Data is frequently called the new oil of the modern world. With approximately 402.74 million terabytes of data being created each day, businesses that can store and use this vast quantity of information are able to remain agile and competitive.
In order to effectively use this data, the right data management system must be used, and the two most popular databases are relational databases and NoSQL databases. While relational databases, which store structured data in tables and columns, are still the most common type of database, NoSQL databases are quickly catching up. This is because 80% of all data now available is non-structured data, such as text, documents, video and audio files, and emails, which NoSQL databases can store and organize.
A Business Research Insights report on NoSQLs notes how these databases are frequently used in mobile apps, data analytics, and web apps, and as a result, the market will be worth $26.04 billion by 2033. With the data management industry evolving every year, we will provide a guide for NoSQL databases in 2025.
What is a NoSQL Database and What Are the Different Types?
As mentioned above, NoSQL databases are different from relational databases because they don’t just store data in tables, rows, and columns but instead use flexible schema models that allow data to be stored in various formats. This makes them much more suitable for storing large amounts of big data and high user loads. A guide to NoSQL databases by MongoDB outlines how there are four major types: document databases, key-value databases, wide-column stores, and graph databases. There is also an increasing demand for multi-model databases as businesses seek to store a wide range of data under one system. Each type of data model offers a different advantage depending on the user’s needs.
Document databases store information in documents similar to JSON objects, which means they can support nested structures, making it easy to represent complex relationships or hierarchical data. Key-value databases are the simplest type of NoSQL database, as each item only contains keys and values. This makes them ideal for caching and session management. Wide-column stores store data in tables, rows, and dynamic columns, but unlike relational databases, wide-column stores are flexible, and different rows can have different sets of columns. A graph database stores data in the form of nodes and edges and is used for highly connected data, where the relationships or patterns may not be obvious initially.
Why are NoSQLs Popular in 2025?
Below are three reasons why NoSQL databases are popular in 2025
Flexibility
Data is evolving fast, and businesses are able to acquire a much larger range of information, especially as more data is made available on social media platforms and mobile applications. An article that examines Why NoSQL Will Dominate in 2025 details how data will continue to grow in volume, variety, and velocity this year. A NoSQL database is able to handle different data without the need to modify the whole database. For example, document databases can seamlessly store documents with a different structure in one database. NoSQL databases will provide developers with the tools to build highly performant, scalable, and resilient applications.
Increased Integration Across Industries
Because of their flexibility, NoSQL databases are being integrated into many industries. One such industry is the gaming industry, where huge amounts of player data are collected to improve the experience of the games. One of the biggest mobile games is PUBG, which has dedicated games in certain regions, such as India. With over 30 million people playing PUBG Mobile, all of their data, which would be unstructured data, needs to be stored. NoSQL databases are becoming increasingly used in the gaming industry because they can store different data types and handle the vast data loads that a game with 30 million players generates. The financial industry is also a key industry in which NoSQL databases are increasingly used. As NoSQLs are able to provide real-time analytics, financial institutions use them to detect patterns and even discover fraudulent activities.
AI Compatible
AI is becoming more widely adopted this year, and this has led to vast amounts of data being used to train AI models. In 2025, NoSQL databases will be key in facilitating AI adoption because they can support high-velocity workloads to ensure AI agents remain responsive and scalable. AI needs to constantly acquire new data in order to stay up-to-date, and NoSQL databases can do so because they are designed for high-performance write and read operations.
