SQLite vs VistaDB

What is SQLite

SQLite is a free, open source embedded database written in C/C++. It implements a SQL-like syntax and is optimized for high performance and reliability with single threaded access.

Because it is written in an unmanaged language it has to be compiled and adapted to work in managed environments like .NET or Java. There are independent open source adapters to use SQLite in essentially every environment where .NET can be used.

SQLite excels where performance is the primary requirement - it’s unmanaged engine is highly optimized to retrieve data as fast as possible.

Why Select VistaDB

Many VistaDB customers select VistaDB after working with SQLite and running into limitations. The main challenges mentioned are challenges with multithreaded access (where updates aren’t visible quickly to other threads) and deployment challenges, due to different references and assemblies being necessary for each different processor architecture and platform being deployed to.

VistaDB trades some performance for a much wider SQL Language support and matching SQL Server’s specific SQL dialect (T-SQL) including stored procedures and functions. Of course, we still want VistaDB to be as fast as feasible - We aim for most common operations to complete in a few milliseconds.

VistaDB was designed with multithreaded and multiprocess support from day one. It even works with data files across a network location (like Microsoft Access/Jet).

The Easiest to Deploy Database Available

VistaDB’s fully managed codebase makes it much easier to deploy to any supported platform with a single assembly supporting any target processor architecture. While VistaDB does offer some optimized assemblies for different versions of .NET (including .NET Core and .NET 5) it’s even possible to use the version that targets the oldest .NET framework you support up through the latest version.

Thanks to a combination of .NET strong names and our central control you can be sure that if your application loads a VistaDB library it will be compatible with your application build. This avoids any risk of C libraries being unexpectedly loaded from shared paths.

Excellent Built-in Tools

VistaDB includes a comprehensive set of tooling right in the distribution, all developed together to make your team productive. This includes migration tools to move schema & data from SQLite, a database management tool for designing your database and inspecting data, and full Visual Studio integration.

Full Commercial Support