RethinkDB is definitely late to the party, so this is a great question. Here's how we think about it.
1. Technically, Rethink already does very useful things leading NoSQL contenders don't do. An extremely expressive query language, massive query parallelization, distributed joins, etc. You can't get that anywhere else, and we have lots of features in the pipeline to keep raising the bar.
2. I believe we have a unique take on usability and design that is very valuable to users but isn't present in other products. Rethink is pleasant to set up and (hopefully) pleasant to use. To us, design matters, and we put an inordinate amount of effort to make the product beautiful. It turns out users care about this a lot.
3. I feel like leading NoSQL contenders are somewhat stagnant. There is an enormous amount of innovation that could be done, needs to be done, and isn't being done. We'll continue releasing really useful features that nobody has, and (I think) nobody expects. I think we bring a unique philosophy to product design that's very valuable.
4. Details matter (which is why Rethink is late to the party). Once you outgrow the ten-minute blog stage, a lot of underlying architectural decisions start to really matter, and we took the time to do them right.
TL;DR: Rethink is already really good for building apps on top of it and offers things nobody else does. It will continue getting better. We'd be honored if you took it for a spin!
1. Technically, Rethink already does very useful things leading NoSQL contenders don't do. An extremely expressive query language, massive query parallelization, distributed joins, etc. You can't get that anywhere else, and we have lots of features in the pipeline to keep raising the bar.
2. I believe we have a unique take on usability and design that is very valuable to users but isn't present in other products. Rethink is pleasant to set up and (hopefully) pleasant to use. To us, design matters, and we put an inordinate amount of effort to make the product beautiful. It turns out users care about this a lot.
3. I feel like leading NoSQL contenders are somewhat stagnant. There is an enormous amount of innovation that could be done, needs to be done, and isn't being done. We'll continue releasing really useful features that nobody has, and (I think) nobody expects. I think we bring a unique philosophy to product design that's very valuable.
4. Details matter (which is why Rethink is late to the party). Once you outgrow the ten-minute blog stage, a lot of underlying architectural decisions start to really matter, and we took the time to do them right.
TL;DR: Rethink is already really good for building apps on top of it and offers things nobody else does. It will continue getting better. We'd be honored if you took it for a spin!