Alternatives
Products that do what XitDB – an immutable single-file database does
I couldn't find a database that was immutable (like Datomic) and embedded (like SQLite), so I made one. The reference impl is in Zig and there are now ports for Java, Clojure, TypeScript, and Go.
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2017 · spreadsheetdb.io
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2013 · pouchdb.com
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Hi HN, we're Eric and Dean, creators of SchemafreeSQL. Its roots go back to an on-line Web App Development Environment we developed back in 1999. It was comprised of an IDE, Web Server, Object Store, Virtual File System, Template System, and polyglot (Java, JavaScript, and Python). Of course, we named it “.OS”. Then we ended up dropping it. But that's a story for another time. It was the ease of use of the Object Store from .OS that we really missed, which brings us back to SchemafreeSQL. It provides an enhanced API to your SQL Database which allows it to function as a Schemaless…
2022 · schemafreesql.com
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Hello HN! I've been working on Atomic Database[1] for almost exactly a month now, having restarted from an earlier Hackathon prototype version. Atomic Database is a deductive database like Datalog that has a useful GUI interface, a natural language query system, smart metadata storage, and gradual typing capabilities. The actual database backend of all this is based on Entity Attribute Value triples currently (I don't forsee changing it, as yet!). This is still very much a prototype, but I feel like I'm at the stage in its evolution where I need some outside input and, possibly, help. To…
2019
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Hello HN! These last few months I've been working on my first open source project: an embedded database written in pure-go. That took me some months, as I had to learn how to deal with such large packages. Until then, all packages I had made were quite small an did not require much. I usually did not have to worry about things like allocation optimization and instance pools until This project. It started when I wanted to make a port of a tool to a TUI environment. I'm actually used to working with TUIs in golang, so that was my language of choice. The tool I wanted to port is written in…
Feb 2026
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XID generates 20-character globally unique IDs (48-bit timestamp + 64-bit entropy + 8-bit counter + 5-bit checksum) in a single C file with zero dependencies. Features built-in timestamp extraction, collision resistance, and portable design for any platform - ideal for databases, IoT, and distributed systems. char id = xid_generate(); // => "01H5Z7K4W9A3B6C8D0F2G" Gists: https://gist.github.com/Ferki-git-creator/17450d52d143f746f0... (Feedback wanted: entropy improvements, embedded use cases, optimizations)*
2025 · gist.github.com
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Blog post on why I love Xata when building web3 projects
2022 · guibibeau.com
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Hey hackernews! I'd like to share a hobby and passion project I've been working on for almost a year now. It's an open-source storage engine (underlying component of a database(s)) similar to that of LevelDB/RocksDB but written entirely in C. The storage engine is called TidesDB. TidesDB is written entirely in C. It's designed as a fast, transactional key-value storage engine built on a log-structured merge-tree (LSM-tree) architecture. My journey with TidesDB began nearly 2 years ago whilst I was experimenting with various data structures and databases in Go. When I encountered the…
2025 · github.com
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Hi! I wanted to understand more about databases' internals so I wrote one from scratch. It has a T-SQL inspired syntax with support for functions and procedures. It can be used stand-alone as a SQL engine or with a server allowing for persistence and replication to other connected clients. Performance are nothing near sqlite of course but that's beside the point. It’s a small database engine that can run in a web app as a way to store session data, do small calculations on a web worker, store the document/data the user is editing or facilitate “multiplayer” feature by broadcasting the…
2022 · github.com
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2017 · github.com
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Introducing ChikkaDB - a server application providing a translation layer around SQLite that enables you to use SQLite as a MongoDB-compatible JSON database. It's a small personal project to explore the possibilities of SQLite's JSON and JSONB functions to their fullest. Sharing it here in case it interests any of you. Inviting everyone to try it out and share your feedback.
Nov 2025 · github.com
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Hello, I'm Eric, developer and co-founder of Xornet, Inc. the company behind our new service, SchemafreeDB. This is a 2nd submission... we removed some obscurity from the original submission title. SchemafreeDB was designed from the ground-up to enable Rapid Database Development for web developers. SchemafreeDB's unique combination of features include: * Creation of free-form data structures on the fly at insert-time. e.g. Simply add an attribute 'phone-extension' to any phone object, without disturbing your existing phone objects, all without visiting a schema design stage. * Full SQL…
2012
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Hi HN! I've been working on AnuDB, a lightweight embedded key-value database written in C++ with a focus on simplicity, performance, and small footprints. It now has native MQTT support, allowing you to write directly to the database by publishing to an MQTT topic. but it’s designed to work well on embedded devices, edge nodes, and anywhere you need local persistence without spinning up a full database server. Highlights: MQTT-based data ingestion (zero setup DB writes via publish) Small and fast (single binary, no external dependencies) Append-only write-ahead log for durability Demo:…
2025 · github.com
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