🔗rqlite Pioneers Distributed SQLite, Now a Crowded Category
Distributed SQLite: From Open Source to Cloud Services
TL;DR
rqlite, the first to combine SQLite and Raft, sparked a trend. Today, a dozen projects offer distributed SQLite, with some turning it into a paid service. The core idea has been reinvented by at least eight teams.
rqlite, introduced in 2014, was the first to combine SQLite with the Raft consensus protocol, creating a distributed SQLite system. This innovative approach solved the problem of needing a small amount of relational storage in a clustered system. Over the years, the concept has been reinvented multiple times, with projects like dqlite, Litestream, and SQLite Cloud following suit. Today, the category has evolved from open-source projects to cloud services, with companies like Supabase and Cloudflare offering hosted solutions. The design space now includes consensus, streaming, and merge approaches, each addressing different needs. The shift from 'a thing you run' to 'a thing you buy' has seen the money go to platforms that offer hosted services.
Key Points
rqlite was the first to combine SQLite and Raft in 2014, solving clustered storage needs.
dqlite, built by Canonical in 2017, uses its own Raft library and was rewritten in C.
Litestream, released in 2021, streams SQLite WAL to S3 for disaster recovery without consensus.
Cloudflare's D1, announced in 2022, offers a serverless database inside their edge network.
Supabase acquired Turso in 2026, turning replicated SQLite into a hosted service with a bill.
Why It Matters
If you're running a clustered system with SQLite, dqlite offers an embedded replicated store for LXD and MicroK8s. However, if you need a hosted solution, Supabase's Turso acquisition provides edge-replicated SQLite databases. The shift from open-source to paid services means considering the trade-offs between free and premium offerings.
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