How it works
SQLite is a library that an app links in. The whole database, tables, indexes and all, is one file on disk, and reading it is a function call rather than a trip over the network. It ships inside Android, iOS, every major browser and countless desktop apps, which makes it the most widely deployed database there is.
It speaks standard SQL, supports transactions and handles databases far larger than most apps will ever need. Its limit is concurrency: many readers can work at once, but only one writer at a time. Extensions add full-text search (FTS5), JSON functions and vector search (sqlite-vec), and services such as Turso host it for web apps.
SQLite pros and cons
Pros
- Zero setup: no server, no user accounts, no port to open
- Very fast reads, because there is no network hop
- One file is easy to copy, back up and ship with an app
- Public domain, so free for any use
- Among the most thoroughly tested software in the world
Cons
- One writer at a time, so heavy multi-user writes queue up
- Lives on one machine; sharing it between servers needs extra tooling
- Fewer data types, and no built-in users, roles or row-level permissions
When to use SQLite
Pick it when
- Mobile, desktop and offline-first apps that keep data on the device
- Small websites, prototypes and internal tools with modest write traffic
- Local caches, test databases and single-user tools
Skip it when
- Many users write at the same time through different servers
- You need database-level roles and permissions for each user
SQLite pricing
Free
Free and public domain. Hosted versions such as Turso have their own free tiers.
Approximate, checked September 2026.What the other tools cost
SQLite vs the alternatives
Related terms
More in Databases and storage
Relational (SQL)