I can tell you that they won’t change that because there is no similar direct competitor to Wix that’s providing something different. What you can use is completely don’t use wix-data and use different systems tech for your databases.
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You just forgot to mention which ones exactly 
??? → Connect Google Cloud Firestore to Wix (External DB Collection)
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Stay tuned for our custom library that’s using MongoDB like WixData. Still working on it but will be available to use soon.
The library I’m working on will be focused to mid or large size apps not for basic needs. But can be used for basic needs too if you are able to code with JS.
*ofc free
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wow this sounds SUPER exciting! one issue i’ve come across in looking to use an external database for storage is that I still need to use the wix-data API to make any data calls (connected to repeaters, etc.). I’m assuming the same would be true using the custom API library you’re building?
either way, this looKs legit COOL!
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When you use the library we built you can still connect the database you own in MongoDB to use features such as datasets, dynamic pages etc. But this library we built is mostly focused for web apps instead of websites. But can be used in both.
Another problem with wix-data external collections is that you are still limited by wix-data call limits (p/min read and write limits etc) but you are not limited for things such as storage, indexes etc.
In our library all limits are defined by MongoDB. And you can always upgrade your MongoDB Cluster to paid versions. To make it also faster and less limits…
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Really excited to see what you make!
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GOOD LUCK and HAPPY CODING!
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Niiiice!! Excited to check it out when it’s ready. Keep crushing it, buddy!
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@simen @CODE-NINJA (can’t mention more than 2 users)
Thanks guys! We are currently fixing few more BUG/s and creating a documentation for that library as well as a video to show
- how to setup and get started,
- what are the advantages of this library
- what are the disadvantages
- what you’ll earn and lose
- when and where to use this library
etc…
I think documentation and the video will be ready soon. I will also create a post both in this forum and in Discord server. As I said earlier it’s mostly focused to developers but we will explain more in the video we will create soon.
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All of this seems promising! On my side, I’m continuing to fight alongside other developers to get WIX to finally listen to our requests and stop pretending! I want us to have the choice, both for ourselves and for our clients. WIX shouldn’t impose such complex choices on us.
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Let us know, i want to see the result.
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Hello everyone, I’ve updated this topic, which is still very topical, and I’d like to have your opinion on the situation in the topic below !
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I’ve just had an autorenew go through and not only have Wix raised their prices by about 60% since the last time I now see they have imposed a draconian limit on the number of database items that each plan allows. I have a small information web site that makes no money that has used only 0.25 GB of data out of a 50 GB allowance but I’m unable to move down to the more appropriate light plan because I’ve take Wix’s advice and created cross referencing databases to avoid repeating data and now have 2600 CMS items, which is way above the miserly 1500 items allowed. I could spend months combining items but estimate I could probably get down to 2000 items by lengthening the number of items in each database entry, still to big. If this limitation stays I will probably have cancel my wix account and let it revert to a free one as I cannot justify business rates for a hobby site.
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Are there any pdates on this topic? Will the cms limitation stay? It is a locker for a lot of projects that are in the pipeline
Limits will stay like that at least this is what I think. What you can do about this is use an external db; there are tons of options for database world from SQL to NoSQL or K/V Store or Graph databases basically a lot.
If you need something for free or very cheap you can use GCP Firestore (Firebase) or M0 cluster of MongoDB which both a document based NoSQL databases (wixData also built top of MongoDB).
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I tried connecting Google Spanner as an external database to Wix, but I was shocked at how expensive it was (I only did it for experimentation, haha). I still don’t know exactly what made it so costly… Also, I ran into errors right away, so my external database connection project is on hold for now. I believe that Wix’s greatest appeal is being able to handle everything within its own platform, so I hope Wix will be more lenient with data volume limits!
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Hello, loeiks!
I previously tried integrating an external database, but I faced challenges with Wix’s reference instructions, complicated setup, and high costs, which led me to abandon the effort. If I use the npm package you’ve developed, could it make it easier to operate an external database with Wix within a realistic cost range? I knew from the start that Wix collections are based on MongoDB, so I chose MongoDB as a primary option (it also had a simple UI that I liked). Unfortunately, I had a sad experience where, despite following Wix’s references, I couldn’t successfully connect with MongoDB. This made me avoid external databases until now. (I later tried Google Spanner, and although I managed to get it working, I was surprised by the unexpectedly high costs, even though I hadn’t done much yet… 
)
I truly respect your efforts !!! 
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Let me answer your questions as much as I can @onemoretime
Cloud Spanner
This is very high level database model in GCP, if you are asking these questions it means you will never need cloud spanner or you are not planning to do something that requires spanner class database. You don’t need it. You can do your own research to understand why it’s too expensive 
My Package (WeivData)
This package is not using external database connection in Wix, it’s designed to switch from wixData codes easily but provided with more features as well as a method called native to support native MongoDB functions.
Library handles some other things on it’s own so you don’t need to deal with them such as:
- Permissions
- Connections to MongoDB Cluster
- Automatic ID Converting
…
And you can customize most of the things. There is also documentation about general questions and a short tutorial of how to setup and use here: https://weiv-data.apps.exweiv.com/
But you will need to write all your database related codes in backend if you choose this package.
Using MongoDB with WixData
You can also connect your existing (or create new one easily with Atlas) MongoDB database to Wix external collections with Wix’s database adapter for external databases.
It’s not documented in Wix’s documentations I don’t know why it exists and works I’ve also test it before multiple times.
This connection would allow you to work with WixData and it’s all features including CMS dashboard visual data binding etc.
You can mix this with WeivData package to achieve things like dynamic pages while accessing to your database with WeivData library.
The main problem you will have (has a workaround that I can’t talk about here) with WeivData is cold start times, which will add from 500ms to 2second to your first database call until backend container is killed.
You can learn more about how Wix’s backend works: https://youtu.be/GCe7aTxyfvA
Each time container is killed your first call to db will require new connection to MongoDB cluster so because of that first action will delayed 500ms-2s depends on your visitor geolocation and MongoDB cluster type.
About MongoDB Pricing
Doesn’t matter you use WixData or WeivData to access your database (or even directly mongodb NPM package) you will use MongoDB.
You can use Atlas which is fully managed paltform directly provided by MongoDB or you can use other external platforms that I don’t have any experience yet so I won’t talk about them but they exists and usually cheaper so you can also check them out in the end it’s both MongoDB database just like Wix’s built in database.
MongoDB Atlas has a free version called M0 Cluster which is probably okay for small workloads, and there is two more cheap cluster: M2 and M5 I guess and after these you have dedicated clusters which starts from 0.08$/hour (around 60$/m).
But I suggest you starting with free M0 cluster and if needed you can upgrade to M10 (lowest dedicated cluster) and then M20 and so on.
Keep in mind that when you upgrade to dedicated cluster you can’t go back to M5, M2 or M0 which are shared clusters.
About other Database Options
Database world is large and there are tons of options, but if you are looking for databases that you can directly work within Wix and something cheap your second option could be GCP Firestore which I also have tutorial about it that explains almost everything about how to setup, connect and work with it. Same tutorial also explains many other details about external databases.
You can read it here: Connect Google Cloud Firestore to Wix (External DB Collection)
If you have any other questions let me know and I will try to answer, especially for the package we’ve built.
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Thank you so much, loeiks, for the thorough explanations!
I understand the reason why Spanner is expensive given that it offers everything managed, but unfortunately, it was the only option that worked when I followed Wix’s references… I was surprised by the high cost, especially since I was just testing things. Since I already have an Atlas account, I’ll give Atlas another try. While I still don’t understand much about WeivData at this point, I can see that it’s something incredibly valuable and essential for me moving forward! My interest in external database connections was driven by wanting to set up a system to synchronize backups to databases other than Wix, and finding the possibility to easily scale database capacity infinitely gives me new hope for building a more flexible and robust system with Wix. I will start studying diligently from the links you provided!
Thank you so much !!
onemoretime.
Hi!
I had the same issue with trying to connect my site to Amazon AWS. I used Wix’s integration instructions (Integrate Your AWS Databases with Your Wix Site), but even then, I ran into TONS of issues along the way. Although I was never able to get it to function correctly, somehow the initial connection stayed active, and I was eventually charged after the trial period. I had to go back to AWS and fully delete the instance AND my account to avoid future charges.
That said, I totally agree with you, and I hope Wix will offer more data volume options.
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