MongoDB vs Turso for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

MongoDB Overview

MongoDB is the most popular document database. It stores data as JSON-like documents without requiring a predefined schema. This flexibility makes it easy to get started and iterate quickly on your data model.

MongoDB Atlas, the managed cloud platform, provides a free tier with 512 MB of storage. The ecosystem is mature with drivers for every major programming language, Mongoose for Node.js developers, and a visual tool (Compass) for browsing data. If you have worked with JavaScript, MongoDB's document model feels natural.

The challenges appear when you need relationships between data. JOINs do not exist in MongoDB. Instead, you use the aggregation pipeline, embed documents inside other documents, or make multiple queries. For applications where entities relate to each other (which is most applications), this adds complexity.

Turso Overview

Turso takes SQLite, the most widely deployed database engine in the world, and turns it into a production-ready edge database. Built on libSQL (a fork of SQLite), Turso hosts your database globally with edge replicas. The standout feature is embedded replicas, where a copy of your database runs alongside your application for sub-millisecond read latency.

The free tier includes 9 GB of storage, 500 databases, and 24 billion row reads per month. That is remarkably generous. The Scaler plan at $29/month adds more resources for production workloads.

For solo developers, Turso offers an interesting proposition: the simplicity of SQLite queries with the production readiness of a managed cloud database. If you know SQL, you know how to use Turso. There is no new query language to learn.

Key Differences

Data model philosophy. MongoDB stores schema-free documents. Turso stores structured SQLite data in tables with defined schemas. For most solo developer applications, data has clear structure (users, posts, comments, orders). SQL tables model this naturally with JOINs to connect related data. MongoDB requires you to either embed related data inside documents or manage references manually.

Edge architecture vs cloud clusters. Turso distributes your database to edge locations globally, with embedded replicas that run alongside your application. Read latency is essentially zero because the data is local. MongoDB Atlas runs in specific cloud regions. While MongoDB supports multi-region clusters, it requires the dedicated tier ($57+/month) and does not offer embedded replicas.

Query language. Turso uses standard SQL. MongoDB uses its own query language with find(), aggregate(), and operators like $match, $group, $lookup. SQL is more widely known, taught in every computer science program, and supported by every ORM. For a solo developer, SQL is the more portable skill.

Performance profile. Turso with embedded replicas delivers reads in microseconds because the data is local to your application. MongoDB Atlas delivers reads in single-digit milliseconds over the network. For read-heavy applications, Turso's architecture provides a meaningful performance advantage. For write-heavy applications, both route writes to a primary location, but MongoDB handles concurrent writes more efficiently at scale.

Tooling ecosystem. MongoDB has decades of tooling: Mongoose, Compass, Atlas CLI, aggregation pipeline builders. Turso's ecosystem is newer but growing. Drizzle ORM has excellent Turso support, and the libSQL client libraries are solid. The TypeScript/JavaScript ecosystem is well covered, but support in other languages varies.

Free tier comparison. Turso's free tier (9 GB storage, 500 databases) is more generous than MongoDB Atlas's free tier (512 MB storage, shared cluster). For side projects, Turso gives you significantly more room to grow without paying.

When to Choose MongoDB

• Your data is genuinely document-oriented with varying structures
• You need the MongoDB ecosystem (Mongoose, Atlas Search, Realm)
• Horizontal scaling for writes is a requirement
• You prefer document-oriented data modeling
• You are building a real-time application with Change Streams

When to Choose Turso

• Low read latency globally matters for your application
• You want SQLite simplicity with production-grade hosting
• Your data fits naturally into relational tables
• The generous free tier fits your budget
• You are building with modern JavaScript/TypeScript frameworks

The Verdict

Turso is the better choice for most solo developers starting new projects. The 8/10 vs 7/10 rating reflects practical advantages: SQL is more versatile than MongoDB's query language for relational data, edge-hosted replicas deliver better read performance, the free tier is more generous, and SQLite's simplicity means less to learn and debug.

MongoDB makes sense if your data is genuinely document-oriented, with nested structures that vary between records. But for the typical solo developer building a web application with users, content, and transactions, Turso's SQL-based approach with global edge distribution is the more practical choice.