RavenDB vs Couchbase Server

RavenDB8.9Visit Couchbase Server8.6Visit

Higher score RavenDB #4 in Document Databases 8.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit RavenDB

vs

Couchbase Server #6 in Document Databases 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Couchbase

• RavenDB fits best

  Open-source deployments needing rich database features

• Couchbase Server fits best

  Self-hosted Couchbase-compatible deployments

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Side by side

Feature	RavenDB 8.9/10 Visit ↗	Couchbase Server 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.9	8.6
Ranking	#4 in Document Databases	#6 in Document Databases
Best for	Open-source deployments needing rich database features	Self-hosted Couchbase-compatible deployments
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	—	—
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted, Desktop	Cloud, Self-hosted
Support	Email, Phone, Community, Docs · 24/7	Community, Docs
Compliance	SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA	SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features RavenDB 3/3 · Couchbase Server 3/3
Managed cloud	✓	✓
Transactions	✓	✓
Vector search	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Both	Both
Document formats	JSON; binary attachments	JSON, Binary
Maximum document size	Not checked yet	20 MB
Our review
Pros	Open-source deployment with free Developer and Community licenses Transactions, sharding, replication, indexing, and search in one database Self-hosted and managed cloud options across major platforms	Free Community Edition for development and production use SQL++, ACID transactions, search, vector indexing, and replication Runs across containers, Kubernetes, VMs, and supported operating systems
Cons	Developer license is not for production, staging, or UAT Community license is limited to 60 cores per customer entity Professional and Enterprise use per-core commercial licensing	Community Edition clusters are limited to five nodes from Server 7.0 onward Enterprise pricing varies between marketplace and subscription models Broad capabilities may exceed the needs of narrow document-storage projects
Our verdict	RavenDB is a schema-less NoSQL document database for developers, DevOps teams, database administrators, and CTOs. It stores JSON documents and supports automatic and static indexing, ACID document transactions, cluster-wide transactions,… Read the review →	Couchbase Server is a distributed document database for organizations building applications around JSON and binary data. It combines key-value access with SQL++ querying, ACID transactions, full-text search, vector search and indexing,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• RavenDB — where it wins

  • Open-source deployment with free Developer and Community licenses
  • Transactions, sharding, replication, indexing, and search in one database
  • Self-hosted and managed cloud options across major platforms

  Where it doesn't

  • Developer license is not for production, staging, or UAT
  • Community license is limited to 60 cores per customer entity
  • Professional and Enterprise use per-core commercial licensing

• Couchbase Server — where it wins

  • Free Community Edition for development and production use
  • SQL++, ACID transactions, search, vector indexing, and replication
  • Runs across containers, Kubernetes, VMs, and supported operating systems

  Where it doesn't

  • Community Edition clusters are limited to five nodes from Server 7.0 onward
  • Enterprise pricing varies between marketplace and subscription models
  • Broad capabilities may exceed the needs of narrow document-storage projects

• RavenDB8.9/10 · Free plan

  A feature-rich open-source document database for flexible self-hosted or cloud deployments.

  Visit RavenDBFull verdict →
• Couchbase Server8.6/10 · Free plan

  A broad Couchbase-compatible database with free community use and paid enterprise support.

  Visit CouchbaseFull verdict →