Idea
Robomongo is one of the first products developed by Paralect. The idea to build a GUI tool for MongoDB occurred when we were working on a product for our client.
Our extensive experience in the classic technology stack including .NET and SQL Server, allowed us to build a corporate enterprise solution within several months. However, we were still searching for the ways to achieve better performance and ensure better page load time.
Paralect became one of the first companies in the region that started to use CQRS and Event Sourcing for the development of high-load corporate applications. Besides, we were among the first companies who started using non-relational databases, such as MongoDB.
Due to its schema-less nature and deep query-ability, it became an ideal solution for big data challenges. Yet, at that time it was hard to find a good GUI tool to manage MongoDB. That’s why we decided to build our own product that would allow us to query and visualize information fast and easily.
MVP
The MVP was developed in one month. Robomongo became the first and the only cross-platform management tool that embeds the actual MongoDB shell, making it a perfect solution for projects that involve unstructured information and big data.
The most difficult part of the development process was to ensure direct integration with MongoDB. Since the solution embeds the same engine that is a part of the mongo shell, it was necessary to implement lots of changes for each new version of the database.
Functionality
Full-size editor
Robomongo can be used with maximized query editor with dockable output window that allows for better work with long scripts.
Replica set support
The solution ensures replication that provides redundancy and increases data availability. Besides, with additional copies of data, replication enables you to easily recover from hardware failure.
Autocompletion
Robomongo is one of the first graphical tools that execute semantic of the code in an internal JavaScript VM, providing you with runtime autocompletion.
SSL support
Robomongo supports TLS/SSL that empowers you to encrypt all of the network traffic and establish a secure connection between the client and the server, thus contributing to better security and sensitive data protection.
Asynchronous UI
The solution has a non-blocking UI since all the operations are performed on MongoDB asynchronously.
Results
From the first commit, Robomongo was an open-source solution. Within 3 years the solution got 8200 stars on GitHub.
Besides, due to its innovative functionality and unique advantages, such as better performance and an embedded MongoDB shell, Robomongo gained a strong worldwide community of enthusiasts that support the tool. Currently, Robomongo is No. 63 C++ repository on GitHub. It is in top 0,008% of all repositories on GitHub, regardless of technology. The product has 8 200 stars.
Popularity
Fundraising
The astronomical growth of Robomongo’s popularity in the MongoDB world made Paralect think about the product’s future. Significant resources were required to keep Robomongo’s development up.
That’s why the team decided to organize a crowdfunding campaign that helped to raise $30 000 for further development.
Plan to save Robomongo
We recently learned that the team behind Robomongo, a free and open source MongoDB admin GUI, are in need of funds to keep the project going. The project, which has over 3 622 stargazers on GitHub, is a valuable free tool for the MongoDB community. We know that many of you, our customers, use and love Robomongo, so let's try and help them! The Robomongo team is currently fundraising on Indiegogo. To help support them, we're announcing that MongoLab will match all donations starting now for a total of up to $15 000. Donate now and help save Robomongo!
Inspirational showreel
Here at Paralect we thought that Robomongo deserved a better fate than to fall into the abyss of forgotten hi-tech. That’s why we decided to create videos to share our concerns with the community and ask them for help.
Inspirational showreel
Here at Paralect we thought that Robomongo deserved a better fate than to fall into the abyss of forgotten hi-tech. That’s why we decided to create videos to share our concerns with the community and ask them for help.
Meet Dmitry
Ambiguity
Attempt
Reality
Desolation
Intention
Reliance
Website
Our team also put up a website to spread the word about Robomongo’s success and raise awareness on the disaster about to happen in the MongoDB world if Paralect ceases to support Robomongo.
The website was intended to inspire the community and show that the industry deserves a modern robust open source MongoDB management tool.
Blog
Robomongo 0.9.0 RC4
Campaign is over, Robomongo is not :)
Robomongo 0.9.0 RC3 released
Robomongo RC2 for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
20 days journey to bring a support for MongoDB 3.x has been started
Robomongo 0.9.0 RC1 with full support for MongoDB 3.x
Robomongo 0.9.0 RC1 for Mac OS X
High hopes
Popularity spike
Despite the fact that the campaign intended to save Robomongo fell short of raising the necessary amount, Robomongo saw a jump in popularity.
Within a month the number of Robomongo’s website visitors doubled and stayed that way.
Another shot at saving Robomongo
The team decided to introduce paid tiers for commercial users of Robomongo to secure a steady financial income that would help keep Robomongo afloat and further improve it.
The tiers comprised the Free, Personal, and Business plans that would make Robomongo self-sufficient, yet leave the product free for the community of non-commercial users.
Free
Ideal for experimenting in a limited sandbox
Personal
Designed for every stage of your application
Business
Our best response time SLA and all enterprise features
Coming back to life
Eventually, the introduction of paid tiers did its job: within a month Robomongo was back on track and Paralect continued its development.
But the story
isn’t over yet
A sudden call
The campaign resulted in acquaintance with the founders of Studio 3T, the best selling development environment for MongoDB enthusiasts.
Exit
Exit
On March 14, 2017, 3T Software Labs, makers of Studio 3T, acquired Robomongo to better serve the fast expanding market.
And on April 20, 2017, Robomongo 1.0 official release was announced with a further name change to Robo 3T. The Paralect team worked together with the developers from Studio 3T for 6 months to ensure a smooth handover of Robomongo.
I know the guys at 3T well and I know they’ll do a great job of taking Robomongo forward—I can’t wait to see the tool develop further through their backing and the support of the great Robomongo community!
3T Software Labs will continue the development of Robomongo in parallel with its own GUI tool for MongoDB. As a result, the combination of Robomongo and Studio 3T should help to increase the progress of the overall system and ensure that the company can provide a complete range of tools for MongoDB professionals.
Robomongo became a significant product for Paralect that determined the company’s business focus and empowered the team to deliver a number of unique and successful solutions.
Overview
Technologies
- MongoDB
- QT
- Boost
- SpiderMonkey
- Scintilla
- Esprima
- Valgrind
- CMake
Services
- MVP development
- Support
Product
- Database GUI
Industry
- Software