---
title: SQLite
slug: sqlite
url: "https://toolweight.com/tools/sqlite"
homepage: "https://www.sqlite.org"
categories: sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql
last_verified: 2026-11-07
dataset_version: 0738be72
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# SQLite

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

- A C library implementing a small, fast, transactional SQL engine over a single cross-platform file.
- No daemon, no configuration, no network protocol; a query is a function call.
- Built by a three-person team at Hwaci, funded by a member consortium.
- Public domain, with a test suite far larger than the engine itself.

## Identity

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Name | SQLite |
| Company | SQLite |
| One-liner | Embedded SQL engine that runs inside your process, a file, not a server. |
| Site | https://www.sqlite.org |
| Docs | https://www.sqlite.org/docs.html |
| Repo | https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Open source | Yes |
| Licence | Public domain |
| Compared in | 1 |

## Where it is compared

### [Database engines](https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql)
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note | Permalink |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Embedded or server | Embedded (in-process) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/about.html | There is a client/server wrapper in the wild, but the engine itself is a library. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--embedded_or_server |
| Concurrency model | Reader/writer locking | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://www.sqlite.org/wal.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--concurrency_model |
| Write concurrency | Single writer | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://www.sqlite.org/wal.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--write_concurrency |
| Isolation levels | Serializable | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://www.sqlite.org/isolation.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--isolation_levels |
| JSON support | Text functions only | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://www.sqlite.org/json1.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--json_support |
| Full-text search | Extension | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/fts5.html | FTS5 is a loadable extension but ships in the amalgamation and is compiled into most distributions. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--full_text_search |
| Vector search | Extension | Community-reported | 2026-07-01 | https://github.com/asg017/sqlite-vec | sqlite-vec gives a vector type and brute-force KNN. No approximate index, so recall is exact and cost is linear. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--vector_search |
| Type strictness | Dynamic (per-value) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/datatype3.html | Type affinity, not enforcement. STRICT tables since 3.37 give you real checking if you opt in per table. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--type_strictness |
| ALTER TABLE | Severe (rebuild required) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://www.sqlite.org/lang_altertable.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--alter_table_limits |
| Max database size | 256 TB | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://www.sqlite.org/limits.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--max_db_size |
| Replication | Third-party only | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/whentouse.html | Nothing in the engine. Litestream, LiteFS, rqlite and Turso each solve it differently and none is free of trade-offs. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--replication |
| PITR | ◐ | Community-reported | 2026-07-01 | https://litestream.io/how-it-works/ | Litestream ships WAL frames to object storage continuously, giving real PITR, but it is a separate process you must run and monitor. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--pitr |
| Online schema change | ○ | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/lang_altertable.html | A rebuild holds the write lock for its duration; on a large table that is user-visible downtime. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--online_schema_change |
| Connection model | In-process (no connections) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/threadsafe.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--connection_model |
| Default max conns | - | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-07 | https://www.sqlite.org/serverless.html | Not applicable: SQLite is embedded and has no server max_connections setting. Null is intentional, not a numeric connection limit. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--default_max_connections |
| Managed options | Turso, Cloudflare D1, Fly.io LiteFS | Inferred | 2026-07-01 | - | All three are SQLite-compatible services rather than managed SQLite; D1 and Turso add their own replication layers. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--hosted_options |
| Ops burden | 1 | Inferred | 2026-07-01 | - | No daemon, no users, no upgrades in place. Add one point in practice if you adopt Litestream and actually test the restore. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--operational_burden |
| Extension ecosystem | 4 | Inferred | 2026-07-01 | - | A stable loadable-extension ABI with FTS5, R-Tree, sqlite-vec and sqlean, but no package manager and no host that curates them. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--extension_ecosystem |
| Client libraries | 5 | Inferred | 2026-07-01 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--client_library_maturity |
| Migration tooling | 3 | Inferred | 2026-07-01 | - | Atlas, Drizzle and Alembic automate the rebuild dance, but the dance is still happening underneath. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--migration_tooling |
| GitHub stars | 8,000 | Community-reported | 2026-07-01 | https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite | Approximate. Read-only mirror; development happens in Fossil, so this measures visibility only. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--github_stars |
| Positioning | Small. Fast. Reliable. Choose any three. | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/ | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--positioning |
| Licence | Public domain | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://www.sqlite.org/copyright.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--licence |
| Embed in closed source | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/copyright.html | Public domain. A paid licence exists purely so companies in jurisdictions without a public domain can have a signed document. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--embedding_freedom |
| Governance | Independent team | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/consortium.html | Hwaci employs the core developers; the SQLite Consortium funds them without steering the roadmap. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--governance |
| First release | 2000-08-17 | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-01 | https://www.sqlite.org/chronology.html | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sqlite-vs-postgres-vs-mysql#sqlite--first_release |

**Verdict.** Best when one process owns the data; limits are single writer, no replication and painful schema changes.

## Alternatives

- [DuckDB](https://toolweight.com/tools/duckdb), In-process columnar analytics engine, SQLite's shape, a warehouse's execution model.
- [MariaDB](https://toolweight.com/tools/mariadb), GPL-only MySQL fork under a foundation, with Galera clustering and native vectors.
- [MySQL](https://toolweight.com/tools/mysql), The relational server that ran the early web, now Oracle-stewarded and InnoDB-based.
- [PostgreSQL](https://toolweight.com/tools/postgresql), MVCC relational server with the widest SQL surface and a deep extension ecosystem.

## Logo & brand colours

SVG files: https://toolweight.com/teams/sqlite/logo.svg and https://toolweight.com/teams/sqlite/mono.svg. JSON: https://toolweight.com/api/v1/brands/sqlite.

| Hex | oklch |
| --- | --- |
| #0f80cc | oklch(58.2% 0.147 246.5) |
| #003b57 | oklch(33.4% 0.073 237.1) |
| #97d9f6 | oklch(85.1% 0.078 227.2) |

## Licence and attribution

Data from Toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

- Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/tools/sqlite
- Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/tools/sqlite.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp
- Toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements.