In MongoDB, the $ne aggregation pipeline operator compares two values and returns either true or false, depending on whether the two values are not equivalent.

Example

Suppose we have a collection called data with the following documents:

{ "_id" : 1, "a" : 250, "b" : 250 }
{ "_id" : 2, "a" : 300, "b" : 250 }
{ "_id" : 3, "a" : 250, "b" : 300 }

We can use the $ne operator to compare the a and b fields:

db.data.aggregate(
   [
     { $match: { _id: { $in: [ 1, 2, 3 ] } } },
     {
       $project:
          {
            a: 1,
            b: 1,
            notEquivalent: { $ne: [ "$a", "$b" ] }
          }
     }
   ]
)

Result:

{ "_id" : 1, "a" : 250, "b" : 250, "notEquivalent" : false }
{ "_id" : 2, "a" : 300, "b" : 250, "notEquivalent" : true }
{ "_id" : 3, "a" : 250, "b" : 300, "notEquivalent" : true }

In the first document, the a and b fields are equivalent, which results in a return value of false. But in the second and third documents they are not equivalent, which results in a return value of true.

Comparing Types

The $ne operator compares both value and type using the specified BSON comparison order for values of different types.

Suppose our collection contains the following documents:

{ "_id" : 4, "a" : 250, "b" : "250" }
{ "_id" : 5, "a" : "250", "b" : 250 }
{ "_id" : 6, "a" : 250, "b" : NumberDecimal("250") }
{ "_id" : 7, "a" : NumberDecimal("250"), "b" : 250 }
{ "_id" : 8, "a" : NumberDecimal("250"), "b" : NumberDecimal("250.00") }
{ "_id" : 9, "a" : NumberDecimal("250.00"), "b" : NumberDecimal("250") }
{ "_id" : 10, "a" : "2022-01-03T23:30:15.100Z", "b" : ISODate("2021-01-03T23:30:15.100Z") }
{ "_id" : 11, "a" : ISODate("2021-01-03T23:30:15.100Z"), "b" : "2021-01-03T23:30:15.100Z" }

We can apply $ne to the a and b fields of those documents:

db.data.aggregate(
   [
     { $match: { _id: { $in: [ 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 ] } } },
     {
       $project:
          {
            a: 1,
            b: 1,
            isEquivalent: { $ne: [ "$a", "$b" ] }
          }
     }
   ]
).pretty()

Result:

{ "_id" : 4, "a" : 250, "b" : "250", "isEquivalent" : true }
{ "_id" : 5, "a" : "250", "b" : 250, "isEquivalent" : true }
{
	"_id" : 6,
	"a" : 250,
	"b" : NumberDecimal("250"),
	"isEquivalent" : false
}
{
	"_id" : 7,
	"a" : NumberDecimal("250"),
	"b" : 250,
	"isEquivalent" : false
}
{
	"_id" : 8,
	"a" : NumberDecimal("250"),
	"b" : NumberDecimal("250.00"),
	"isEquivalent" : false
}
{
	"_id" : 9,
	"a" : NumberDecimal("250.00"),
	"b" : NumberDecimal("250"),
	"isEquivalent" : false
}
{
	"_id" : 10,
	"a" : "2022-01-03T23:30:15.100Z",
	"b" : ISODate("2021-01-03T23:30:15.100Z"),
	"isEquivalent" : true
}
{
	"_id" : 11,
	"a" : ISODate("2021-01-03T23:30:15.100Z"),
	"b" : "2021-01-03T23:30:15.100Z",
	"isEquivalent" : true
}

Null Values

Comparing a value to null returns true, unless they’re both null, in which case, false is returned.

Suppose we add the following documents to the collection:

{ "_id" : 12, "a" : 250, "b" : null }
{ "_id" : 13, "a" : null, "b" : 250 }
{ "_id" : 14, "a" : null, "b" : null }

Let’s apply $ne to those documents:

db.data.aggregate(
   [
     { $match: { _id: { $in: [ 12, 13, 14 ] } } },
     {
       $project:
          {
            a: 1,
            b: 1,
            isEquivalent: { $ne: [ "$a", "$b" ] }
          }
     }
   ]
)

Result:

{ "_id" : 12, "a" : 250, "b" : null, "isEquivalent" : true }
{ "_id" : 13, "a" : null, "b" : 250, "isEquivalent" : true }
{ "_id" : 14, "a" : null, "b" : null, "isEquivalent" : false }

Missing Fields

If one of the fields that you’re trying to compare is missing, $ne returns true.

Suppose we add the following documents to our collection:

{ "_id" : 15, "a" : 250 }
{ "_id" : 16, "b" : 250 }

Let’s apply $ne to that document:

db.data.aggregate(
   [
     { $match: { _id: { $in: [ 15, 16 ] } } },
     {
       $project:
          {
            a: 1,
            b: 1,
            isEquivalent: { $ne: [ "$a", "$b" ] }
          }
     }
   ]
)

Result:

{ "_id" : 15, "a" : 250, "isEquivalent" : true }
{ "_id" : 16, "b" : 250, "isEquivalent" : true }

Infinity

Comparing Infinity to Infinity returns false.

Comparing -Infinity to -Infinity returns false.

Comparing Infinity to -Infinity returns true.

Suppose we add the following documents to our collection:

{ "_id" : 17, "a" : Infinity, "b" : Infinity }
{ "_id" : 18, "a" : -Infinity, "b" : -Infinity }
{ "_id" : 19, "a" : Infinity, "b" : -Infinity }
{ "_id" : 20, "a" : -Infinity, "b" : Infinity }

Let’s apply $ne to those documents:

db.data.aggregate(
   [
     { $match: { _id: { $in: [ 17, 18, 19, 20 ] } } },
     {
       $project:
          {
            a: 1,
            b: 1,
            isEquivalent: { $ne: [ "$a", "$b" ] }
          }
     }
   ]
)

Result:

{ "_id" : 17, "a" : Infinity, "b" : Infinity, "isEquivalent" : false }
{ "_id" : 18, "a" : -Infinity, "b" : -Infinity, "isEquivalent" : false }
{ "_id" : 19, "a" : Infinity, "b" : -Infinity, "isEquivalent" : true }
{ "_id" : 20, "a" : -Infinity, "b" : Infinity, "isEquivalent" : true }