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Earthly vs MongoDB Atlas

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
MongoDB Atlas logo

MongoDB Atlas

Technology

The multi-cloud developer data platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; MongoDB Atlas m0 free tier limited to learning and exploration only with no backup capability
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and MongoDB Atlas actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and MongoDB Atlas differ
AttributeEarthlyMongoDB Atlas
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteusage-based
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

Only in MongoDB Atlas

Nothing recorded that Earthly does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot MongoDB Atlas
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot MongoDB Atlas
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot MongoDB Atlas
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot MongoDB Atlas

MongoDB Atlas

  • Building applications with flexible JSON document storagenot Earthly
  • Performing full-text and vector search on unstructured datanot Earthly
  • Scaling multi-cloud deployments across AWS, Azure, GCPnot Earthly
  • Streaming event data integration with Kafkanot Earthly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

MongoDB Atlas

  • M0 free tier limited to learning and exploration only with no backup capability
  • Data transfer egress charges apply at 0.12 USD/GB for dedicated clusters; inbound free
  • MongoDB Search and Vector Search add significant per-hour costs starting at 0.12 USD/hour

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

MongoDB Atlas

Free
  • M0 (Free Tier)Free
    • 512 MB storage
    • Shared RAM and vCPU
    • No backups
  • Flex Tier$0.011/hour
    • 5 GB storage
    • Shared RAM and vCPU
    • Pay-as-you-go hourly billing
  • M2 Shared$9/month
    • 2 GB storage
    • Shared RAM and vCPU
  • M5 Shared$25/month
    • 5 GB storage
    • Shared RAM and vCPU

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose MongoDB Atlas if

  • You want to start without paying.
MongoDB Atlas review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or MongoDB Atlas better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and MongoDB Atlas at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or MongoDB Atlas?
Earthly starts at Free and MongoDB Atlas at Free.
Does Earthly or MongoDB Atlas run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. MongoDB Atlas runs on Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what MongoDB Atlas is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that MongoDB Atlas cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
MongoDB Atlas: How much does MongoDB Atlas cost?

MongoDB Atlas offers a free M0 tier with 512 MB storage, Flex tier at approximately 8-30 USD/month with pay-per-hour billing, shared clusters at 9-25 USD/month, and dedicated clusters from 56.94 USD/month. Add-on services like MongoDB Search cost 0.12-3.27 USD/hour.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
MongoDB Atlas: Is there a free tier?

Yes, MongoDB Atlas M0 free tier offers 512 MB storage with shared resources, suitable for learning and exploration. Flex tier allows pay-as-you-go usage starting at 0.011 USD/hour.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
MongoDB Atlas: What are the data transfer limits?

Inbound data transfer is typically free; egress from dedicated clusters costs 0.12 USD/GB. Free and Flex tiers do not incur data transfer charges.

Source
MongoDB Atlas: What backup options are available?

M0 free tier and Flex tier do not include backups. Dedicated clusters M10 and above include backup services with region and snapshot storage-based pricing.

Source
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