Best MongoDB GUI Client for OSX
With the advent of MongoDB 3.x, we finally can look forward to performance and efficiency gains, especially with a new and better storage mechanism. However, due to a new authentication method being implemented as its default, it is breaking lots of existing MongoDB clients.
I was using the latest version of Robomongo (0.8.x), but it didn’t work when I tried to connect with authentication to my 3.0 MongoDB database. It appears that if a database was created on a MongoDB 3.0 server and you enable its authentication feature, it will by default use the new SCRAM-SHA-1 challenge-response user authentication mechanism, which is still not supported by most of the GUI clients out there. And the bad thing is, there is just no simple way to toggle between the new authentication mechanism and the outdated mechanism. You just have to live with it.
So apparently, most of the good free MongoDB clients (e.g. UMongo, MongoHub) out there were not able to work as well. I was quite disappointed. After all, it has already been 9 months since the release of MongoDB 3.0.1. And with Robomongo being considered the best MongoDB GUI client for OSX, I was wondering how it could possibly take so long for a simple patch.
Fortunately, I tried Studio 3T (previously known as MongoChef) and it works. And the best thing is, its UI is actually pretty user friendly and is really similar to Robomongo, and it’s absolutely free for non-commercial use. If you were a ex-Robomongo user, Studio 3T would definitely be the best replacement tool for you.
And it’s commendable that 3T has acquired Robomongo and Studio 3T will now continue the legacy of Robomongo.
Updated as of 14 December 2017.