diff --git a/docs/cli.rst b/docs/cli.rst
index cb9574c21..6597fb6dc 100644
--- a/docs/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/cli.rst
@@ -187,8 +187,8 @@ The ``--nl``, ``--csv`` and ``--table`` options are all available.
 
 .. _cli_inserting_data:
 
-Inserting data
-==============
+Inserting JSON data
+===================
 
 If you have data as JSON, you can use ``sqlite-utils insert tablename`` to insert it into a database. The table will be created with the correct (automatically detected) columns if it does not already exist.
 
@@ -249,6 +249,17 @@ This also means you pipe ``sqlite-utils`` together to easily create a new SQLite
     207368,920 Kirkham St,37.760210314285,-122.47073935813
     188702,1501 Evans Ave,37.7422086702947,-122.387293152263
 
+Inserting CSV or TSV data
+=========================
+
+If your data is in CSV format, you can insert it using the ``--csv`` option::
+
+    $ sqlite-utils insert dogs.db dogs docs.csv --csv
+
+For tab-delimited data, use ``--tsv``::
+
+    $ sqlite-utils insert dogs.db dogs docs.tsv --tsv
+
 Upserting data
 ==============
 
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/cli.py b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
index d53a77c69..7b4098dac 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/cli.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
@@ -307,6 +307,7 @@ def insert_upsert_options(fn):
             ),
             click.option("--nl", is_flag=True, help="Expect newline-delimited JSON"),
             click.option("-c", "--csv", is_flag=True, help="Expect CSV"),
+            click.option("--tsv", is_flag=True, help="Expect TSV"),
             click.option(
                 "--batch-size", type=int, default=100, help="Commit every X records"
             ),
@@ -339,6 +340,7 @@ def insert_upsert_implementation(
     pk,
     nl,
     csv,
+    tsv,
     batch_size,
     alter,
     upsert,
@@ -347,13 +349,13 @@ def insert_upsert_implementation(
     default=None,
 ):
     db = sqlite_utils.Database(path)
-    if nl and csv:
-        click.echo("Use just one of --nl and --csv", err=True)
-        return
+    if (nl + csv + tsv) >= 2:
+        raise click.ClickException("Use just one of --nl, --csv or --tsv")
     if pk and len(pk) == 1:
         pk = pk[0]
-    if csv:
-        reader = csv_std.reader(json_file)
+    if csv or tsv:
+        dialect = "excel-tab" if tsv else "excel"
+        reader = csv_std.reader(json_file, dialect=dialect)
         headers = next(reader)
         docs = (dict(zip(headers, row)) for row in reader)
     elif nl:
@@ -381,7 +383,18 @@ def insert_upsert_implementation(
     "--ignore", is_flag=True, default=False, help="Ignore records if pk already exists"
 )
 def insert(
-    path, table, json_file, pk, nl, csv, batch_size, alter, ignore, not_null, default
+    path,
+    table,
+    json_file,
+    pk,
+    nl,
+    csv,
+    tsv,
+    batch_size,
+    alter,
+    ignore,
+    not_null,
+    default,
 ):
     """
     Insert records from JSON file into a table, creating the table if it
@@ -396,6 +409,7 @@ def insert(
         pk,
         nl,
         csv,
+        tsv,
         batch_size,
         alter=alter,
         upsert=False,
@@ -407,7 +421,9 @@ def insert(
 
 @cli.command()
 @insert_upsert_options
-def upsert(path, table, json_file, pk, nl, csv, batch_size, alter, not_null, default):
+def upsert(
+    path, table, json_file, pk, nl, csv, tsv, batch_size, alter, not_null, default
+):
     """
     Upsert records based on their primary key. Works like 'insert' but if
     an incoming record has a primary key that matches an existing record
@@ -420,6 +436,7 @@ def upsert(path, table, json_file, pk, nl, csv, batch_size, alter, not_null, def
         pk,
         nl,
         csv,
+        tsv,
         batch_size,
         alter=alter,
         upsert=True,
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 0e01814f7..2fb1d04b5 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -511,6 +511,38 @@ def test_insert_ignore(db_path, tmpdir):
     )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "content,option",
+    (("foo\tbar\tbaz\n1\t2\t3", "--tsv"), ("foo,bar,baz\n1,2,3", "--csv")),
+)
+def test_insert_csv_tsv(content, option, db_path, tmpdir):
+    db = Database(db_path)
+    file_path = str(tmpdir / "insert.csv-tsv")
+    open(file_path, "w").write(content)
+    result = CliRunner().invoke(cli.cli, ["insert", db_path, "data", file_path, option])
+    assert 0 == result.exit_code
+    assert [{"foo": "1", "bar": "2", "baz": "3"}] == list(db["data"].rows)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "options",
+    (
+        ["--tsv", "--nl"],
+        ["--tsv", "--csv"],
+        ["--csv", "--nl"],
+        ["--csv", "--nl", "--tsv"],
+    ),
+)
+def test_only_allow_one_of_nl_tsv_csv(options, db_path, tmpdir):
+    file_path = str(tmpdir / "insert.csv-tsv")
+    open(file_path, "w").write("foo")
+    result = CliRunner().invoke(
+        cli.cli, ["insert", db_path, "data", file_path] + options
+    )
+    assert 0 != result.exit_code
+    assert "Error: Use just one of --nl, --csv or --tsv" == result.output.strip()
+
+
 def test_upsert(db_path, tmpdir):
     test_insert_multiple_with_primary_key(db_path, tmpdir)
     json_path = str(tmpdir / "upsert.json")