Capterra’s researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or speak to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology.
Capterra carefully verified over 2 million reviews to bring you authentic software and services experiences from real users. Our human moderators verify that reviewers are real people and that reviews are authentic. They use leading tech to analyze text quality and to detect plagiarism and generative AI. Learn more.
Capterra lists all providers across its website—not just those that pay us—so that users can make informed purchase decisions. Capterra is free for users. Software and service providers pay us for sponsored profiles to receive web traffic and sales opportunities. Sponsored profiles include a link-out icon that takes users to the provider’s website. Learn more.
Pros
SQLite was an excellent choice for us when we wanted to store a database for a basic utility that we were developing. The performance appeared to be excellent, and it was really steady.
It has great integrated features that are compatible with multiple languages. Ease of access and connection to the SQLite database are a big plus when working with data.
Lightweight relational database, works on many platforms and has gain support from popularity in community. The toolkit for developing is great and easy to understand the concept.
SQLite is also great because it does not require an installation, either on the developers side nor the players side, it is a simple DLL which can be embedded into the application with ease.
Cons
Sometimes loading files takes too long, making the working of the data bases difficult. It also can get laggy if using other applications.
Native security is quite weak without supporting encrypt particular table or column.
It's locking architecture enables only a single process to write at a time so building a more complex application may cause hard-to-solve problems.
The installation is quite confusing, and also I had struggles with the documentation I didn't really understand them, so I had to use video tutorials to get familiar.
Most Recent Video User Review for SQLite
SEE ALL VIDEO REVIEWSThe best solution for small, pre-packaged databases
Ramindu D.
Showing Most Helpful
Showing 25 of 117 reviews
"Perfect database tool for embedded software"
Overall: I work a lot with SQLite as it is the primary medium of local storage in Android devices (and by extension, Android applications) which I work with on a daily basis, and SQLite is just perfect for the purpose it serves on these devices. It's lightweight so you don't have to worry most times about how much of the user's storage space your database is going to take up. There's not much difference between the standard SQL commands and those used in SQLite, and many have reported that SQLite is a good starting and training resource for SQL in general.
Pros: Doesn't need a separate server. Lightweight and portable. Integrates most of the commands, functions and syntax of other SQL software. Optimized for use on devices that need to store data locally. Large user base and community (support).
Cons: All operations are locked to a single process, so it's not suitable for large scale database operations (which is not what you should be doing locally on a device anyway).
"Power in the simplicity"
Overall: Works very well in simple scenarios! It might be a great choice for small applications that require low maintenance and easy setup
Pros: It's very simple to use and lightweight. Typically does not require a separate server (it could run on the same server as a web application). It's quite handy that the database is contained in one file, which then can be backed up easily or transferred across machines. It's quite fast for certain uses.
Cons: Compared to other RDBMSes, it's very simple - which means that it's lacking certain features when it comes to scalability - it performs well in simple scenarios, and in complex ones - it just won't (unless you are very lucky and it's e.g. a case when there is only a single connection).Moreover, it lacks certain security features like user management and access control.
"SQLite - compatability at it's best level"
Overall: SQLite has become more and more popular among the users because of its easy installation and easy accessing . As it is compatible with most of the programming languages and its light weight it is more popular among mobile application developers
Pros: SQLite is a light weighted data base which could be embedded with any software. Due to the light weightage of the product the data base is more popular In mobile application development. With it’s light weight it is also fast. SQLite is almost 35% faster than any other file system. SQLite is easy to use and there is not special installation or configurations needed to be done in order to use the product. All user have to do is download the libraries and run them in the computer. It is compatible which is why the product can be used with many programming languages with out any issues. Users are given a chance to extend their data base in future by adding new tables or new columns to the existing tables which is a great help for the ongoing projects.
Cons: SQLite is not a multi-user platform where the users can handle concurrent writes. There for SQLite is not good for intensive applications with rapid data logging. If the system has concurrent transactions where lot of users keep accessing the same set of data simultaneously then SQLite is not a good choice for the project. SQLite data bases are restricted to maximum of 2GB in most of the cases.
" An excellent database for mobile projects"
Overall: I have used this database for the development of mobile application projects and for the prototyping of web pages, which makes it a very good database, easy and agile when manipulating data
Pros: What I like most about this product or database is how easy it is to integrate with mobile projects in the creation of applications and its easy portability, as well as performance, agility and little space in its implementation that makes it unique when it comes to of mobile application projects
Cons: That for very large projects it is not so robust handling so many transaction threads
"The best database management"
Overall: I've been using SQLite to store databases and manage them easily. It's a fast and light tool, which helped me in several different cases.
Pros: It's light (doesn't require much resources), fast, it's stable, cross-platform. It's a free and open-source software which helps a lot with saving money and making sure it's secure.
Cons: It's not recommended for big databases, only for small ones.
"Experience with SQLite"
Overall: Describe your general experience with SQLite It is very useful for me to be able to store information and consume it from different sources without having to implement specific software to do so. Its portability capacity has allowed us to distribute work effectively.
Pros: The few resources you need and its portability. This allows us to use the stored data from any medium.
Cons: That there is no native way to make it multi-user. That there is no native way to merge files from the same database, when they have been modified by different users and platforms.
"SQLite: The best Database ever "
Overall: It is an excellent database as compared to others. I do not see any database competing with SQLite
Pros: SQLite operates with lightning speed. It is the compressed version the MYSQL. It is extremely efficient in website management and many other managerial tasks in any organization.
Cons: It is very complex for beginners, but easy to understand.
"Easy to become a problem"
Overall: On a Windows Forms app we used to query services thousand times for data that does not change so frequently. We also had to store some business information (imagine as storing a wizard progress) and that used to be handled using TXT files (and it was a mess). We changed to SQLite and it worked almost like a charm but as the app grew and we decided to create an architecture similar to Google Chrome (multiple processes) it became a major problem for all of them to both read and write at it (we had to create a proxy app to write).
Pros: Integrates nicely with .NET (specially Windows Forms) applications, it's really easy to use (specially if you're already familiar with SQL Server) and deployment is really easy (copy/paste required files).
Cons: It's locking architecture enables only a single process to write at a time so building a more complex application may cause hard-to-solve problems.
"A good choice for storing small and local data"
Pros: I love how SQLite is so portable, and can be used in different platforms. I doesn't need any bulky installation for me to use. It is so lightweight and there is no learning curve when you came from MS SQL.
Cons: Maybe when opening a large sqlite file around 1GB above, it hangs up and sometimes fails to load. But maybe that's my fault because SQLite is not intended for storing large data. Good product anyway.
"Exactly what the name says SQL lite"
Overall: Whenever I need a database, SQLite is always a top option. Local storage is needed in most projects and the ability to use SQLite on almost any platform in almost any language means I always have the ability to execute the project with ease.
Pros: SQLite is a go to for when I need a quick lite weight database. It provides the ability to create local storage with the ability to integrate into most programming languages. It uses the familiar SQL structure and doesn't require any administration.
Cons: There are some areas where it deviates from using SQL language, but it is usually easily fixed by a quick Google search.
"A standard for testing"
Overall: SQLite allows us to setup and test all our database structures, it's quick and easy to get going and it stays out of your way. Most of the time you'll forget that it's even part of your tech stack.
Pros: I like that SQLite for the most part stays out of your way. As soon as you have your desired config set up, you can transfer it with ease to most other projects and it just works. We use SQLite for testing purposes as it speeds up the entire process. You can either spin a local instance up or have it run in-memory to speed up your tests. The fact that it's usage is so ubiquitous, finding help or answers online isn't an issue at all.
Cons: If I had to fault it at something, there is an edge case with how it builds your database structure, especially with how it handles foreign keys. It's easily handled by adjusting your test setup structure. That's the only hiccup we ever had and resolved with ease.
"Great Database For Smaller Loads"
Overall: This is definitely a great option when we are working on smaller projects that require and embedded database rather than the whole database setup. You quickly get up and running but security is definitely a concern when working on more sensitive work
Pros: It doesn't required installing an extra software. Provides the essentials in terms of structured query language which is often better than having to use a text file, especially when relations are involved. It is very cross-platform from mobile, desktop etc which makes life easier.
Cons: When it comes to systems that may have a lot of concurrent actions it, in my experience, often tends to lock up. It doesn't give much in terms of allowing to tune performance for more complex scenarios. There is no user management in place thus there are not permissions, it may not be the best option for more sensitive data Last I checked there was no date data type which means enforcing that date formats conformity is often on the developer's side.
"SQLite is a comprehensive open source platform"
Pros: SQLite offers a highly advance database management solution with its open source structure.
Cons: There needs to be a better customer support behind SQLite platform.
"Self-contained"
Overall: Reliable
Pros: This software is fast, reliable, and very useful for small and big projects. It's user-friendly and fast to learn. I like that it is an open-source SQL database engine. SQLite is very convenient because is an embedded and lightweight database engine and its tools are very easy to use.
Cons: SQLite is not a fit for large applications, it has its limitations. One of the reasons is that when you run a large amount of data, the speed of the queries could be slow
"A very efficient way to store certain kinds of data."
Overall: We use it for storing certain data.
Pros: You get all the benefits of using sql statements without having to set up a sql server online.
Cons: SQL syntax varies between the different versions of sql so the syntax you are familiar with may or may not be available in sqlite.
"Smooth and Reliable DBMS"
Overall: My overall experience has been smooth and SQLite has satisfied most of my needs. It's a lite, easy to use and robust for everyday needs. The support community is fantastic and you can find solution to most problems there.
Pros: SQLite is quite easy to install and get started. This makes it one of the best DBM tools for beginners. It's open source and free to install and runs on a server-less environment. The syntax is quite similar to any other SQL database management system.
Cons: The competition wins when it comes to scalability and is not suited for projects that will expand.
"A useful, yet untidy tool"
Overall: quick to deploy and simple to implement, although certain users may want to be aware of some UI and security concerns.
Pros: Very simple to use and undoubtedly reduces the amount of physical memory used
Cons: Some security issues and occasionally non-loading user interface parts make me doubt its reliability
"SQl lites is very helpful company "
Pros: Sql lite is eaay to use and the built are function is alo very good it helps me to save my time. The best i like is the supporting multiple languages like drupal and python
Cons: I like the least is supporting the multiple languages because i an a data analyst student and for that i need data which is store in database and i can arange the data in order
"Depends on how you store your data"
Pros: If you are storing variable data that resemble objects, use this instead of MySQL! There are also a lot of libraries built for accessing and manipulating SQLite databases now.
Cons: It takes up much more space and memory compared to conventional databases like MySQL
"Database on the go!"
Pros: SQLite is a great solution when your application needs a small footprint database with all the powers from relational SQL. It integrates with any language you need and is available in any platform!
Cons: Being a smaller library, it misses some features from bigger database systems.
"Invaluable offline database "
Pros: SQLite is great for rapid applications development and testing out how your application works without having to connect to a server. It serves as a decent local cache of data.
Cons: Understandably not suitable for large data content
"A must for BI"
Overall: Used SQLite for querying a relational database at work. Once you learn the basic syntax, it becomes fairly easy to use.
Pros: Once you figure out syntax, there is no better language for writing queries to a relational database. SQL is the measuring stick
Cons: Like any language, there is a learning curve (albeit not as bad as most others)
"Easy to use Database"
Overall: Overall I'd say my experience with using SQLite in school has been fantastic. It's easy to pick up and use, lots of features, easy to use software that allows you to connect and create databases as well.
Pros: SQL is pretty easy to understand. The syntax is common words so you can figure out what the code is trying to accomplish very easily.
Cons: Learning the language can be confusing sometimes if you don't know where to go.
"My favorite file-based database"
Pros: Reliable SQL relational database meets file-based database. Those cases where you need some modest relational data access, but don't need or can't accommodate a full RDBMS server instance. The small footprint and portability makes SQLite a great choice for small applications.
Cons: Can't be as feature rich as a full blown server application. More of a trade-off than a con.
"Database small and effective"
Overall: If you need a small and robust DB it is the right choice
Pros: Given its size, it is almost an obligatory choice for small databases to be distributed, for example through an app. The latest releases have also made it very robust.
Cons: From the name it is clear that the database is not designed to accommodate large amounts of data, so we need to evaluate the adoption well.