Inlet vs MongoDB Compass

In short

MongoDB Compass is the free GUI from MongoDB itself, for macOS, Windows and Linux. It’s built for MongoDB only and goes deep: a visual aggregation pipeline builder, schema analysis, visual explain plans, index management, validation rules, live server stats, an embedded MongoDB Shell, and natural-language queries.

Inlet is a free native Mac app for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite and MongoDB. It shows MongoDB collections as tables and documents in an inspector, and runs queries in mongosh syntax; it has no MongoDB-specific tools beyond that. It’s new (version 0.1) and needs macOS 26 Tahoe or later. As a MongoDB Compass alternative for Mac, Inlet makes sense mainly if MongoDB is one of several databases you use and you’d rather have one app for all of them.

At a glance

As of October 2026, from MongoDB’s website, the Compass documentation and its GitHub repository.

Where MongoDB Compass is stronger

• It’s MongoDB’s own tool. Compass is built by MongoDB for MongoDB, and connects to Atlas and self-hosted deployments alike.
• Far more MongoDB features. A visual aggregation pipeline builder with previews, schema analysis that finds missing fields and mixed types, visual explain plans, index management, document validation rules and real-time server stats. Inlet has none of these for MongoDB.
• The shell built in. Compass embeds the MongoDB Shell, so you can run mongosh commands without leaving the app.
• AI for queries. Compass can turn a plain-language question into a query. Inlet’s optional Ask Claude is aimed at SQL.
• Windows and Linux. Compass runs on all three desktop systems. Inlet is Mac-only and needs macOS 26.
• Track record. Compass has been developed in the open since 2015. Inlet is at version 0.1.

Where Inlet is stronger

• One app for all your databases. MongoDB sits beside PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and SQLite, with the same grid, query editor, history and saved queries. Compass works only with MongoDB.
• A native Mac app. Inlet is written in Swift with SwiftUI and AppKit; Compass is an Electron app.
• Read-only that blocks writes. Compass’s documentation says its readOnly option hides write controls but doesn’t fully disable writes, and recommends the database’s read role for that. In Inlet, a connection tagged production opens read-only and writes are refused until you unlock it, for ten minutes.
• Export to Excel. Inlet exports results as CSV, JSON or Excel (.xlsx). Compass imports and exports JSON and CSV.

Moving from MongoDB Compass

Inlet doesn’t read Compass’s saved connections, but it takes the same connection strings:

1. Copy your connection string, the mongodb:// or mongodb+srv:// URL you use in Compass.
2. In Inlet, choose Connect from URL and paste it. Inlet fills the form, including for mongodb+srv:// (Atlas-style) strings.
3. Save the password in the Keychain, or have Inlet ask for it each time.

Queries change shape a little. Compass’s query bar takes a filter document; in Inlet you write the whole mongosh call, with that filter inside: db.orders.find({ status: "shipped" }).

Which to choose

Choose MongoDB Compass if MongoDB is your main database, or if you build aggregation pipelines, analyse schemas, manage indexes or read explain plans. For MongoDB work it does much more than Inlet, and it’s free on every platform.

Choose Inlet if you’re on macOS 26 and MongoDB is one of several databases you look after, and you want to browse and query it in the same native app as your PostgreSQL, MySQL or SQLite databases, with production connections that open read-only. Both are free, so you can use Compass for MongoDB-specific work and Inlet for everything else.