Choose your database

Too complicated? Not what you’re looking for?

Consider a hosted Nightscout service! Check for easier solutions here.


You must create a database unless it’s already included in the platform you selected, check below.


You need to create a database.

You don’t need to create a database: continue here

You don’t need to create a database: go directly to the hosting site.


Find a list of commonly used database hosting services below, decide which one you’ll want to use and create your database.


Warning

Using a free, limited size database (like M0 Atlas) means you will have to maintain it.
Since it will regularly grow with the data you send to Nightscout, take a note to perform regular cleanup to avoid your site crashing.

MongoDB Atlas Database

MongoDB Atlas

MongoDB bought mLab in 2018 and shutdown its service in 2020. Most users migrated to MongoDB Atlas, using a free M0 database with a limited 512MB capacity.

Pros:

  • The M0 cluster is free

  • Nightscout was adapted to MongoDB Atlas

Cons:

  • M0 clusters are designed for learning and testing, not production: performance and availability are not guaranteed

  • There is no warranty the M0 cluster will remain in the future

  • A larger M2 cluster costs 9$ per month (not competitive against hosted solutions)

  • A full M0 database crashes Nightscout, this is a common issue for DIY closed loop system users

Follow these instructions to build a small database to host your Nightscout data if you don’t already have one.

Railway Mongo Database

Railway MongoDB

Railway offers a Mongo database.

Pros:

  • Simple to create

  • Less overhead than Atlas (more space)

Cons:

  • Requires a 5$/month hobby plan as billing starting amount

  • Running a database together with a Railway Nightscout site will increase billing above ~200MiB used

  • Simple Mongo 4.4 database

Follow these instructions to create a database in Railway.

Northflank Mongo Database

Northflank MongoDB

Northflank offers a Mongo database.

Pros:

  • Simple to create

  • Economic reliable database

  • High quality Mongo database with a replica set

Cons:

  • Billing will occur but the cost is really limited: 0.3$ per GiB (it usually takes years to reach 1GB for Nightscout)

  • There is no warranty this offer will be maintained in the future

Follow these instructions to create a database in Northflank.

VPS Mongo Database

MongoDB

You can create a Mongo Database in a Virtual Private Server, either using a free plan (Oracle, Google) or a paid account (Digital Ocean and so many others …).

Pros:

  • Lot of space

  • Standard community method largely supported by IT specialists

Cons:

  • Requires commands to be typed and some IT knowledge

Waiting for something easier (work in progress) these are the instruction.