Local-First Sync Engine That Actually Works for Multi-User Apps Without a PhD in CRDTs

dev tool venture scale ••• trending

Developers trying to build local-first apps face a brutal landscape: Electric SQL was called 'fucking garbage' by one developer after two months of failed implementation, Triplit folded after acquisition, and Livestore can't handle multi-user data sharing. The promise of local-first is compelling but the developer experience is still terrible. People want a sync engine that just works.

builder note

Don't try to solve the general CRDT problem. Pick the 80% use case (multi-user app, shared lists/documents, offline support, Postgres backend) and make THAT work flawlessly. Zero is winning because it picked a lane. The trap is trying to be a 'framework for all local-first paradigms' instead of a product that ships apps.

landscape (4 existing solutions)

The local-first sync space in 2026 is a graveyard of promising tools that each hit a wall. Triplit got acqui-hired, Electric SQL has serious DX problems, Livestore can't do multi-user, and Automerge is too low-level. Zero is the current frontrunner but still young. The developer community is desperate for something that 'just works' for the common case of a multi-user app with offline support.

Zero Currently the best option per developer testimonials but lacks real-time presence features. Relatively new and unproven at scale.

Electric SQL Uses long polling instead of websockets (slow and brittle). Client writes require custom backend HTTP endpoints. Two months of implementation attempts failed for at least one experienced developer.

Livestore Excellent performance but fundamental architectural limitation: one user equals one SQLite instance. Cannot share data between users, making it unsuitable for collaborative apps.

Automerge Low-level CRDT library, not a batteries-included sync engine. Developers must build their own sync protocol, conflict resolution UI, and server infrastructure on top.

sources (3)

other https://johnny.sh/blog/choosing-a-sync-engine-in-2026/ "In practice, it was fucking garbage" 2026-03-28

hn https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46506957 "There needs to be 5 or 6 terms to cover local-first sub-concepts" 2026-02-20

other https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/track/local-first/ "dedicated FOSDEM 2026 devroom for local-first development" 2026-02-01

local-firstsyncCRDTsdeveloper-toolsoffline