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SQLite

Embedded SQL engine that runs inside your process, a file, not a server.

sqlite.orgsqlite.org/docs.htmlgithub.com/sqlite/sqlite
Overall in database engines
4of 5 · score 53.3
Data coverage
96%
25 of 26 fields sourced

Best for

  • •One application process, or one machine, owning the data
  • •Read-heavy workloads where removing the network hop is the whole win
  • •Anything shipped to the edge, a device, a CLI or a test suite

Strong on

  • +Ops burden 1 1/5
  • +Connection model In-process (no connections) 1/5
  • +Licence Public domain 1/5
  • +Extension ecosystem 4 2/5
  • +Migration tooling 3 3/5
  • +Managed options Turso, Cloudflare D1, Fly.io LiteFS 3/5

Weak on

  • −Online schema change No 4/5
    Better: MySQL: Yes
  • −ALTER TABLE Severe (rebuild required) 5/5
    Better: PostgreSQL: Minimal
  • −Replication Third-party only 4/5
    Better: PostgreSQL: Built-in async + synchronous
  • −Migration tooling 3 3/5
    Better: PostgreSQL: 5

vs DuckDB

  • •Ahead on Client libraries: 5 vs 3
  • •Ahead on PITR: Partial vs No
  • •Behind on Type strictness: Dynamic (per-value) vs Static, strict
  • •Behind on GitHub stars: 8,000 vs 33,000

How SQLite scores among 5 database engines25 of 26 fields known

Engine & SQL10

Embedded or server
Embedded (in-process)
4/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Server (client/server)
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01
Concurrency model
Reader/writer locking
5/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · MVCC (heap row versions)
sqlite.org · 2026-11-06
Write concurrency
Single writer
4/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Concurrent writers (row-level)
sqlite.org · 2026-11-06
Isolation levels
Serializable
4/5
Leader: MySQL · Read uncommitted, Read committed, Repeatable read, Serializable
sqlite.org · 2026-11-06
JSON support3rd
Text functions only
3/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Binary JSONB + indexes
sqlite.org · 2026-11-06
Full-text search
Extension
4/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Built-in
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01
Vector search2nd
Extension
2/5
Leader: MariaDB · Native type + ANN index
github.com · 2026-07-01
Type strictness
Dynamic (per-value)
5/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Static, strict
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01
ALTER TABLE
Severe (rebuild required)
5/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Minimal
sqlite.org · 2026-11-06
Max database size
256 TB
1/3
sqlite.org · 2026-11-06

Operations7

Replication
Third-party only
4/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Built-in async + synchronous
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01
PITR
Partial
4/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Yes
litestream.io · 2026-07-01
Online schema change
No
4/5
Leader: MySQL · Yes
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01
Connection model1st
In-process (no connections)
1/5
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01
Default max conns
—
sqlite.org · 2026-11-07
Managed options3rd
Turso, Cloudflare D1, Fly.io LiteFS
3/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Neon, Supabase, Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud SQL, Azure Database, PlanetScale
· 2026-07-01
Ops burden1st
1
1/5
· 2026-07-01

Ecosystem5

Extension ecosystem2nd
4
2/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · 5
· 2026-07-01
Client libraries1st
5
1/5
· 2026-07-01
Migration tooling3rd
3
3/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · 5
· 2026-07-01
GitHub stars
8,000
4/5
Leader: DuckDB · 33,000
github.com · 2026-07-01
Positioning
Small. Fast. Reliable. Choose any three.
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01

Licence & governance3

Licence1st
Public domain
1/5
sqlite.org · 2026-11-06
Embed in closed source1st
Yes
1/5
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01
Governance
Independent team
4/5
Leader: PostgreSQL · Community project
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01

History1

First release
2000-08-17
sqlite.org · 2026-07-01

Alternatives4

Compare

Sources18

SQLite logo & brand colours

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SQLite brand colours

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