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RavenDB

RavenDB

Overview

What is RavenDB?

RavenDB is a NoSQL Document Database that is fully transactional (ACID) across the database and throughout clusters. It is presented as an easy to use all-in-one database that minimizes the need for third party addons, tools, or support to boost…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

RavenDB has gained popularity as an excellent database for security management systems, resulting in increased programmer productivity, …
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RavenDB Review

10 out of 10
February 26, 2022
It is a great product, especially can be told as a powerful database, very efficient and easy to use. It is not a SQL-based database. My …
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Simply the Best

10 out of 10
August 09, 2021
For me, RavenDB is the best database currently available.

RavenDB is a document database written in C# / .NET (Core) which is also the …
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RavenDB wins it all!

10 out of 10
August 04, 2021
My team does the technology R&D for the full firm, and we routinely check out emerging technologies, be it database engines or UI tech. We …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 7 features
  • Data model flexibility (24)
    9.9
    99%
  • Performance (24)
    9.1
    91%
  • Availability (23)
    8.9
    89%
  • Concurrency (23)
    8.0
    80%
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Pricing

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What is RavenDB?

RavenDB is a NoSQL Document Database that is fully transactional (ACID) across the database and throughout clusters. It is presented as an easy to use all-in-one database that…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://ravendb.net/buy

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Demos

The Power of Time Series in RavenDB

YouTube

RavenDB: The Right Data Storage Solution for Today’s Information

YouTube
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Features

NoSQL Databases

NoSQL databases are designed to be used across large distrusted systems. They are notably much more scalable and much faster and handling very large data loads than traditional relational databases.

9.1
Avg 8.8
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Product Details

What is RavenDB?


RavenDB is a NoSQL Document Database that is fully transactional (ACID) across the database and throughout clusters. It is presented as an easy to use all-in-one database that minimizes the need for third party addons, tools, or support to boost developer productivity and get projects into production fast.

Users can setup and secure a data cluster deploy in the cloud, on-premise or in a hybrid environment. RavenDB offers a Database as a Service solution, allowing users to pass on all database operations and focus exclusively on the application. RavenDB has a built-in storage engine that operates at speeds up to 1 million reads per second and 150,000 writes per second on a single node using simple commodity hardware to increase application performance. The vendor states RavenDB has been downloaded over 2 million times serving thousands of customers from Startups to Fortune 100 Large Enterprises.

RavenDB Features include:

  • Query language based on SQL, with Intelligent Coding Assistance in-studio.
  • Works with existing relational databases – ETL feature and migration to Document model available.
  • Multiplatform – C#, Node.js, Java, Python, Ruby, Go
  • Multisystem – Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Docker, Raspberry Pi
  • Works on older machines and smaller devices
  • Built in Full-Text Search, MapReduce, and Storage Engine
  • Schema Free
  • Document Data Compression, TCP Compression
  • Machine Learning Integration
  • DBaaS Solution is HIPPA compliant
  • Concurrent Data Subscriptions
  • Incremental Time Series
  • Elasticsearch ETL
  • Power BI Support
  • Plugins for Grafana for data visualization
  • OLAP ETL – Push your data to data lakes to get business intelligence.
  • Cluster Dashboard – See the real-time status of all the indicators in each node simultaneously.
  • Read-only Certificates – Limit users to seeing data without being able to make changes to it.

RavenDB Features

NoSQL Databases Features

  • Supported: Performance
  • Supported: Availability
  • Supported: Concurrency
  • Supported: Security
  • Supported: Scalability
  • Supported: Data model flexibility
  • Supported: Deployment model flexibility

RavenDB Video

RavenDB: The Right Data Storage Solution for Today’s Information

RavenDB Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

MongoDB, Couchbase Server, and Azure Cosmos DB are common alternatives for RavenDB.

Reviewers rate Data model flexibility highest, with a score of 9.9.

The most common users of RavenDB are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(26)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

RavenDB has gained popularity as an excellent database for security management systems, resulting in increased programmer productivity, satisfaction, and customer happiness. Users have found it easy to configure from C# code, eliminating the impedance mismatch associated with other DBMS. Integration with automated tests using the RavenDB.TestDriver package has made testing on CI pipelines a breeze. The web frontend, RavenStudio, eliminates the need for additional tools like SQL Server Management Studio for quick access to databases. With its free edition offering fewer constraints than competitors and affordable prices for paid licenses, RavenDB proves to be a cost-effective choice. It simplifies the design, implementation, and testing of data access layers, allowing for faster software delivery. In the West African cashew industry, RavenDB is exclusively used for applications such as business plan development, quality analysis of cashew containers, and quality control data collection. Its ACID support and advanced features like a search engine make it a preferred choice over other databases like MongoDB. Additionally, RavenDB serves as a central database and caching server, eliminating the need for custom services by providing built-in features to solve various problems. With its distributed model enabling easy scaling by adding new cluster nodes, RavenDB is flexible for both small apps and large-scale systems. It offers high performance, powerful data storage, ease of use, flexibility, scalability, and resilience—addressing crucial issues for commercial graphics products. Companies managing huge databases find RavenDB efficient with fast response times, efficient mass operations, secure backups, and real-time operations. Its minimal configuration and suitability for serverless applications make it a great choice for those requiring speed, reliability, and flexibility. The time series feature of RavenDB has solved performance struggles when storing millions of records while allowing shared databases and shared history. For an online sports management SaaS platform that handles large amounts of data, RavenDB offers flexibility in scalability and high performance as the sole database solution. Customers like CapGemini have experienced no problems with RavenDB and are using it successfully. Developers working with various programming languages such as C#, Java, and Python express their interest in meeting and discussing RavenDB. Users who previously used SQL Server for data storage have found RavenDB to be a much better alternative with its clean UI and simple yet powerful functionality. Its simple design and meaningful documentation make it easy to get started, while its powerful query language simplifies complex queries. Employees have given positive reviews on using RavenDB as an efficient caching solution and storage hub for company data. In a project with unclear requirements, RavenDB was chosen as the NoSQL solution due to its ACID data integrity and performance optimization through auto-indexing. The product has been suggested for general usage at firms after thorough evaluation and consultation, surpassing other vendor solutions in terms of performance, support, and insights. Users across industries have found RavenDB to be a well-rounded and performant product that is suitable for numerous use cases. From managing huge databases with fast response times, efficient mass operations, secure backups, and real-time operations to serving as a central database and caching server, RavenDB addresses important issues for commercial graphics products, offering high performance, powerful data storage, ease of use, flexibility, scalability, and resilience. Whether it's for security management systems, business plan development in the West African cashew industry, online sports management SaaS platforms, or housing downstream trading data, RavenDB has proven to be an excellent choice. Its user-friendly interface and extensive documentation make it easy for users to get started while its advanced features like ACID support and a search engine offer powerful capabilities to meet diverse needs. With positive reviews from customers like CapGemini and colleagues looking forward to discussions about RavenDB's capabilities, it is clear that this database solution has garnered significant interest and satisfaction among its users.

Excellent Performance: Many users have consistently praised RavenDB for its excellent and optimized performance. They have been impressed with the high level of performance that RavenDB delivers, especially when considering its rare system requirements. Users find that RavenDB consistently meets their expectations for efficient and reliable database operations.

User-Friendly Interface: Reviewers have found RavenDB to have a highly user-friendly interface. The intuitive design makes it easy for users to navigate through the platform and perform various tasks. The visually appealing UI adds to the overall positive experience of using RavenDB, making it a popular choice among users who value simplicity and ease-of-use.

Efficient Configuration: Several users appreciate that configuring RavenDB is a seamless process thanks to its support for C# code integration. This feature allows developers to easily integrate automated tests into their workflow, streamlining the development process. In addition, reviewers specifically highlight how well RavenDB integrates with .NET Core and C#, further enhancing its efficiency as a NoSQL database solution.

Challenging Method Development: Some users have found it challenging to develop methods if they are unfamiliar with the accurate simulation approach. This can lead to a steep learning curve and may require additional training or support resources for new users.

Licensing Limitations: A limitation for some users is that the software does not allow replication or authorized access without acquiring a license. This can be seen as restrictive for those who want to explore or experiment with the software before committing to a full license.

Lack of Enterprise Tracking Records: Concerns are raised by some users about RavenDB due to the lack of evidence of tracking records in enterprise systems. The absence of robust tracking capabilities may hinder certain use cases where comprehensive data auditing and traceability are crucial.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Alex Klaus | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
RavenDB is the main database of a SaaS platform that is widely used across the industry in Australia
  • Integration with the .NET infrastructure (LINQ)
  • Rich querying capabilities and flexible indexes
  • Great tech support
  • More examples and good practices
  • Better Azure/AWS/GCP integration (more transparency)
  • Deferred patching of multiple documents when the index is not stale
  • Clusters with >3 nodes when hosting in the cloud
NoSQL Databases (7)
91.42857142857142%
9.1
Performance
100%
10.0
Availability
80%
8.0
Concurrency
100%
10.0
Security
70%
7.0
Scalability
90%
9.0
Data model flexibility
100%
10.0
Deployment model flexibility
100%
10.0
Highly recommended if your back-end is in the .NET.
  • Faster development when practising the DDD
Better .NET integration among all of them
The product is on the right trajectory. Bugs get promptly fixed. The tech support is great.
Wallace Turner | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
RavenDB is being used to house downstream trading data from an exchange. The data must be extremely fast to access and highly available (no downtime).
  • Feature rich .NET API.
  • Simple setup for clustering/high availability.
  • Fast document access via auto indexing.
  • Own language for querying (RQL) not usable elsewhere
  • learning curve for stale documents/eventual consistency
NoSQL Databases (7)
88.57142857142858%
8.9
Performance
80%
8.0
Availability
100%
10.0
Concurrency
80%
8.0
Security
100%
10.0
Scalability
100%
10.0
Data model flexibility
90%
9.0
Deployment model flexibility
70%
7.0
RavenDB is useful for providing high availability (HA) which we achieved by clustering across physically different servers.

RavenDB would not be appropriate if you have dynamic queries - e.g. where the fields being queried are not known ahead of time and thus indexes would have to be built on all fields (or dynamically as required).
  • Not having to debug perf issues caused by ORM.
  • Not having to deal with SQL as you denormalize your app data model.
RavenDB has a richer API, has security out of the box (via certificates), produces indexes automatically and updates them when data changes.
It currently 'ticks all the boxes' for all our use cases - I also use the free tier in a number of personal & commercial projects - it is the only product I know that provides a HA solution freely. The RavenDB Support (both paid and google groups) is very active and responses are timely.
Alan Doherty | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use RavenDB throughout our platform, from high-frequency server statistics to customer data. Our platform is challenged by the unique requirements of a geographically distributed regions, low tolerance for latency and the need for ACID state machines and transactional operations.
  • Excellent .NET support.
  • Embeddable.
  • Out of the box administration tools.
  • Great documentation.
  • ACID documents.
  • Managed cloud available.
  • Automatic indexes.
  • Open-source.
  • Time series data.
NoSQL Databases (7)
98.57142857142858%
9.9
Performance
100%
10.0
Availability
100%
10.0
Concurrency
100%
10.0
Security
100%
10.0
Scalability
100%
10.0
Data model flexibility
90%
9.0
Deployment model flexibility
100%
10.0
Extremely likely. The solution itself is very easy to setup, supports multiple languages out of the box and provides an easy-to-use administration UI which accelerates development. I have also actively used RavenDB in multiple other projects to a notable increase in productivity and a reduction in the burden of managing application data. The community license is very generous and allowed us to get started quickly without upfront costs and the support was above par.
  • Huge boost to productivity, we attempted to build our product two years ago taking around 9 months versus the 5 months for our current iteration. I can attribute this in significant part to RavenDB.
  • Less time managing databases using the Cloud option, and a reduction in cost over AWS Aurora of around 30% for a similar server setup.
  • Flexibility allowed us to rapidly build, test and greenlight two additional stretch goals we originally did not budget time for.
We have evaluated or used three other databases in the process of building our product.

Amazon Aurora (MySQL)
  • Expensive compared to RavenDB Cloud.
  • Temperamental replication lacking a few features.
  • No real document support and issues with cluster transactions.
  • Lacks some killer features like distributed counting and document versioning.
DynamoDB
  • Expensive, even with the savings options.
  • Not cloud agnostic.
  • Not a perfect translation between JSON and DynamoDB's attribute system.
  • Does not offer the same ACID guarantees as RavenDB.
  • Poor query and indexing optimisation, tools and features.
MongoDB
  • Lower performance.
  • Lack of battle-tested transaction and ACID support.
  • Poor indexing optimisation.
  • AWS DocumentDB is quite expensive.
We've had an excellent experience using RavenDB. Internally we are testing the newer features in 5.0 such as time series, which will effect the con specified previously dependent on the real world performance. We foresee that BattleCrate will continue to use RavenDB as we grow.
No
The support team at RavenDB is very helpful, the documentation is concise and clear. RavenDB wants you to succeed.
Yes
Yes, the issue tracker is available publicly and responses are timely.
Jeremy Holt | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use RavenDB exclusively for all our applications. Our applications are developed for the West African cashew industry and include programs to develop business plans for industries seeking finance from financial institutions to easy to use software for our inspectors to perform on the spot quality analysis of containers of cashews prior to shipment. We also develop software to help local laboratories as well as factories perform quality control data collection on the shop floor.
  • Once over the initial learning curve, using Raven requires very little thinking about. Even though it is capable of doing almost anything you can imagine, learning how to LoadAsync, StoreAsync, QueryAsync are pretty much all you need to know to do about 99% of the day to day tasks.
  • Write the POCO for your data - Raven does the rest
  • With v 4.0+ you hardly ever need to write queries - Raven's automatic queries handle about 99% of my requirements
  • In previous versions the documentation was terrible - however, since v4.0 the documentation is excellent.
  • Any minor complaints are generally resolved by the team the same day. I suggested at one time some minor tweaks to Studio (showing the number of items in an array) and they were implemented almost immediately.
  • Nothing really to complain about.
NoSQL Databases (7)
100%
10.0
Performance
100%
10.0
Availability
100%
10.0
Concurrency
100%
10.0
Security
100%
10.0
Scalability
100%
10.0
Data model flexibility
100%
10.0
Deployment model flexibility
100%
10.0
All my applications are basic crud and querying of data. Over the years I have learned (mostly) to model my data to fit the no-SQL paradigm. If you can model the data properly there is no reason not to use Raven. Obviously, if you can't find an appropriate model you should probably look elsewhere.
Without doubt the hardest thing of all using Raven is the modelling - before you give up, look at the lookup features (Load.Include) which effectively allow you to approximate foreign keys. The documentation has an excellent chapter on modelling which is definitely worth reading before one starts with Raven.
  • Deployment using their very reasonably priced Raven.Cloud means a very low operational cost.
  • Since the database is now simply a "background" task, I can concentrate on my business logic rather than concerning myself with how the data is being stored/retrieved.
Once I had got my head around the concept of a document database it was a happy bye-bye to SQL Server.
Firebird - far too fiddly - I found myself writing a silly API to sit on top of Firebird just to do the most basic things.
MongoDB - in the very short time I spent with it, it seemed similar enough to Raven, but I couldn't see the point of moving over from something I was already happy with.
It's the perfect backend for the lazy brain-dead developer (that's me!).
I know that if I need to do something more complicated, there will be a way for Raven to do it for me.
If I can't work it out for myself, I sure that someone will help me on their Google Groups to find a solution (usually on the same day).
1
Software architect and programmer
Yes
Microsoft SQL Server.
Too cumbersome and inflexible.
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Vendor Reputation
Knowing that the support is excellent was probably the most important factor in deciding to use RavenDB. Plus the added bonus of not having to go anywhere near Stack Overflow when I have a question is an even bigger factor.
I wouldn't make any changes.
  • no training
Initially it was a lot of hard work. The hardest thing is to understand the concept of modelling the document. It is a dramatic change from the traditional SQL way of thinking about a database. The actual mechanics of using RavenDB are dead simple - you only need to learn a few simple commands to get up and running.
Just right.
I haven't looked at the documentation in a while - but it's worth understanding how to setup a base controller in ASP.NET Core and delegating the saving of the data to the base class.
Other than that, it's just a few lines in the Startup.cs file to setup the database.
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface
What would be great is if Studio would remember the Display columns for a table from one session to the next.
No - we have not done any custom code
No
Because the free support on Google Groups answers 99.99% of my questions.
Because it's first class!
Yes
Yes - some bugs (in versions prior to v 4.2 were fixed the same day) and available in the next build.
Too many to mention.
On many occasions I have asked for help with an apparently impossible problem to solve (bug or otherwise) and had a direct response from Oren Eini himself.
Oren even once did a code revue for me - it took him 20 minutes from me giving him the link. It had taken me a year to write the code. Oh the shame of it - but boy did I learn a lot from reading his comments!
  • CRUD
  • Queries
  • Indexing
  • The querying thingy that calculates sums, totals, averages, etc.
Studio is very easy to use and get a quick overview of the database.
July 19, 2020

3M loves RavenDB

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We used RavenDB as the database for several of our commercial graphics products within 3M. It addressed a few important issues for us:
  • High performance
  • Powerful: We were able to store complex objects and view models in Raven.
  • Ease of developer use: No schemas, stored procedures, or complicated mapping to setup.
  • Flexible: Raven let us move quickly while prototyping our apps without getting bogged down in schema details.
  • Scalable and resilient across a cluster of machines.
  • First-class .NET support
  • Easy to get started
  • Great tooling
  • Unparalleled performance
  • Resilient
  • Sharding
NoSQL Databases (7)
91.42857142857142%
9.1
Performance
100%
10.0
Availability
90%
9.0
Concurrency
80%
8.0
Security
100%
10.0
Scalability
80%
8.0
Data model flexibility
90%
9.0
Deployment model flexibility
100%
10.0
Raven is a fantastic choice for a general-purpose database. It works well in a variety of types of applications and has a flexible data model for different kinds of data (JSON, time series, counters). We've successfully used Raven both as a primary database and as a complement to a traditional SQL database. For the latter scenario, we used Raven as a cache for complex objects like view models. But we've found the most success switching entirely off SQL and onto Raven—great performance, fewer maintenance issues, and developers love it.
  • Faster development time due to low barrier to entry.
  • Faster iterative development as Raven's data model is more flexible than traditional databases.
  • Less maintenance required thanks to Raven's self-tuning auto indexes.
We chose Raven over Mongo because it has robust support for multi-document transactions, first-class .NET and LINQ support, a well-designed API that has inspired imitation and has better tooling out of the box. We chose Raven over Redis because Raven is a full persistent database, rather than a mere key/value cache. And Raven's capabilities and memory management are such that there's little need to add a cache layer on top. We chose Raven over CosmosDB because it's faster, cheaper, way easier to implement, open-source, and far more mature. Additionally, unlike Cosmos, Raven can be hosted on your own infrastructure.
Raven has genuinely met all my database needs. When I'm on projects that use traditional SQL databases or other NoSQL products, I find myself longing for the speed and simplicity of Raven.
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