The SQLite website states that, “SQLite is the most widely deployed SQL database engine in the world.” This is a pretty bold claim, especially considering that when most people think of relational database platforms, they usually think of names like Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL.
It is also a claim that is difficult to support with exact numbers. Because there are no license agreements or disclosure requirements, it is hard to guess just how many SQLite databases are out there. Nobody, including the SQLite development team, is fully aware of who is using SQLite, and for what purposes.
Regardless, the list of known SQLite users adds up to an impressive list. The Firefox web browser and the Thunderbird email client both use several SQLite databases to store cookies, history, preferences, and other account data. Many products from Skype, Adobe, and McAfee also utilize the SQLite engine. The SQLite library is also integrated into a number of popular scripting languages, including PHP and Python.
Apple, Inc., has heavily embraced SQLite, meaning that every iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, plus every copy of iTunes, and many other Macintosh applications, all ship with several SQLite databases. The Symbian, Android, BlackBerry, and Palm webOS environments all provide native SQLite support, while WinCE has third-party support. Chances are, if you have a smartphone, it has a number of SQLite databases stored on it.
All of this adds up to millions, if not billions, of SQLite databases in the wild. No doubt that most of these databases only contain a few hundred kilobytes of data, but these low-profile environments are exactly where SQLite is designed to thrive.
Large client/server RDBMS platforms have shown thousands of developers the power of relational data management systems. SQLite has brought that power out of the server room to the desktops and mobile devices of the world.