mongodb geoNear vs near

Question

It looks like mongodb offers two similar functions for geospatial queries - $near and $geoNear. According to the mongo docs

The

Answer 1

The main difference is that $near is a query operator, but $geoNear is an aggregation stage. Both return documents in order of nearest to farthest from the given point.

What it means is that $near can be used in find() queries or in the $match aggregation stage, but $geoNear cannot. Instead $geoNear must be used as a separate aggregation stage only.

The options each feature provides also differ. I invite you to review the details in the corresponding documentaiton sections:

$near documentation
$geoNear documentation