SQLite Suitability Debate

Discussions debate whether SQLite is sufficient for production web apps and services compared to PostgreSQL or MySQL, with many defending its performance, simplicity, and scalability for typical use cases.

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Sample Comments

infogulch Jan 27, 2015 View on HN

Underwhelming? Do you have a case for this where SQLite wouldn't be good enough?

cortesoft Dec 6, 2021 View on HN

What? SQLite is rarely the answer to replace Postgres or MySQL... it is not designed for network access nor high availability.

fomine3 May 31, 2021 View on HN

Ironically SQLite is excellent choice in this situation.

draugadrotten Apr 17, 2023 View on HN

Don't miss out on SQLite - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31159281

slingnow Feb 7, 2024 View on HN

You're asking too many questions. Didn't you read the title? SQLite isn't enough! /s

smt88 Oct 18, 2015 View on HN

What's the use-case for this over, say, SQLite?

Use sqlite3 until you actually cannot. It sounds like you're assuming it's bad, but it sounds ideal for your use-case since it is designed to be a fully-local database.

pstuart Dec 24, 2025 View on HN

And SQLite is capable enough in many cases too...

gkbrk Jul 24, 2022 View on HN

Any concrete reasons? SQLite is probably good enough for 99% of websites / apps.

chrismorgan Jul 1, 2025 View on HN

“SQLite doesn’t scale” is a common belief, but simply not true. It has limitations on certain sorts of loads, but you won’t run into them on this sort of app—in fact, I would expect consistently better performance from SQLite than from PostgreSQL in typical apps like this. And then SQLite is definitely easier to maintain, being just files.