Convert SQLite to PostgreSQL
A free online converter that translates SQLite queries into PostgreSQL. Paste your SQL, press Translate, and Query Studio rewrites the syntax that differs between the two databases — instantly, with no login and nothing stored.
The classic prototype-to-production move. The SQL itself is close to standard and converts easily; the real work is that SQLite does not enforce types, so the data arriving in PostgreSQL has to be audited rather than assumed.
SQLite → PostgreSQL example
Here is a real SQLite query and the PostgreSQL output Query Studio produces:
SELECT u.id, u.name, COUNT(o.id) AS orders
FROM users u
LEFT JOIN orders o ON o.user_id = u.id
WHERE u.created_at > '2024-01-01' AND u.active = 1
GROUP BY u.id, u.name
HAVING COUNT(o.id) > 3
ORDER BY orders DESC
LIMIT 10;SELECT
u.id,
u.name,
COUNT(o.id) AS orders
FROM
users u
LEFT JOIN orders o ON o.user_id = u.id
WHERE
u.created_at > '2024-01-01'
AND u.active = 1
GROUP BY
u.id,
u.name
HAVING
COUNT(o.id) > 3
ORDER BY
orders DESC
LIMIT
10;What changes from SQLite to PostgreSQL
- The result is re-indented and keyword-cased in PostgreSQL style so it's ready to paste and run.
SQLite to PostgreSQL data type mapping
Query Studio translates queries, not schemas. When you come to move the tables themselves, this is what changes between SQLite and PostgreSQL:
| SQLite | PostgreSQL | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT | INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY | Direct equivalent. |
| TEXT (any declared type) | A real type | SQLite has dynamic typing — a column declared INTEGER will happily store 'banana'. Postgres will not. Expect to clean data, not just schema. |
| REAL | DOUBLE PRECISION | Direct equivalent. |
| BLOB | BYTEA | Direct equivalent. |
| NUMERIC | NUMERIC(p,s) | Give it explicit precision; SQLite's is advisory. |
| No boolean type (0/1) | BOOLEAN | Direct equivalent. |
| Dates stored as TEXT/INTEGER | DATE / TIMESTAMPTZ | SQLite has no date type. Whatever convention the app used (ISO strings, Unix epochs, Julian days) has to be converted explicitly. |
SQLite to PostgreSQL: what actually catches people out
Syntax is the part a translator can fix. These are the differences that survive a clean conversion and show up later as wrong results rather than as errors.
SQLite's dynamic typing means the data needs cleaning, not just the schema
SQLite type declarations are advisory: a column declared INTEGER will store the string 'banana' without complaint. PostgreSQL enforces types strictly, so the import fails on the first value that does not match. Before migrating, run a typeof() audit on every column — the surprises are usually numbers stored as text and booleans stored inconsistently as 0/1/'true'/'yes'.
SELECT typeof(price), COUNT(*) FROM products GROUP BY 1;There are no date or time types to migrate
SQLite stores dates as TEXT (ISO-8601), INTEGER (Unix epoch) or REAL (Julian day), depending entirely on what the application chose. Nothing in the schema records which. You have to determine the convention per column and convert explicitly — and applications that mixed conventions in one column do exist.
Concurrency changes character completely
SQLite has a single writer at a time and locks the whole database. Code written against it often has retry-on-locked logic and avoids long transactions. PostgreSQL has MVCC and row-level locking, so that defensive code is unnecessary — and, more importantly, assumptions like "nobody else can be writing right now" stop holding.
AUTOINCREMENT means something narrower than you think
In SQLite, INTEGER PRIMARY KEY is already a rowid alias and auto-increments; the AUTOINCREMENT keyword only additionally prevents reuse of deleted ids. PostgreSQL's IDENTITY never reuses values either, so this maps cleanly — but a plain INTEGER PRIMARY KEY in SQLite is auto-incrementing even without the keyword, which is easy to miss when reading the source schema.
What this converter will not do
Query Studio translates SQL syntax. Being honest about the boundary is more useful than claiming there isn’t one — and on SQLite → PostgreSQL specifically, these are the three that matter most:
Anything that depends on data rather than syntax
Whether a value fits the target type, whether a date is real, whether a text column's contents are valid UTF-8 — none of that is visible in the query. A translation can be syntactically perfect and still fail on the first row of the import.
Stored procedures, functions and triggers
Procedural code — PL/pgSQL, T-SQL procedures, MySQL routines — is a different language in every engine, with different control flow, error handling, variable declaration and transaction semantics. Query Studio translates queries, not programs. These have to be ported by hand.
Performance characteristics
A converted query is correct, not fast. Index strategy, partitioning, distribution keys and statistics differ per engine, and a query that was well-tuned for the source is merely valid on the target. Run the Analyze and Optimize tabs on the output.
The full list of what a syntax translator cannot do is on the Query Studio page.
How to convert SQLite to PostgreSQL
- Open the Query Studio editor and choose SQLite as the “From” dialect.
- Choose PostgreSQL as the “To” dialect.
- Paste your SQLite query and press Translate — copy the PostgreSQL result.
Try it with your own query
The editor is preloaded with SQLite → PostgreSQL. You can also explain, format, validate and analyze the result.
Convert SQLite to PostgreSQL now →Working with the data rather than the schema? Open a large CSV, JSON or Parquet file and query it with SQL — no upload, no row limit, and files far past what Excel will open.
SQLite to PostgreSQL FAQ
Is this SQLite to PostgreSQL converter free?
Yes — it's completely free with no account, no sign-up and no usage limits. Your query is processed to return the result and never stored.
Is the SQLite to PostgreSQL conversion accurate?
Query Studio rewrites syntax deterministically using real SQL parsers, so it gives the same result every time — there is no AI involved and no variation between runs. It handles the differences listed above automatically. What it cannot do is anything semantic: stored procedures, triggers, vendor extensions and performance characteristics all need a human. Review complex, vendor-specific queries before running them in production.
What breaks when migrating from SQLite to PostgreSQL?
The differences that most often cause problems on this pair: SQLite's dynamic typing means the data needs cleaning, not just the schema; There are no date or time types to migrate; Concurrency changes character completely; AUTOINCREMENT means something narrower than you think. Each is explained in full above, with before-and-after examples where seeing it is quicker than reading about it.
How do SQLite data types map to PostgreSQL?
The full mapping table is above and covers 7 types. The ones that are not a straight rename: TEXT (any declared type) → A real type, NUMERIC → NUMERIC(p,s), Dates stored as TEXT/INTEGER → DATE / TIMESTAMPTZ. Note that Query Studio translates queries rather than schemas — the table is there to tell you what your CREATE TABLE statements need, not to rewrite them for you.
Does this SQLite to PostgreSQL converter use AI?
No. Every result is computed by real SQL parsers and rule engines, which is what makes it free, instant, unlimited and identical on every run. Nothing is sent to a model, so there are no rate limits, no per-request cost to pass on, and no possibility of a confidently wrong answer that looks plausible.