Couchbase Lite vs eXist-db
Couchbase Lite
couchbase.comeXist-db
exist-db.orgSide by side
| Figure | Couchbase Lite | eXist-db |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Document Databases | 7.9 (#13) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Founded | 2011 | 2001 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California, United States | Lenzkirch, Germany |
| Search | Couchbase Lite includes full-text search and on-device vector search for hybrid semantic queries and RAG. | Its implementation-specific full-text search uses Apache Lucene, and the documentation says it does not currently support the W3C XQuery and XPath Full Text 3.0 specification. |
| Security | Couchbase Lite supports AES-256, TLS, bring-your-own keys, field-level encryption and automatic purge after access revocation. | Its security system uses a Unix permissions model extended with access control lists and supports external authentication realms. |
Plans
In their own words
Couchbase Lite
Couchbase Lite has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
eXist-db
eXist-db is a free, open-source NoSQL document database and application platform centered on XML. Its native engine stores textual or binary documents without requiring a database schema, and it is designed for self-hosted deployment on Linux, macOS, or Windows. The product implements XQuery 3.1, though some features and functions are unsupported, and RESTXQ lets developers deploy RESTful services from XQuery annotations. Its interfaces include REST-style HTTP, SOAP, XML-RPC, and WebDAV. A browser-based IDE provides syntax coloring, code completion, and error checking for application artifacts. Full-text search uses an implementation-specific Apache Lucene approach rather than the W3C XQuery and XPath Full Text 3.0 specification. Security extends Unix permissions with access control lists and external authentication realms. The software is licensed under the LGPL for academic, non-commercial, and commercial use. The documentation lists Java 8 for versions 3.x–6.x or Java 21 for version 7.x, about 500 MB of disk space, and at least 512 MB of memory.