Every free document databases tier that clears our bar in 2026: 5 offers meet the criteria and 1 offer is demoted with a named reason. Our membership test: schemaless JSON/BSON documents as the stored unit. We could not confirm today's terms for 2 of them: on 1 the page we cite did not answer, and on 1 our own read did not confirm them. Each row says why.

Best Free Document Databases

Every free document databases tier that clears our bar today. Updated 2026-11-14. Our membership test: schemaless JSON/BSON documents as the stored unit.

5 offers meet our criteria on this page. Of those, 3 carry no recorded change to the terms we publish, and 2 a recorded narrowing. The Durability column below says which offer is in which group, and links the dated record behind every change. We do not rank these by how much you get, because the limits are not comparable without reading each vendor's page. They are listed in an order that rotates daily. Here is how that order is derived. There is no top slot here to sell.
Why trust this data? Every free tier is verified against the vendor's pricing page with dates tracked. We monitor 513 pricing changes and flag vendors that have reduced or removed free tiers. Rankings start every offer at zero and can only demote. There is no signal a vendor can acquire, lobby for, or buy — there is nothing to add. A record reaches a function page when its category names the function or when it carries a subtype label that names the function. Adding a label to a record publishes it here; removing one withdraws it. No page holds a list of vendors. See all 45 databases offers →
1
restdb.io stable
Free

a fast and straightforward NoSQL cloud database service. With restdb.io you get schema, relations, automatic REST API (with MongoDB-like queries), and an efficient multi-user admin UI for working with data. The free plan allows 3 users, 2500 records, and 1 API request per second. The page we cite for restdb.io states in words that it is free, which confirms the price — the limits stated here come from our own record rather than from that page.

Listed in Databases, and on this page because we labelled it document. We read that on 2026-08-31 from https://restdb.io/, where it says: “Simple online NoSQL database backend with automatic APIs and low code JavaScript hooks”. How we use this

2
Free

Multi-model cloud database — The 'Start' plan offers 1GB of storage free, forever, and a free compute instance with 0.25 vCPU and 1 GB memory ($0.000/hr). Further instances are available from $0.021/hr.

Listed in Databases, and on this page because we labelled it document. We read that on 2026-08-31 from https://surrealdb.com/, where it says: “SurrealDB is a database and an agent memory layer. Documents, graphs, vectors, and SQL in one engine - and context for your AI agents wherever your data lives.”. How we use this

Recorded, but does not affect rank:
  • discovered 2026-10-04 · effective date unknown — pricing restructured: The free tier now includes a compute instance with 0.25 vCPU and 1 GB memory, but also lists several paid tiers with varying compute and storage options. The free tier is now explicitly a 'Start' plan with hourly billing for additional resources beyond the free limits. Source ↗
  • discovered 2026-04-12 · effective date unknown — limits reduced: Free tier memory reduced from 1 GB to 512 MB Source ↗
3
Spark

Spark plan, no payment method needed: Auth (50K MAU), Firestore Standard edition (1 GiB stored, 50K reads/day, 20K writes/day, 20K deletes/day), Realtime Database (100 simultaneous connections, 1 GB stored, 10 GB/month downloaded), Hosting (10 GB storage, 360 MB/day transfer), and no-cost Analytics, Crashlytics and Cloud Messaging. Firestore Enterprise on Spark includes 1 GiB stored, 10 GiB/month network egress, 40K write units/day, 50K read units/day, 50K real-time update units/day. Cloud Functions and Cloud Storage need the Blaze plan. Note — 2026-12-01: Firebase Spark projects that enabled Remote Config before September 1, 2026 can use it under the old terms until December 1, 2026. From December 1, 2026, the 100,000-fetches-a-day limit applies to them, with 30 days of full service from the first day they go over, then throttling unless they upgrade to Blaze. A Spark project that upgrades to Blaze before November 15, 2026 is not billed for Remote Config until February 1, 2027. Blaze projects from before September 1, 2026 start Remote Config billing on February 1, 2027. Source ↗

  • If a Spark project exceeds a no-cost quota, that product is shut off for the project (all its apps) for the rest of the calendar month, unless you upgrade to Blaze. (From firebase.google.com/docs/projects/billing/firebase-pricing-plans, read 2026-10-05.)
  • A Spark account can create a small number of projects, usually about 5-10. (From firebase.google.com/support/faq, read 2026-10-05.)
  • Linking a Cloud Billing account to a Spark project, including one with $300 Google Cloud free trial credits, automatically upgrades it to the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan. (From firebase.google.com/docs/projects/billing/firebase-pricing-plans, read 2026-10-05.)
  • On Spark, email-link sign-in is limited to 5 emails a day; sending more needs a billing account (Blaze). (From firebase.google.com/docs/auth/limits, read 2026-10-07.)
  • Phone (SMS) sign-in is not available on the Spark plan; on Blaze each SMS sent is billed. (From firebase.google.com/pricing, read 2026-10-20.)
  • Since September 1, 2026, Remote Config allows up to 100,000 fetch requests a day per Spark project at no cost. A Spark project that exceeds this limit gets 30 days of normal service, then is throttled unless it upgrades to Blaze. Blaze projects pay $0.06 per 10,000 requests above 100,000 a day, up to 10,000,000, and $0.01 per 10,000 above that. (From firebase.google.com/docs/remote-config/pricing, read 2026-10-17.)
  • Spark projects that used Remote Config before September 1, 2026 are subject to the 100,000-fetches-a-day limit from December 1, 2026 until they upgrade to Blaze. Blaze projects that used Remote Config before September 1, 2026 start Remote Config billing on February 1, 2027. A Spark project that used Remote Config before September 1, 2026 and upgrades to Blaze before November 15, 2026 starts Remote Config billing on February 1, 2027. (From firebase.google.com/docs/remote-config/pricing, read 2026-10-17.)
  • On the Blaze plan, all Gemini Developer API usage, including calls through Firebase AI Logic, is pay-as-you-go, and most projects must prepay. A project with no billing account (on Spark) can use the Gemini Developer API's free tier with no payment method. (From firebase.google.com/docs/ai-logic/pricing, read 2026-10-21.)
  • From November 2, 2026, Firebase AI Logic requires App Check enforcement. (From firebase.google.com/docs/ai-logic/pricing, read 2026-10-21.)
  • Firebase's Spark plan needs no credit card or other payment method. (From firebase.google.com/pricing, read 2026-10-22.)

Listed in Databases, and on this page because we labelled it document. We read that on 2026-08-31 from https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore, where it says: “Use the flexible, scalable NoSQL cloud database from Google Cloud to store and sync data for client and server-side development.”. How we use this

Recorded, but does not affect rank:
  • effective 2026-12-01 — limits reduced: Firebase Spark projects that enabled Remote Config before September 1, 2026 can use it under the old terms until December 1, 2026. From December 1, 2026, the 100,000-fetches-a-day limit applies to them, with 30 days of full service from the first day they go over, then throttling unless they upgrade to Blaze. A Spark project that upgrades to Blaze before November 15, 2026 is not billed for Remote Config until February 1, 2027. Blaze projects from before September 1, 2026 start Remote Config billing on February 1, 2027. Source ↗
  • effective 2026-09-01 — limits reduced: From September 1, 2026, Firebase limits Remote Config on the no-cost Spark plan to 100,000 fetch requests a day per project. A Spark project over the limit keeps full service for 30 days from the first day it goes over, and after that requests above the limit are throttled unless it upgrades to Blaze. Blaze has the same 100,000 a day at no cost and then $0.06 per 10,000 requests. Firebase's pricing page had listed Remote Config as no-cost before. This applies to projects that enable Remote Config on or after September 1, 2026. Older Spark projects follow on December 1, 2026. Source ↗
  • effective 2026-02-03 — restriction: Cloud Storage for Firebase now requires the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan, in effect from February 3, 2026. Projects on the no-cost Spark plan lose access to all Cloud Storage buckets, including default buckets; console access redirects to an upgrade page and API calls return 402 or 403. Provisioning a new default bucket also requires Blaze. Source ↗
4
filess.io stable
Free

filess.io is a platform where you can create two databases with up to 10 MB per database of the following DBMS for free: MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL.

Listed in Databases, and on this page because we labelled it document. We read that on 2026-08-31 from https://filess.io, where it says: “Ship your full stack apps in seconds. Web Hosting, Managed Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB & SQL Server) and Secure Tunnels.”. How we use this

5
MongoDB Atlas stable
M0 Free

Free 512 MB shared cluster (M0), always free, available on AWS/Azure/GCP. Includes Atlas Vector Search for AI/RAG applications

Listed in Databases, and on this page because we labelled it document. We read that on 2026-08-31 from https://www.mongodb.com/products/platform/atlas-database, where it says: “Find out how the document model eliminates operational complexity while ensuring unmatched resilience, scalability, and enterprise-grade security through the Atlas cloud database.”. How we use this

Demoted — and exactly why

These offers reach this page too and rank below the list above. Each one names the recorded fact behind it. A recorded limit reduction, pricing restructure or new restriction is shown on every surface where the offer appears, with its date and summary — but it does not move rank. We have change records for only 16% of vendors, and disproportionately for well-known ones, so ranking on them would demote the vendors we happen to watch most closely.

−1
Free

deploy a forever free tier fully managed database cluster with 1 node and 8GB storage, built for developers to create the next generation of applications across IoT to AI. The page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-12, so we cannot confirm these terms today.

Listed in Databases, and on this page because we labelled it document. We read that on 2026-08-31 from https://docs.couchbase.com/cloud/get-started/intro.html, where it says: “Capella is the easiest way to use our Couchbase NoSQL database.”. How we use this

  • −1 stale_verification Our last read of the vendor's pricing page, on 2026-10-12, could read no amount, tier or rate on the page. This is our confidence in the record, not a change by the vendor. (a limit of ours, not a change by the vendor)
Recompute today's order yourself. The order above is a permutation seeded only on the UTC date and the query key — no vendor name, slug, id or offer field is an input. The algorithm is published, so anyone can reproduce this page's order without asking us.
date
2026-11-14
query_key
best-of:document
seed
8009f33bc5635a58257a1f1a89b783b475e8da839c70a655fdc657190ad71314
tie_count
5

Quick Comparison

Vendor Free Tier Key Limits Durability Read / catalogue date
restdb.io Free a fast and straightforward NoSQL cloud database service. With restdb.io you get schema, relations, automatic REST API (w... not confirmed · page states a free price · 2026-11-03 stable 2026-11-03
SurrealDB Cloud Free Multi-model cloud database — The 'Start' plan offers 1GB of storage free, forever, and a free compute instance with 0.25... watch
discovered 2026-04-12 · effective date unknown
2026-10-28
Firebase Spark Spark plan, no payment method needed: Auth (50K MAU), Firestore Standard edition (1 GiB stored, 50K reads/day, 20K write...
read found the page different · 2026-10-26
volatile
effective 2027-09-30
2026-10-26 / 2026-10-03
filess.io Free filess.io is a platform where you can create two databases with up to 10 MB per database of the following DBMS for free:... stable 2026-10-29
MongoDB Atlas M0 Free Free 512 MB shared cluster (M0), always free, available on AWS/Azure/GCP. Includes Atlas Vector Search for AI/RAG applic... stable 2026-11-06

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best free document databases tool in 2026?

We publish no ranking of these. Nothing we record measures popularity or generosity, so naming a best or a top few would be our preference rather than our data. We hold 5 free document databases offers that clear our bar, each listed with the terms we publish and the date we last read them. Our ranking rule is published at /criteria.

Which of these free document databases tiers have held their terms?

5 offers meet our criteria on this page. Of those, 3 carry no recorded change to the terms we publish, and 2 a recorded narrowing. The Durability column below says which offer is in which group, and links the dated record behind every change. We do not rank these by how much you get, because the limits are not comparable without reading each vendor's page.

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