head to head · open source
typeorm vs Activeloop
typeorm has 36,656 GitHub stars, 6,673 forks, 646 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Activeloop has 9,241 stars, 722 forks, 66 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. typeorm leads on adoption by 297% (36,656 vs 9,241 stars). typeorm is written in TypeScript under MIT; Activeloop is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. typeorm has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, Activeloop 8%. typeorm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| typeorm | Activeloop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 9.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 722 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick typeorm if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Activeloop if
- You want the Activeloop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Activeloop fits your workflow better
About typeorm
TypeORM is an MIT licensed object relational mapper for TypeScript and JavaScript that runs on Node.js, in the browser, and across mobile and desktop platforms, and it is aimed at developers who want to model, query, and migrate SQL and NoSQL databases from one decorator driven codebase.
read the full typeorm overview →
About Activeloop
Activeloop Deep Lake is an open source database for AI data, written in C++ under Apache 2.0. It presents itself as a tensor database and AI data runtime for agents, combining serverless Postgres with a multimodal datalake for scalable retrieval and training. The project lives in the machine learning infrastructure ecosystem.
read the full Activeloop overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is typeorm or Activeloop more popular?
typeorm has 36,656 GitHub stars and Activeloop has 9,241. typeorm has the larger community by that measure.
Are typeorm and Activeloop free?
Both are open source. typeorm is licensed under MIT and Activeloop under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between typeorm and Activeloop?
typeorm is written in TypeScript and Activeloop in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, typeorm or Activeloop?
Choose typeorm if you want the larger community (36,656 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Activeloop if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.