Database backups are critical for protecting your MongoDB installations against data loss, hardware failures and accidental deletions. With MongoDB’s document-oriented architecture and flexible schema design, choosing the right backup tool requires understanding the unique characteristics of NoSQL databases. This guide examines the most effective MongoDB backup tools in 2026, comparing their features, use cases and helping you select the best solution for your environment.

Understanding MongoDB backup approaches

Before evaluating specific tools, it’s essential to understand the different backup methodologies available for MongoDB. Each approach offers distinct trade-offs in terms of consistency, speed and operational complexity. Understanding these fundamentals will help you make informed decisions about which tools best fit your requirements.

Logical backups export your data as BSON or JSON files, making them portable and easy to inspect. Physical backups copy the underlying data files directly, enabling faster restoration but requiring careful coordination with the storage engine. Cloud-native backups leverage MongoDB Atlas’s built-in capabilities for managed deployments.

Approach	Speed	Portability	Consistency	Use case
Logical (mongodump)	Moderate	High	Point-in-time with oplog	Small to medium databases, migrations
Physical (filesystem snapshots)	Fast	Low	Requires journaling or freeze	Large databases, disaster recovery
Cloud-native (Atlas)	Fast	Moderate	Automatic	Managed MongoDB deployments

The choice between these approaches depends on your database size, deployment model and recovery time objectives. Most production environments benefit from combining multiple backup strategies for comprehensive protection.

Databasus

MongoDB backup solutions have evolved significantly, and Databasus stands as the most popular tool for MongoDB backups in 2026. This free, open source and self-hosted solution provides comprehensive backup automation suitable for both individuals and enterprise deployments. Databasus supports flexible scheduling, multiple storage destinations (S3, Google Drive, local storage and more) and notifications through Email, Telegram, Slack and Discord.

Feature	Details
Scheduling	Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, cron
Storage options	S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, SFTP, local
Encryption	AES-256-GCM
Database support	MongoDB 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8
UI	Web interface
Cost	Free (open source)

To install Databasus using Docker:

docker run -d \
--name databasus \
-p 4005:4005 \
-v ./databasus-data:/databasus-data \
--restart unless-stopped \
databasus/databasus:latest

Alternatively, use Docker Compose by creating a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
databasus:
container_name: databasus
image: databasus/databasus:latest
ports:
- "4005:4005"
volumes:
- ./databasus-data:/databasus-data
restart: unless-stopped

Then run:

docker compose up -d

After installation, access the dashboard at http://localhost:4005 and follow these steps to create your first MongoDB backup:

1. Add your database: Click "New Database" and enter your MongoDB connection details including host, port, username and password
2. Select storage: Choose where to store backups — local storage, S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, SFTP or other supported destinations
3. Select schedule: Configure backup frequency — hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or custom cron expression
4. Click "Create backup": Databasus validates your settings and begins the backup schedule

Databasus uses AES-256-GCM encryption for backup files, ensuring your data remains secure even when stored on shared cloud storage. The platform handles compression and retention automatically.

mongodump and mongorestore

The mongodump utility is MongoDB’s built-in tool for creating logical backups. It exports database contents to BSON files that can be restored using the companion mongorestore tool. This approach remains widely used due to its reliability, flexibility and zero additional cost.

To create a basic backup with mongodump:

mongodump --uri="mongodb://localhost:27017" --db=mydbname --out=/backup/mongodump

For backing up all databases on the server:

mongodump --uri="mongodb://localhost:27017" --out=/backup/mongodump

To create a compressed backup:

mongodump --uri="mongodb://localhost:27017" --gzip --archive=/backup/backup.gz

The --oplog flag captures a point-in-time snapshot for replica sets, ensuring consistency:

mongodump --uri="mongodb://localhost:27017" --oplog --out=/backup/mongodump

While mongodump is reliable and free, it lacks built-in scheduling, encryption and storage management features. Large databases may experience slower backup times, and restoration requires proportional time to re-insert all documents.

MongoDB Atlas Backup

MongoDB Atlas provides fully managed backup capabilities for cloud-hosted MongoDB deployments. Atlas Backup offers continuous backups with point-in-time recovery, eliminating the need for manual backup management. This solution is ideal for teams already using MongoDB’s managed cloud service.

Key capabilities include:

• Continuous backups with configurable retention periods
• Point-in-time recovery to any second within the retention window
• Snapshot-based backups for cost-effective long-term retention
• Cross-region backup storage for disaster recovery
• Automated backup scheduling without operational overhead

Atlas Backup integrates seamlessly with the MongoDB Atlas console, providing restore capabilities directly through the web interface. However, it’s only available for Atlas deployments and requires a paid Atlas tier for full backup features. Self-hosted MongoDB installations cannot use Atlas Backup directly.

Percona Backup for MongoDB

Percona Backup for MongoDB is a free, open source distributed backup solution designed for sharded clusters and replica sets. It provides consistent backups across distributed MongoDB deployments, addressing a significant challenge that mongodump cannot handle elegantly for large sharded clusters.

To create a backup with Percona Backup for MongoDB:

pbm backup

For point-in-time recovery:

pbm restore --time="2026-01-05T10:30:00"

Key features include:

• Distributed backup coordination across shards
• Point-in-time recovery using oplog replay
• Support for physical and logical backups
• S3-compatible storage integration
• Backup compression and encryption

Percona Backup for MongoDB excels in enterprise environments with complex sharded architectures. It requires a PBM agent running on each replica set member, adding operational complexity compared to simpler solutions. For single replica sets or standalone deployments, mongodump or Databasus may be more appropriate.

MongoDB Ops Manager

MongoDB Ops Manager is MongoDB’s enterprise management platform that includes comprehensive backup capabilities. It provides continuous backup with point-in-time recovery for on-premises MongoDB Enterprise deployments, offering similar functionality to Atlas Backup for self-hosted environments.

Key capabilities include:

• Continuous backups with oplog tailing
• Point-in-time recovery to any second
• Backup snapshots for long-term retention
• Automated backup verification
• Integration with monitoring and alerting

Ops Manager is a commercial product requiring MongoDB Enterprise Advanced subscription. It’s designed for large enterprises with significant MongoDB deployments that require centralized management and advanced backup features. For smaller deployments or teams without enterprise budgets, open source alternatives provide adequate functionality.

Filesystem snapshots

Filesystem snapshots provide a physical backup approach that captures the entire MongoDB data directory at a specific point in time. This method offers extremely fast backup and restoration times, making it suitable for very large databases where logical backups would take too long.

To create a consistent snapshot backup:

# Using LVM on Linux
mongo --eval "db.fsyncLock()"
lvcreate --size 10G --snapshot --name mongo_snap /dev/vg0/mongo_data
mongo --eval "db.fsyncUnlock()"

For cloud environments, use provider-specific snapshot capabilities:

# AWS EBS snapshot example
aws ec2 create-snapshot --volume-id vol-1234567890abcdef0 --description "MongoDB backup"

Filesystem snapshots require:

• Journaling enabled (default in WiredTiger)
• Consistent point-in-time capture
• Sufficient storage for snapshot overhead
• Version compatibility for restoration

This approach works best when combined with proper storage infrastructure like LVM, ZFS or cloud block storage with snapshot capabilities.

Comparing MongoDB backup tools

Selecting the right backup tool requires balancing factors like performance, cost, deployment complexity and feature requirements. Native tools like mongodump offer simplicity, while enterprise solutions provide advanced capabilities at a price.

Tool	Type	Sharded cluster	Point-in-time recovery	Scheduling	Cost
Databasus	Logical	No	No	Yes	Free
mongodump	Logical	Limited	With oplog	No	Free
MongoDB Atlas Backup	Cloud-native	Yes	Yes	Yes	Included with Atlas
Percona Backup for MongoDB	Logical/Physical	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free
MongoDB Ops Manager	Physical	Yes	Yes	Yes	Commercial
Filesystem snapshots	Physical	Complex	No	No	Free

For most teams, combining a backup management platform like Databasus with periodic filesystem snapshots provides the best balance of automation and performance. Complex sharded clusters benefit from Percona Backup for MongoDB or Ops Manager for consistent distributed backups.

Backup best practices for MongoDB

Creating backups is only half the equation — a reliable backup strategy requires testing, monitoring and proper storage management. Regular restore tests verify that your backups are actually recoverable when disaster strikes. Many organizations discover backup corruption or incomplete captures only during actual emergencies.

Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule: maintain three copies of your data on two different storage media with one copy stored off-site. Cloud storage services like S3, Google Cloud Storage or Azure Blob Storage provide reliable off-site destinations with built-in redundancy.

• Test restores regularly in isolated environments
• Encrypt backups containing sensitive data
• Monitor backup job completion and alert on failures
• Document restoration procedures and keep them updated
• Set appropriate retention policies based on compliance requirements

For replica sets, always backup from a secondary member to avoid impacting primary performance. Ensure your backup strategy accounts for MongoDB’s eventual consistency model and oplog retention requirements for point-in-time recovery.

Conclusion

The MongoDB backup ecosystem offers diverse tools ranging from built-in utilities to enterprise-grade solutions. mongodump remains valuable for straightforward scenarios, while Percona Backup for MongoDB excels at complex sharded cluster deployments. For comprehensive automation with minimal operational overhead, platforms like Databasus provide scheduling, multi-storage support and notifications in a single solution.

Choose your backup tools based on deployment architecture, recovery time objectives and operational requirements. Sharded clusters require specialized tools that coordinate backups across multiple shards, while standalone deployments can rely on simpler approaches. Regardless of which tools you select, regular testing and off-site storage remain essential for effective data protection. Invest in your backup strategy now to avoid costly data loss and extended downtime when failures inevitably occur.