Serverless MongoDB-compatible

MongoDB is a document database: instead of rows in a fixed schema it stores JSON-style documents and queries them through its own driver protocol rather than SQL. It suits document-shaped data, schema-flexible prototypes, and apps whose shape is still moving. On Layerbase Cloud, MongoDB workloads run on FerretDB, an Apache-licensed implementation of the same wire protocol, so your existing drivers, queries, and indexes work unchanged; Layerbase Desktop and the Layerbase CLI run the upstream MongoDB binaries directly.

Cloud MongoDB workloads run on FerretDB, so they start on Solo at $5/mo, with Pro at $15/mo above it. Both are flat monthly prices with no usage meters, and the create flow shows the cost before you provision anything. Running real MongoDB on Layerbase Desktop is free for personal use.

MongoDB's Server Side Public License (SSPL) restricts how managed providers can offer it. FerretDB is the Apache 2.0 alternative that implements the MongoDB wire protocol on top of PostgreSQL. From the driver's perspective, it is MongoDB: same commands, same query shape, same connection string format. You do not see the substitution.

Yes. FerretDB implements the MongoDB wire protocol, so any driver that speaks Mongo (Node.js, Python pymongo, Go mongo-go-driver, Java, etc.) connects without code changes. mongosh works against the same hostname.

FerretDB covers the common 90%: CRUD, indexes, aggregations, and transactions. Mongo-only features like change streams, Atlas Search, or BSON-specific oddities are not supported. For those, run real MongoDB on Layerbase Desktop or self-host with the Layerbase CLI.

Paste its mongodb+srv:// connection string into the guided migration and Layerbase copies your collections, documents, and indexes into a new FerretDB database. It reads Atlas once and never writes to it, so your cluster keeps serving traffic while the copy runs. An index FerretDB cannot create is skipped entirely and named in the migration report, so you can recreate it by hand if your queries need it. A MongoDB you host yourself migrates the same way, as long as the server is reachable from the public internet.

Yes. On Layerbase Desktop and via the Layerbase CLI, you run the upstream MongoDB binaries directly. The cloud path is the only one where the FerretDB substitution applies, and that exists only because of the SSPL constraint on managed offerings.

Yes, in the cloud, and this is the capability Atlas does not offer at any tier. A cloud MongoDB database on Layerbase is FerretDB, which stores your documents in PostgreSQL, so we branch it copy-on-write with the same filesystem mechanics we use for Postgres: hit Branch, get an isolated copy of the data in seconds, point a preview deploy or a CI job or an agent at it, and delete it when the pull request merges. No export, no restore, no snapshot to schedule. The exception is the non-cloud path: real MongoDB on Layerbase Desktop and the Layerbase CLI runs the upstream SSPL binaries, which are not the branchable cloud product, so use the cloud database when you want branches.

Your database hibernates after 6 hours of inactivity and wakes on the next connection (typically 3 to 5 seconds for document workloads). You can keep it up around the clock by pinning it always-on, which draws from your plan pool.