# MySQL vs SQLite

**Leader by Vioscale score:** SQLite

| Attribute | MySQL | SQLite |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 55.6 (51% (medium)) | 60.8 (54% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 2 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 664 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 12,407 | 10,346 |
| adoption.stackoverflow_questions | 230,000 | 40,000 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"MySQL is a relational database management system that organizes data into structured tables and is one of the most widely deployed databases globally. It powers web applications, content management systems, e-commerce platforms, and services built with development stacks like LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) or LEMP. The database is known for ease of use, reliability, and solid performance for read-heavy workloads.","source":"https://www.mysql.com","question":"What is MySQL and what is it primarily used for?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"MySQL is open-source software distributed under the GNU General Public License, making it free to download, use, and modify. Oracle offers a commercial license for organizations with specific legal or support requirements, but the core database engine costs nothing. Managed hosting services and enterprise support may incur fees depending on the provider and service tier.","source":"https://www.mysql.com/about/","question":"Is MySQL open-source and what are the licensing and cost options?","confidence":0.93},{"answer":"MySQL is language-agnostic and supports connections from all major programming languages including PHP, Python, Node.js, Java, C++, Ruby, Go, and .NET. Virtually every web framework has built-in or third-party database drivers that work with MySQL, making it compatible with diverse technology stacks.","source":"https://www.mysql.com/products/connector/","question":"What programming languages and frameworks can connect to MySQL?","confidence":0.94},{"answer":"MySQL runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, and other Unix-based systems, giving developers flexibility to work in their preferred environment. This cross-platform support makes MySQL deployable across different infrastructure and simplifies consistency between development and production environments.","source":"https://www.mysql.com/downloads/","question":"What operating systems can run MySQL?","confidence":0.96},{"answer":"MySQL can be deployed either as a self-hosted database on your own servers or cloud infrastructure, or accessed as a fully managed database service through providers like Amazon RDS, Google Cloud SQL, and Azure Database for MySQL. Self-hosting offers maximum control and customization, while managed services handle routine maintenance, backups, patching, and scaling.","source":"https://www.mysql.com/","question":"How is MySQL typically deployed: self-hosted or managed service?","confidence":0.94},{"answer":"MySQL's InnoDB storage engine (the default since version 5.5) provides full ACID compliance, supporting transactions that guarantee data consistency and durability across failures. Older storage engines like MyISAM lack transaction support, but InnoDB has become the standard for production applications requiring reliable data integrity.","source":"https://www.mysql.com/","question":"Does MySQL support transactions and ACID compliance?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"PostgreSQL is a feature-rich open-source relational database; MariaDB is an open-source MySQL fork; SQLite is a lightweight embedded option; commercial databases include Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle Database. The choice depends on requirements for specific features, scalability needs, compliance mandates, and budget.","source":"https://www.mysql.com/","question":"What are the main open-source and commercial alternatives to MySQL?","confidence":0.92},{"answer":"MySQL powers major platforms including Wikipedia, YouTube, and many large social networks, demonstrating its capability to handle massive workloads and billions of data operations. It is equally effective for startups and smaller applications, making it viable across organizations of all sizes from single-server deployments to global-scale distributed systems.","source":"https://www.mysql.com/","question":"At what scale can MySQL operate and who uses it?","confidence":0.9}]` | `[{"answer":"SQLite is a C-language library that provides a lightweight, self-contained SQL database engine with no external dependencies or separate server process. It is embedded directly into applications and is the most widely deployed database engine in the world, found in virtually all mobile phones and most computers.","source":"https://www.sqlite.org","question":"What is SQLite?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"Yes. SQLite's source code is placed in the public domain by its authors and contributors. Anyone is free to copy, modify, use, compile, and distribute SQLite for any purpose—commercial or non-commercial—without requiring permission or payment.","source":"https://www.sqlite.org/copyright.html","question":"Is SQLite open source and free?","confidence":0.98},{"answer":"SQLite is designed as a replacement for file input/output operations like fopen() and fread(), not as a replacement for enterprise database servers like Oracle or PostgreSQL. It is optimized for storing structured data within applications with minimal overhead and configuration.","source":"https://www.sqlite.org/about.html","question":"What is SQLite designed to replace?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"SQLite excels for embedded applications, mobile devices, local desktop applications, and low-to-medium traffic websites (under roughly 100,000 hits per day). Use a client-server database like PostgreSQL or MySQL if your application requires multiple concurrent writers, network database access, or extreme scalability.","source":"https://www.sqlite.org/whentouse.html","question":"When should I use SQLite versus a client-server database?","confidence":0.93},{"answer":"SQLite allows only one writer at a time, though multiple readers can work concurrently. Databases can theoretically reach 281 terabytes in size and support rows up to 1 gigabyte, though most deployments are considerably smaller and single-file-based.","source":"https://www.sqlite.org/about.html","question":"What are SQLite's concurrency and size limitations?","confidence":0.92},{"answer":"SQLite is highly reliable with ACID transaction support and aviation-grade testing including 100 percent branch coverage. It recovers cleanly from power failures and system crashes, making it suitable for critical embedded applications, though its single-writer model makes it unsuitable for high-concurrency server environments.","source":"https://www.sqlite.org/about.html","question":"How reliable is SQLite for production use?","confidence":0.94},{"answer":"SQLite provides a C API for direct integration and is widely supported by bindings in nearly every major programming language, including Python, JavaScript, Java, C#, Ruby, PHP, and others. Its public domain status allows libraries to be created for any language or platform.","source":"https://www.sqlite.org","question":"What programming languages can use SQLite?","confidence":0.9}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | MySQL is an open-source SQL database management system that serves as the foundation for many web-based applications and cloud services. Available in both a free community edition and a commercial enterprise edition with advanced features and professional support. | An in-process SQL database engine that stores complete databases in single disk files, requiring no server process or configuration. It is designed for embedded use in applications, mobile devices, and IoT systems, with full ACID transaction support and cross-platform compatibility. |
| features.capabilities | `{"isolation":"serializable","sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"self_hosted","serverless":true,"consistency":"strong","replication":"async","extensibility":true,"json_document":true,"license_class":"copyleft","horizontal_scale":"distributed_native","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":true,"wire_compatibility":"mysql"}` | `{"sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"embedded","serverless":true,"consistency":"strong","geo_spatial":"extension","replication":"async","extensibility":true,"json_document":true,"license_class":"permissive","horizontal_scale":"single_node","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":false,"wire_compatibility":"none"}` |
| language.primary | C++ | C |
| license.spdx | GPL-2.0 | blessing |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"android":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"MySQL Community Server","description":"Free open source database","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"MySQL Enterprise Edition","description":"Advanced features, management tools, and technical support","contactSales":true},{"free":false,"name":"MySQL Standard Edition","contactSales":true},{"free":false,"name":"MySQL Classic Edition","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Community edition free; Enterprise/Standard/Classic editions require contacting sales","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.mysql.com","retrievedAt":"2026-07-08T12:01:40.782Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free and open source, public domain","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.sqlite.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:15:03.546Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 90 | 60 |
| security.scorecard | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=homebrew&package_name=mysql&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=com.fpliu.ndk.pkg.prefab.android.21%3Asqlite&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Relational Databases)

| Capability | MySQL | SQLite |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| SQL model | Full SQL | Full SQL |
| **Transactions** |  |  |
| ACID transactions | Full | Full |
| Highest isolation level | Serializable | - |
| **Consistency** |  |  |
| Consistency | Strong | Strong |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Horizontal scale | Natively distributed | Single-node |
| **Replication** |  |  |
| Replication | Async | Async |
| **Availability** |  |  |
| Automatic failover / HA | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Embedded |
| Serverless / scale-to-zero | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Compatibility** |  |  |
| Wire compatibility | MySQL protocol | None |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Extensions / plugins / UDFs | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Licence class | Copyleft | Permissive OSS |
| **Data types** |  |  |
| JSON / document support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Geo / spatial | - | Extension |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:45:31.985Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*