Dexie and PouchDB are both JavaScript database libraries for browser-based storage, but they serve different architectural needs. Dexie is a minimal, high-performance wrapper around IndexedDB that focuses on providing an elegant API with modern features like observables, TypeScript support, and multi-tab synchronization. PouchDB is a JavaScript implementation of CouchDB that enables offline-first applications with built-in replication and sync capabilities to CouchDB servers.
This comparison matters because choosing the wrong library can significantly impact your application's performance, bundle size, and architecture. Dexie targets developers building SPAs, hybrid apps, or any browser application needing fast local storage without server sync requirements. PouchDB appeals to teams building offline-first applications that need seamless bi-directional synchronization with CouchDB backends, particularly for distributed systems where data needs to flow between client and server.
Choose Dexie for the majority of browser applications that need local database storage without server synchronization requirements. Its superior performance, smaller bundle size, TypeScript support, and cleaner API make it the better choice for SPAs, progressive web apps, hybrid mobile applications, and any scenario where you're building your own sync logic or don't need sync at all. The active development and modern architecture position it well for greenfield projects.
Choose PouchDB only when you specifically need CouchDB replication and your architecture is built around offline-first principles with CouchDB on the backend. The performance penalties and larger bundle size are worthwhile trade-offs when you need the robust, battle-tested sync capabilities that PouchDB provides. If you're already using CouchDB or Cloudant, or if multi-device sync with conflict resolution is a core requirement, PouchDB's tight integration with the CouchDB ecosystem justifies its overhead. For all other use cases, Dexie is the more pragmatic choice.