MongoDB analytics // native, no ETL

MongoDB analytics that reads the document as it is.

Knowi queries MongoDB with the aggregation framework, keeps nested documents and arrays intact, and joins collections with your SQL databases, other NoSQL stores and REST APIs at query time. Dashboards, alerts and plain-English questions sit on top. Nothing moves to a warehouse first.

aggregation pipeline nested documents + arrays Atlas or self-hosted SOC 2 Type II
See Knowi on your own collections

What you leave with

  • A working dashboard on one of your collections, built on the call.
  • A read on which of your nested fields and arrays need no flattening at all.
  • A straight answer on whether Atlas Charts already covers you.
MongoDB Analytics & Reporting

Build MongoDB reports and data visualization in real time with true native integration.

Natively integrate to data sources like SQL, NoSQL (MongoDB, Elasticsearch, InfluxDB…), Rest API and cloud data sources

Plugin MongoDB Queries

Schema Discovery & MongoDB Query Generation

40+ visualizations to create dashboards that matter

Direct query execution into your database to drive visualizations, or, store and track seamlessly using our scalable, schema-less, flexible cloud warehouse

Ask questions of your data in plain English

Auto-generate intutive dashboards or get instant insights with Knowi’s Private GPT.

Single Sign-On API for embedding inside your portal

Secure Data access to ensure the right people access the right data

Choose between Cloud or On-Prem deployment options

📆 Book your 30 minute demo

MongoDB analytics should read the document as it is, not as a table it was never meant to be.

The premise

Most MongoDB reporting starts by undoing the document model.

You chose MongoDB because an order can hold its line items and the schema can change next sprint. Warehouse-first BI tools cannot read that shape, so they rebuild it as rows before they draw a chart.

Route 01

The SQL translation layer

MongoDB's BI Connector and its successor, the SQL Interface, expose collections as relational schemas so Tableau, Power BI or Excel can send SQL. Every array becomes a child table and every nested field a joined column. The query you tune is not the query MongoDB runs.

Route 02

ETL into a warehouse

Flatten each collection into tables, load them on a schedule, report on the copy. The pipeline breaks whenever a document gains a field, and the dashboard is only as current as the last run.

Route 03

Atlas Charts

Native inside Atlas and a fair choice for a single collection. Each chart maps to one collection, so the moment the answer needs a second source, a join or a self-hosted cluster, you are back to routes one and two.

Knowi takes none of the three routes. It runs MongoDB's own query language against your cluster and treats nested documents and arrays as data, not as a problem to solve first.

Warehouse-first MongoDB BI vs Knowi

Where flatten-first MongoDB analytics and native MongoDB analytics part ways

Three rows are the reason to look. The rest is what you keep.

Dimension
Flatten-first tools
Knowi
Query language
SQL, translated to MongoDB through a connector or a relational schema map you maintain.
MongoDB Query Language, natively. Write find() and aggregation pipeline stages in the editor, or build them visually. MongoDB executes exactly what you wrote.
Nested documents and arrays
Unwound into child tables at ingest or by the translation layer. Schema changes break the map.
Read in place. Nested objects and arrays come through as structured fields. Unwind them in the pipeline when you want to, not because the tool requires it.
Where the data sits
Copied into a warehouse or a staging table on a refresh schedule.
Queried where it lives. Direct execution against the cluster, or a scheduled run into Knowi's Elastic Store when you want the load off production.
Joins across sources
Only after everything is loaded into the same warehouse.
Join a MongoDB collection with PostgreSQL, MySQL, Snowflake, Elasticsearch or a REST API in one dataset, at query time.
Atlas and self-hosted
Atlas Charts covers Atlas. Self-hosted needs a connector or an export.
Atlas clusters and self-hosted MongoDB, replica set hosts included. Clusters inside your network connect through the Cloud9Agent without opening the database to the internet.
Dashboards, alerts, questions
Dashboards in the BI tool, drawn on the copied data.
40+ visualization types, threshold alerts with the data attached, and plain-English questions, on the same datasets.
Deployment
Depends on the tool.
Knowi cloud or on-premise inside your infrastructure. SOC 2 Type II certified.

A tool that flattens the document first is optimising for its own storage model. Native MongoDB analytics means nothing about your data model changes in order to report on it. The connector reference lives on the MongoDB analytics product page.

Reason 01

The query is MongoDB's own.

Knowi connects to the cluster, lists your collections with sampled fields, and lets you write the aggregation pipeline you would write in the shell. $match, $unwind, $group, $lookup and $project run inside MongoDB. Map-Reduce covers the jobs that outgrow aggregate.

Cloud9QL, Knowi's SQL-style post-processing layer, runs on the result when you want a date bucket or a calculated field without touching the pipeline. The pipeline stays the source of truth.

orders // aggregation pipelinedirect
$matchstatus: "shipped", createdAt: last 30d
$unwind$items
$group_id: $items.sku, revenue: $sum
$lookupfrom: products, as: product
$projectsku, product.name, revenue

Runs on your cluster, unchanged
no SQL translation, no flattened copy
Reason 02

Join collections with whatever sits next to the cluster.

MongoDB is rarely the whole estate. Billing is in Postgres, events are in Elasticsearch, the CRM is behind a REST API. Knowi runs each source's native query, then joins the results in one dataset, across 70+ connectors.

No ingestion step and no warehouse. The MongoDB side of the join is still the pipeline you wrote, nested fields included.

Each source queried in its own language
MongoDB Atlas
PostgreSQL
REST API
Elasticsearch
Snowflake
MySQL
Knowi
cross-source joins at query time
No ETL. No warehouse required.
On top of the query

MongoDB dashboards, alerts and plain-English questions on the same datasets

Once the pipeline returns a dataset, everything downstream is standard Knowi: real-time dashboards, scheduled reports, alerts. Nothing here needs a second tool.

Dashboards

MongoDB dashboards, live or scheduled

40+ visualization types with drilldowns and filters. Direct-execution widgets fetch from the cluster when opened. Embed a dashboard in your own product with an iframe or JavaScript, with single sign-on, white-labelled.

Alerts and actions

Triggers on the result, not on a copy

Set a condition on any dataset. When it trips, Knowi sends the notification with the data attached, or calls a webhook so a downstream system acts. Datasets can also be written back to MongoDB.

Natural language

Questions in plain English

Ask for the collections, fields and filters you want and Knowi generates the MongoDB query, explains an existing one, or flags what is wrong with it. Business users get answers without learning pipeline syntax.

How it starts

MongoDB analytics in three steps, no pipeline to build first

This is what the demo walks through on your data. We build a working dashboard in the first call.

01 Connect the cluster

Pick MongoDB or MongoDB Atlas, enter hosts, database and credentials. Replica sets take multiple hosts. Add the Cloud9Agent for a database inside your network, or tick legacy support for 4.4 and below.

02 Query the collections

Knowi pulls the collection list with field samples. Drag fields in the visual builder or write MQL in the editor. Choose direct execution, or a scheduled run into the Elastic Store.

03 Build, join, alert

Turn the dataset into widgets, join it with a SQL or REST source, set the alert, embed the dashboard. The same dataset feeds the plain-English questions.

The honest part

Where Atlas Charts is enough, and where Knowi is the wrong fit

A MongoDB BI decision made on a feature grid tends to get remade later. The short version. Longer reads: choosing a MongoDB reporting tool and MongoDB vs SQL.

Stay on Atlas Charts if
  • Every collection you report on is in Atlas and will stay there.
  • No dashboard needs data from a second database or an API.
  • You do not need to embed analytics in your own product under your own brand.
  • Nobody outside the engineering team needs to ask their own questions.
Knowi is the wrong fit if
  • Everything is already modelled into a warehouse and MongoDB is a small export. A warehouse-native tool will feel more native.
  • You want to buy on a credit card. Knowi is sales-led, priced as a flat annual platform fee.
  • You are standardised on Microsoft and Power BI already sits on every desk.
From a customer evaluation

“My team tested various data visualization tools like PowerBI, Domo, Sisense and Knowi emerged as the top choice for its speed in creating useful dashboards and ease of use for non-technical users. While we selected Knowi as a viz tool, I’m also happy we did so from a data engineering perspective. Knowi’s architecture models data thoughtfully, which I’d credit for enabling a collection of elegant features.”

Phil Bryant, VP Business Intelligence, MacroFab

Teams running analytics on Knowi

Verizon Telstra Lockheed Martin
Questions

What buyers ask about MongoDB analytics before the call

Does Knowi run MongoDB analytics without ETL or a data warehouse?

Yes. Knowi connects to the cluster and runs MongoDB Query Language directly, including aggregation pipelines, so there is no extract step and no warehouse copy. Widgets can execute against the cluster live, or on a schedule into Knowi's Elastic Store to keep load off production. Teams that already have a warehouse use Knowi on top of it as well.

How does Knowi handle nested documents and arrays in MongoDB analytics?

They arrive as structured fields, not as flattened child tables. You decide in the pipeline whether to $unwind an array or keep it, and nested paths such as address.city or items.sku can be selected in the visual builder or referenced in the editor. Nothing is forced into a relational schema on the way in.

Does Knowi run MongoDB analytics on Atlas and self-hosted clusters?

Both. Pick MongoDB Atlas or standard MongoDB when you create the datasource, then enter hosts, database and credentials. Replica sets take multiple hosts. For a cluster inside your network, the Cloud9Agent runs behind your firewall and connects without exposing the database to the internet. Legacy support covers 4.4 and below.

Can I join MongoDB data with SQL databases and REST APIs?

Yes. Knowi runs the native query on each source, then joins the results in one dataset at query time. That covers MongoDB with PostgreSQL, MySQL, Snowflake, Elasticsearch, REST APIs and the rest of Knowi's 70+ connectors. No pipeline moves the MongoDB data anywhere first, and nested fields on the MongoDB side stay intact.

How does Knowi compare to Atlas Charts for MongoDB analytics?

Atlas Charts is the right answer for a single Atlas collection with no outside data. Each chart maps to one collection and it stays inside Atlas. Knowi is the answer once dashboards need a second source, a cross-database join, a self-hosted cluster, white-label embedding in your own product, or business users asking questions in plain English.

Do I need the MongoDB BI Connector to use Knowi for MongoDB reporting?

No. Knowi does not use the BI Connector or ODBC drivers. It speaks MongoDB's own query language, so there is no SQL translation layer in the middle. For reference, MongoDB's documentation states the BI Connector reaches end-of-life and will no longer be supported after September 2026, with the SQL Interface as its recommended replacement. Neither is part of a Knowi connection.

See MongoDB analytics on your own collections.

Thirty minutes with a solutions engineer on your cluster. Bring one collection with nested fields and one source next to it. You leave with a dashboard, not slides.

See Knowi on your MongoDB data

Atlas or self-hosted. Cloud or on-premise.

“My team tested various data visualization tools like PowerBI, Domo, Sisense and Knowi emerged as the top choice for its speed in creating useful dashboards and ease of use for non-technical users. While we selected Knowi as a viz tool, I’m also happy we did so from a data engineering perspective. Knowi’s architecture models data thoughtfully, which I’d credit for enabling a collection of elegant features.”

Phil Bryant

VP Business Intelligence, MacroFab

Hundreds of companies trust Knowi to unify their analytics

Business intelligence for MongoDB

A lot of BI tools offer stunning dashboards and visualizations but require your data to be confined to a strict structure and schema–making them useless for NoSQL data sources like MongoDB

Knowi is different. Knowi was built from the ground up with the aim of providing a unified business intelligence solution for unstructured data like MongoDB.

Embedded analytics

Knowi can be embedded right into your application using an iframe or javascript. That means you can white-labeled Knowi as the analytics solution inside your product and sell its features as part of your GTM.

With powerful dashboards and reporting, users can get real-time analytics that will provide tangible value to your product offering. No ETL required. No additional hardware needed. 

4 steps to connect your MongoDB data to Knowi

  1.  Click “Add Connection”
  2. Select MongoDB from the Datasources
  3. Insert your Mongo connection credentials.
  4. Hit “Connect”

And that’s it. You’re now natively connected to your MongoDB data can now be used to create dashboards, visualizations, ad hoc reports, and more. Try a live MongoDB connection with Knowi.

How is Knowi different than the alternatives?

The three biggest options companies look at for MongoDB analytics are MongoDB Charts, using the Mongo BI Connector to get their data into one of the old guard BI tools like Tableau, or using ETL/ELT processes to move all their data into a relational data warehouse. 

BI Connector

A lot of business intelligence tools like Tableau use the Mongo BI Connector. The problem here is that the BI Connector works by putting a SQL layer on top of Mongo, forcing your unstructured data into a relational structure, invalidating the entire point of using a NoSQL database. It’s a classic square peg in a round hole problem.
This solution can also add additional expenses through enterprise licensing and driver purchasing.

MongoDB Charts

MongoDB Charts is great if you have a super simple use case. If your company is 100% using MongoDB data and it will always be that way, you don’t need advanced integration or embedding, and it does not need to scale. If you need to level up your real-time analytics beyond that, that’s where Knowi comes in.

ETL + Data Warehouse

The third option is to use ETL or ELT to apply a schema to all of your data and run regular migrations to a data warehouse. This suffers from the same square peg in a round hole problem where you are forcing schema on unstructured data. It also requires the build out of costly ETL pipelines and maintenance of data warehouse infrastructure.
Lastly, going this route often results in versioning issues, since the data your working with in your data warehouse is only as up-to-date as the last ETL process run. 

Knowi avoids all of these issues because it was built from the ground up to support unstructured non-relational data. Knowi is built on data virtualization which enables true native integration that other business intelligence platforms simply cannot do.

Native MongoDB analytics

You simply connect Knowi to MongoDB and start writing queries. Knowi is the only complete BI solution that is fully native to MongoDB and supports nested objects and arrays. No ODBC drivers, no SQL layer in the middle, no pre-defined schemas, no ETL. No mess. No fuss.

Cross database joins

Join MongoDB data with NoSQL, Relational, RDBMS, and APIs on the fly across data centers or multiple cloud providers, eliminating costly ETL processes that move and SQL-ify your MongoDB data.

Search-based analytics

Transform how your company uses its data with the use of Google-search-like capabilities on top of MongoDB. Knowi's search-based analytics will enable your business users to perform ad-hoc analysis in real time.

MongoDB Reporting & Analytics

Welcome to the most powerful solution for analytics and visualization on MongoDB. Knowi is the only MongoDB BI provider that not only delivers truly native MongoDB visualization and reporting but also allows you to join disparate data sources. You can connect your MongoDB data with other relational data sources, NoSQL databases, and data from REST APIs. If that’s not enough, Knowi comes with integrated machine learning and search-based analytics for advanced business intelligence using MongoDB data.

Embedded Mongo Database Analytics

Build Data-Driven Applications: With just a few clicks, you can securely embed dashboards directly into your applications your business teams are already using. Users can also share MongoDB dashboards or email PDF reports to extend analytics reporting to offline users company wide.

Machine Learning

Combine hindsight and foresight with our machine learning workbench. Integrate machine learning directly into your MongoDB data analysis workflows. With Knowi ML, you can automatically trigger actions based on resulting calculations. You choose to integrate your custom algorithms or tap into our library of open source algorithms.

Triggers, Alerts, and Actions

Automate actions or notifications based on the results of your MongoDB analytics. Easily send notifications with data attached or invoke a webhook to initiate a process in a downstream application.

See our latest MongoDB Reporting and Visualization Tool Comparison Guide to know what solution can be best for your MongoDB analytics usecase 

Frequently Asked Questions about MongoDB analytics and reporting

Knowi tends to be a great fit for the use cases that are too complex for MongoDB Charts. Some use cases work fine sticking to only MongoDB data, but there are also a lot of companies where Mongo is only one part of their data ecosystem. For these companies, being able to support a variety of NoSQL and SQL data sources and join data across databases is crucial. This is where Knowi is often a better fit. 
Knowi also works well when companies need to be able to embed their analytics solution in their existing workspace, website, or app. 

No. Knowi uses data virtualization to access and run real-time analytics on MongoDB data natively. Many business intelligence platforms require you to use ETL processes to move all of your NoSQL data to a data warehouse and apply schema. With Knowi, none of that is needed. That said, some of our customers who already have data warehouses use Knowi on top of that as the visualization and analytics engine.

As with all applications, it depends on the use case itself. But Knowi's ability to do real-time analytics natively on MongoDB data can certainly power a lot of data science applications. Additionally, with Knowi, you can join across databases; meaning you can join your MongoDB data with data from relational databases. So if you have some unstructured data in MongoDB and some data in a structured SQL database, you can still do analytics.

Lastly, Knowi's ability to easily pull in data from REST APIs can be useful for pulling in data from outside sources for data science use case.

Ready to try Knowi with your MongoDB data?

Make quicker decisions with the best analytics solution.