Realm
AcquiredYC S11San Francisco, US · Founded 2011 · 51 employees · 3 known investors
Realm provides an embedded database engine for mobile applications, serving as an alternative to SQLite and Core Data. The platform aims to reduce development time and code complexity for iOS and Android developers building data-driven apps.
Also known as Realm Mobile Database · tight.db
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S11)
Realm was founded in 2011 by Alexander Stigsen and Bjarne Christiansen.
Investors · 3
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements$4.5M disclosed across 1 of 4 rounds · 2024–2026
- $4.5MSeedApr 2026 · 2 sources
Frontline Ventures (lead), HubSpot Ventures
Source ↗ - Undisclosed amountSeries AOct 2025Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Realm, formerly known as tight.db, develops a mobile database used as a replacement for SQLite and Core Data in application development. The company positions the product as a way for developers to build applications faster and to reduce the amount of code required, saving development time while supporting responsive user experiences [6]. Its stated mission is to help developers build better apps faster through a set of developer tools and platform technologies [1].
The product line spans a mobile database and a mobile platform layer. Realm Open Source materials describe the Realm Mobile Platform and Realm Mobile Database, with solutions oriented around realtime collaboration, API mobilization and offline-first application patterns, alongside the Realm Object Server and language-specific SDKs for Java, Objective-C, JavaScript, Swift and Xamarin [1]. Public repositories maintained under the Realm GitHub organization include realm-core (the core database component underpinning the SDKs), realm-swift, realm-java, realm-kotlin (Kotlin Multiplatform and Android), realm-js, realm-dart and realm-dotnet, plus Realm Studio, a database browser and the Realm Cocoa Converter for importing and exporting Realm files [1][2]. The organization also maintains widely used developer tooling that is not part of the database itself, notably SwiftLint (a Swift style and convention enforcement tool) and jazzy (a documentation generator for Swift and Objective-C) [1][2].
Realm's technology is now presented within MongoDB's documentation as the Atlas Device SDKs, whose documentation carries a deprecation notice [0]."]
Traction
Realm reported more than 2 billion installs of Realm, over 100,000 active developers and 36,000 GitHub stars [1]. Its repositories show substantial community adoption, including 19,713 stars for SwiftLint, 16,614 for realm-swift, 11,500 for realm-java, 7,379 for jazzy, 6,003 for realm-js, 1,322 for realm-dotnet, 1,102 for realm-kotlin, 1,055 for realm-core and 793 for realm-dart [2].
Latest developments
Realm's SDKs are documented by MongoDB as the Atlas Device SDKs, and the documentation carries a deprecation notice [0]. Several Realm repositories continued to receive commit activity, with SwiftLint updated most recently among the listed projects [2].
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Realm positions its database as a replacement for SQLite, Core Data, ORMs and key-value stores in mobile applications [2].
Technology
Realm is built around realm-core, a C++ core database component shared across its SDKs, with language bindings and libraries for Swift/Objective-C, Java, Kotlin (including Kotlin Multiplatform and Android), JavaScript/TypeScript, Dart and .NET/Xamarin [1][2]. A synchronization and server layer, the Realm Object Server and Realm Mobile Platform, supports realtime collaboration and offline-first application designs, with add-on components such as a secure store for sync credentials on Android devices [1]. Supporting tools include Realm Studio and the Realm Browser for opening and modifying Realm database files, the Realm Cocoa Converter for moving data between container formats, and Realm Object Store, a set of cross-platform abstractions used across Realm products [1][2].
Go-to-market
Realm distributes its database and tooling as open source through the Realm GitHub organization, which hosts 92 repositories under permissive licenses including Apache-2.0 and MIT, and supports adoption through documentation, an academy, forums, demo applications and localized content in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean [1][2].
Mobile and application developers working in Swift, Objective-C, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, Dart and .NET, including teams building offline-first, realtime-collaboration and API-mobilization applications [1][2].
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco [6].
History
Realm was founded in 2011 and originally operated under the name tight.db. It participated in Y Combinator's Summer 2011 batch and is headquartered in San Francisco, with a listed team size of 51 [6]. The company's status is recorded as acquired, and its SDK documentation is now hosted by MongoDB as the Atlas Device SDKs, which are marked as deprecated [6][0].
Risks & controversies
The Atlas Device SDKs, under which Realm's SDK documentation is published, are subject to a deprecation notice [0].
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 2
by search overlap
Companies competing with Realm for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 1
launches, deals, and filingsRealm's SDK documentation is hosted by MongoDB as the Atlas Device SDKs and carries a deprecation notice.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Realmrealm.io · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Realm do?
- Realm is a mobile database and open-source SDK family offering an alternative to SQLite and Core Data for app developers.
- Who founded Realm?
- Realm was founded by Alexander Stigsen, Bjarne Christiansen in 2011.
- Who are Realm's investors?
- Realm's investors include Y Combinator, Frontline Ventures, HubSpot Ventures.
- How much funding has Realm raised?
- Realm has disclosed $4.5M raised across 1 of its 4 known rounds.
- Where is Realm headquartered?
- Realm is headquartered in San Francisco, US.