# selfstore vs Dexie
Source: https://selfstore.dev/compare/dexie

Dexie makes IndexedDB queryable; selfstore makes app state durable, portable and syncable. Different layers, often complementary.

## What Dexie is

The reference IndexedDB wrapper: a pleasant promise-based API over tables,
indexes and range queries, mature, widely deployed, actively maintained. If
your app holds tens of thousands of records and needs `where('age').above(25)`
to return in milliseconds without loading everything into memory, Dexie is
exactly the right tool and this page will not pretend otherwise.

## What Dexie does not set out to be

A durability story - and it does not claim to be one. Dexie presents itself as
an IndexedDB wrapper: tables, indexes, queries. Backups, an export format,
encryption, multi-device convergence and a persistence status for your UI are
outside the job it takes on. (Dexie Cloud adds sync as a hosted, account-based
service, a fine product and a different philosophy: your users' data syncs
through their servers.)

Check its current feature list yourself rather than trusting this page on it.
Both projects move, and a page that speaks for someone else ages badly.

## What selfstore is

The loop around the data: an IndexedDB working copy behind two functions you
write, portable AES-256-GCM encrypted ZIP backups with an
[independent spec](https://selfstore.dev/docs/format), durable homes the **user** owns (disk,
Google Drive, WebDAV, S3), and serverless deterministic merge. No accounts, no
hosted anything.

| | Dexie | selfstore |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Layer | Query IndexedDB | Whole-app persistence loop |
| Data model | Tables + indexes | Named collections + files, plain JSON |
| Query engine | Yes, excellent | No, deliberately (snapshots) |
| Scale sweet spot | Large queryable sets | App state, MB scale |
| Backup file | DIY | Spec'd encrypted ZIP, built in |
| Sync | Dexie Cloud (hosted, accounts) | Serverless merge over user storage |
| License / cost | Apache-2.0; Cloud is a paid service | MIT, everything |

## Use Dexie when

- Query performance over large local datasets is the requirement.
- You are happy with (or want) a hosted sync service with user accounts.

## Use selfstore when

- The requirement is durable, private, portable app state: survive cleared
  browser data, hand users a real file, converge a laptop and a phone,
  without operating or renting a sync backend.

## Use both when

Your app has a big catalog **and** precious user state. Keep the catalog in
Dexie tables; let selfstore own the user's own data. `gather()` can even read
from Dexie: selfstore does not care where your snapshot comes from.

Map of this site for a model: https://selfstore.dev/llms.txt
Every page in one file: https://selfstore.dev/llms-full.txt