Azure DocumentDB Azure Cosmos DB
Globally distributed, horizontally scalable, multi-model NoSQL and vector database service with turnkey multi-region replication and SLA-backed low latency.
Naming timeline
- Azure DocumentDB
Managed NoSQL JSON document database service built on Project Florence.
- Azure Cosmos DBCurrent name
Azure DocumentDB rebranded and expanded into Azure Cosmos DB supporting NoSQL (formerly SQL API), MongoDB, Table, Cassandra, and Gremlin APIs.
What is Azure DocumentDB called now?
Azure DocumentDB is now called Azure Cosmos DB, with the latest change on 10 May 2017 (Microsoft Build Multi-Model Rebrand (Core SQL API Renamed 'for NoSQL' Oct 12, 2022)). Globally distributed, horizontally scalable, multi-model NoSQL and vector database service with turnkey multi-region replication and SLA-backed low latency. Only the customer-facing name changed; the underlying technical identifiers remain backward compatible.
Also known as
- Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Cosmos DB Core (SQL) API
- Project Florence
Technical identifiers
Technical identifiers unchanged. Only the customer-facing product name changed; the APIs, CLI commands, IAM roles and Terraform resources below keep their legacy identifiers for backward compatibility.
| ARM Resource Providers (Microsoft.*) | Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts/sqlDatabases |
|---|---|
| Azure CLI (az) / PowerShell | az cosmosdb az cosmosdb sql |
| Entra ID / Azure RBAC Roles | DocumentDB Account Contributor Cosmos DB Operator Cosmos DB Built-in Data Contributor |
| Terraform Resources (azurerm_*) | azurerm_cosmosdb_account azurerm_cosmosdb_sql_database |
The ARM resource provider (Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts) and built-in RBAC role (DocumentDB Account Contributor) permanently retain the legacy DocumentDB identifier.
Notes & disambiguation
- Originated internally at Microsoft in 2010 as 'Project Florence', launched in public preview as Azure DocumentDB on August 21, 2014 (GA April 8, 2015), and rebranded and expanded into the multi-model Azure Cosmos DB at Microsoft Build on May 10, 2017.
- In October 2022, the native JSON document API within Azure Cosmos DB was also renamed from 'Core (SQL) API' to 'Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL'.
- Despite the 2017 rebrand to Azure Cosmos DB, the underlying Azure Resource Manager provider permanently retains the legacy namespace Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts, while Azure CLI uses az cosmosdb and Terraform uses azurerm_cosmosdb_account.
Sources & official documentation
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