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DuckDB vs SQLite: catalog facts
DuckDB	SQLite
Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.	Free Free for any purpose; the source code is in the public domain.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Queries CSV and Parquet files directly with no loading step Embeds into Python, R and the shell with a single dependency	Whole database in a single file with no server to run Public-domain source code usable for any purpose
Single-process by design; it is not a shared multi-user database Concurrent writers are not supported	Mainly a library; the bundled sqlite3 shell is command-line only No graphical browser included
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Closed source
License: MIT	License: Public domain
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.