diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-ui/src/graphql-api/utils/db.js b/packages/@vue/cli-ui/src/graphql-api/utils/db.js
index 10a7e8ee13..d0424b5b54 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-ui/src/graphql-api/utils/db.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-ui/src/graphql-api/utils/db.js
@@ -1,19 +1,25 @@
 const Lowdb = require('lowdb')
 const FileSync = require('lowdb/adapters/FileSync')
 const fs = require('fs-extra')
-const { resolve } = require('path')
+const path = require('path')
+const os = require('os')
+const { xdgConfigPath } = require('@vue/cli/lib/util/xdgConfig')
 
-let folder = '../../../live'
+let folder
 
 if (process.env.VUE_CLI_UI_TEST) {
   folder = '../../../live-test'
   // Clean DB
-  fs.removeSync(resolve(__dirname, folder))
+  fs.removeSync(path.resolve(__dirname, folder))
+} else {
+  folder = process.env.VUE_CLI_UI_DB_PATH ||
+    xdgConfigPath('.vue-cli-ui') ||
+    path.join(os.homedir(), '.vue-cli-ui')
 }
 
-fs.ensureDirSync(resolve(__dirname, folder))
+fs.ensureDirSync(path.resolve(__dirname, folder))
 
-const db = new Lowdb(new FileSync(resolve(__dirname, folder, 'db.json')))
+const db = new Lowdb(new FileSync(path.resolve(__dirname, folder, 'db.json')))
 
 // Seed an empty DB
 db.defaults({
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js
index 94f41a7bf3..1bccda95b5 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js
@@ -5,23 +5,11 @@ const cloneDeep = require('lodash.clonedeep')
 const { error } = require('@vue/cli-shared-utils/lib/logger')
 const { createSchema, validate } = require('@vue/cli-shared-utils/lib/validate')
 const { exit } = require('@vue/cli-shared-utils/lib/exit')
-
-const xdgConfigPath = () => {
-  const xdgConfigHome = process.env.XDG_CONFIG_HOME
-  if (xdgConfigHome) {
-    const rcDir = path.join(xdgConfigHome, 'vue')
-    if (!fs.existsSync(rcDir)) {
-      fs.mkdirSync(rcDir, 0o700)
-    }
-    return path.join(rcDir, '.vuerc')
-  }
-
-  return undefined
-}
+const { xdgConfigPath } = require('./util/xdgConfig')
 
 const rcPath = exports.rcPath = (
   process.env.VUE_CLI_CONFIG_PATH ||
-  xdgConfigPath() ||
+  xdgConfigPath('.vuerc') ||
   path.join(os.homedir(), '.vuerc')
 )
 
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/xdgConfig.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/xdgConfig.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dfd2cccefa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/xdgConfig.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+const fs = require('fs')
+const path = require('path')
+
+exports.xdgConfigPath = (file) => {
+  const xdgConfigHome = process.env.XDG_CONFIG_HOME
+  if (xdgConfigHome) {
+    const rcDir = path.join(xdgConfigHome, 'vue')
+    if (!fs.existsSync(rcDir)) {
+      fs.mkdirSync(rcDir, 0o700)
+    }
+    return path.join(rcDir, file)
+  }
+
+  return undefined
+}