$skip and $limit in aggregation framework

Since this is a text search query we are talking about then the most optimal form is this:

db.collection.aggregate([
    { 
       "$match": {
               "$text": { "$search": "cake tea" }
    }
    },
    { "$sort": { "score": { "$meta": "textScore" } } },
    { "$limit": skip + limit },
    { "$skip": skip }
])

The rationale on the memory reserve from the top “sort” results will only work within it’s own “limits” as it were and this will not be optimal for anything beyond a few reasonable “pages” of data.

Beyond what is reasonable for memory consumption, the additional stage will likely have a negative effect rather than positive.

These really are the practical limitations of the text search capabilities available to MongoDB in the current form. But for anything more detailed and requiring more performance, then just as is the case with many SQL “full text” solutions, you are better off using an external “purpose built” text search solution.