Best DynamoDB Alternatives 2026
Discover the best DynamoDB alternatives for 2026. Compare MongoDB Atlas, ScyllaDB, CockroachDB, PlanetScale and Fauna on scalability, flexibility and cost.
At MG Software, we recommend MongoDB Atlas for teams wanting to move away from DynamoDB while maintaining document flexibility. For SQL enthusiasts, CockroachDB or PlanetScale is an excellent choice.
Why do people look for alternatives to Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed serverless key-value and document database from AWS with guaranteed single-digit millisecond performance, automatic scaling and built-in security, backup and recovery.?
Developers seek DynamoDB alternatives due to strong AWS vendor lock-in, limited query capabilities (no joins or ad-hoc queries), unpredictable costs during peak loads, and the desire to work multi-cloud or cloud-agnostic.
Best alternatives
MongoDB Atlas
Fully managed cloud database service from MongoDB with multi-cloud deployment (AWS, GCP, Azure), automatic scaling, full-text search and vector search.
Pros
- +Richer document model with flexible queries, aggregations and joins
- +Multi-cloud available — no lock-in to a single cloud provider
- +Built-in Atlas Search and Vector Search for AI applications
Cons
- -Higher latency for simple key-value lookups compared to DynamoDB
- -Costs can escalate quickly with large clusters and high IOPS
ScyllaDB
High-performance NoSQL database compatible with Apache Cassandra and DynamoDB APIs, written in C++ for maximum hardware utilization and predictable low latency.
Pros
- +DynamoDB-compatible API — existing code works with minimal changes
- +Up to 10x higher throughput than Cassandra on the same hardware
- +Predictable P99 latency through shard-per-core architecture
Cons
- -More complex to manage than a fully managed service like DynamoDB
- -Requires operational expertise for cluster management and tuning
CockroachDB
Distributed SQL database with automatic sharding, multi-region replication and strong consistency — offering SQL power as an alternative to NoSQL limitations.
Pros
- +Full SQL support with joins, transactions and secondary indexes
- +Automatic multi-region distribution with strong consistency
- +PostgreSQL wire compatible — existing ORMs and tools work directly
Cons
- -Higher latency for simple key-value reads than DynamoDB
- -More complex pricing structure with both storage and compute costs
PlanetScale
Serverless MySQL-compatible database on Vitess with horizontal scaling, database branching and non-blocking schema changes as a managed service.
Pros
- +Serverless with automatic scaling comparable to DynamoDB
- +MySQL compatibility makes migration easy for SQL-familiar teams
- +Database branching for safe schema evolution without downtime
Cons
- -MySQL limitation: no foreign keys due to Vitess architecture
- -More limited global distribution than DynamoDB's multi-region tables
Fauna
Serverless document-relational database with global distribution, strict ACID transactions and native support for GraphQL alongside the proprietary FQL query language.
Pros
- +Global distribution with strong consistency included by default
- +ACID transactions across multiple documents and collections
- +Serverless with automatic scaling — no capacity planning needed
Cons
- -Proprietary query language (FQL) is not SQL-compatible
- -Higher cost per operation compared to DynamoDB on-demand pricing
What to consider when switching?
- Evaluate whether your key-value access patterns can translate to the alternative data model
- Compare multi-cloud and multi-region capabilities per solution
- Assess the impact on existing AWS integrations (Lambda, IAM, CloudWatch)
- Calculate total costs at your expected read and write patterns
Which alternative does MG Software recommend?
At MG Software, we recommend MongoDB Atlas for teams wanting to move away from DynamoDB while maintaining document flexibility. For SQL enthusiasts, CockroachDB or PlanetScale is an excellent choice.
Frequently asked questions
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