Twelve years of distributed SQLite

Philip O'Toole · 24 Oct 2026

Philip O'Toole did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
SQLite as a storage engine, with replication added on the outside, is the right core design for a replicated database.

Their wordsThe core was right. SQLite as a storage engine, with replication added on the outside, has been reinvented by at least eight teams with different needs and different protocols. Nobody has found a reason to stop doing it.
Our reading
The different ways of replicating SQLite (consensus, streaming and merge) each answer a different question, and most arguments between their users are about which question is being asked.

Their wordsEach is correct for a different question, and most of the arguments are arguments between their users about which question is being asked.
Our reading
The capital and acquisitions in infrastructure ideas usually go to the projects that turn them into a paid service, not to the open-source projects that came first.

Their wordsThe projects that raised the capital or got acquired are the ones that turned replicated SQLite into a service with a bill. That is the usual fate of infrastructure ideas, and I do not mind it.

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