Amazon DynamoDB vs SQLite
Amazon DynamoDB
aws.amazon.com
SQLite
sqlite.orgSide by side
| Figure | Amazon DynamoDB | SQLite |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $12.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 16 |
| Spec score · Transaction Data Store Software | 9.0 (#2) | 8.7 (#8) |
| Spec score · Database Software | 8.9 (#11) | 9.4 (#2) |
| ACID transactions | DynamoDB provides native ACID transactions for coordinated all-or-nothing updates across items and tables in a Region. | Transactions remain atomic, consistent, isolated and durable through crashes and power failures. |
| API | The public low-level API provides actions for table and index administration plus create, read, update, and delete operations. | SQLite supplies a C/C++ API reference, Tcl bindings and application-defined SQL-function interfaces; bindings for many other languages are separate. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | DynamoDB Local is proprietary AWS software licensed for internal use with an AWS account; redistribution, modification, sublicensing, and reverse engineering are prohibited. | SQLite source code is in the public domain and is free for commercial or private use without a license. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.3 out of 5 from 499 reviews | 4.3 out of 5 from 260 reviews |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 7.9 out of 10 from 206 reviews and ratings | 8 out of 10 from 47 reviews |
| Security | Customer data is encrypted in transit and at rest by default, and access can be controlled with IAM policies down to specific items and attributes. | The security guidance says SQLite is extensively fuzz-tested and recommends defensive settings and lower input limits for applications accepting untrusted SQL. |
| What it does | Amazon DynamoDB is a serverless, fully managed distributed NoSQL database supporting key-value and document models with single-digit-millisecond performance. | SQLite is an in-process C library that provides a self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration SQL database engine. |
Plans
Amazon DynamoDB
- Free tierFree
- On-demand capacityPrice not published
- Provisioned capacityPrice not published
- DynamoDB Free TierFree
SQLite
- Public ForumFree
- SQLiteFree
- SQLite Consortium Membership$150 a year
- Technical Support$885 a year
- Annual Maintenance Subscription$1,500 a year
- Annual Maintenance Subscription$1,500 a year
- CEROD$2,000, paid once
- CEROD$2,000, paid once
- SQLite Encryption Extension (SEE)$2,000, paid once
- SQLite Encryption Extension (SEE)$2,000, paid once
In their own words
Amazon DynamoDB
Amazon DynamoDB is a serverless, managed NoSQL database for applications that need single-digit millisecond performance at any scale, according to AWS. Users do not provision or patch database servers, and tables can scale automatically, including to zero in on-demand mode. Primary keys and global or local secondary indexes provide ways to query data. Global tables support multi-Region, multi-active operation; AWS says they are designed for up to 99.999% availability. The database also supports native vector search for similarity searches and agent memory use cases. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest by default, and IAM policies can restrict access to specific items and attributes. Point-in-time recovery provides continuous, per-second backups and restoration within a configured period of 1 to 35 days. A free tier is listed with 25 WCUs, 25 RCUs, and 25 GB of storage per Region and payer account, among other limits. On-demand capacity is billed per request consumed; provisioned capacity is billed for specified capacity even if usage is lower.
SQLite
SQLite is a transactional SQL database engine that runs within an application, without a separate server process or configuration. Each complete database resides in a single disk file that works across platforms. Its SQL features include partial indexes, indexes on expressions, JSON, common table expressions, and window functions. Transactions are atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable, including after system crashes and power failures. A database file can have unlimited simultaneous readers, but only one writer at a time. The project recommends SQLite for device-local storage with low writer concurrency and less than a terabyte of content. SQLite is free for commercial or private use, with source code in the public domain. Downloads include source and precompiled binaries for Android, Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, along with WebAssembly and JavaScript bundles for web applications. A free public forum is available, alongside paid private email and technical support options. The maker is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was founded in 2000.