" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: MongoDB at 74%.

- Couchbase: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 3 → 10 of 79.
- PostgreSQL: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 3 of 79.
- Apache Cassandra: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 10 → 5 of 79.
- Azure Cosmos DB: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 12 → 6 of 79.
- Apache CouchDB: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 46 → 9 of 79.
- ScyllaDB: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 → 12 of 79.
- Google Cloud Firestore: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 7 → 14 of 79.
- Amazon DynamoDB: 11% to 12%, +1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 2 of 79, unchanged.
- MongoDB: 74% to 74%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 1 of 79, unchanged.
- Redis: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 4 of 79, unchanged.
- Neo4j: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 11 of 79, unchanged.
- Amazon DocumentDB: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 14 → 13 of 79.

## Record

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