# selfstore vs Evolu
Source: https://selfstore.dev/compare/evolu

Evolu is a local-first SQLite framework whose data is encrypted under a mnemonic; selfstore is a smaller library whose output is a portable encrypted file. The closest kin, with a real difference.

## What Evolu is

The project in this space closest to selfstore's convictions. A local-first
framework over SQLite with typed queries (Kysely), where all data is encrypted
under a key derived from a cryptographically strong secret the user holds -
representable as a **mnemonic**. Restore on any device by entering the words.
The sync server is swappable; the default is one they operate.

It is a genuinely good design, and if you want SQL on the client with real
encryption, it deserves the look.

## What selfstore is

Smaller and shaped differently. No SQL, no schema DSL, no query language: plain
JSON collections plus binary files, an IndexedDB working copy, and a merge that
runs in the browser. What it produces is the thing Evolu does not: a
**portable encrypted ZIP** on an [open spec](https://selfstore.dev/docs/format), readable without
this library at all, that the user can hold, copy and open years later.

And there is no server in the loop, swappable or otherwise: the destination is
a file on their disk, their Google Drive, a WebDAV server or an S3 bucket they
control.

| | Evolu | selfstore |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Data model | SQLite, typed SQL queries | JSON collections + files |
| Queries | Yes, Kysely | None (snapshot model) |
| The user's key | A mnemonic | A passphrase, or a passwordless group |
| Recovery | Re-enter the mnemonic | Open the backup file |
| Sync | A sync server (theirs by default) | Storage the user already owns |
| The artefact | Rows on a server, encrypted | A ZIP the user holds |
| Deletes | Soft, for time travel | Tombstoned, no history |

## Use Evolu when

- You want to write SQL against local data, with types.
- A mnemonic is the recovery story you want, and a sync server is fine.

## Use selfstore when

- "Where is my data" must have an answer the user can point at: a file, on
  something they own, that opens in any archive tool.
- You want nothing hosted, by anyone, including the library's author.

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