head to head · open source
typeorm vs lowdb
typeorm has 36,661 GitHub stars, 6,691 forks, 646 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. lowdb has 22,582 stars, 962 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. typeorm leads on adoption by 62% (36,661 vs 22,582 stars). typeorm is written in TypeScript under MIT; lowdb is written in JavaScript under MIT. typeorm has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, lowdb 4%. typeorm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, javascript), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | lowdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 23K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-03-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 962 |
| 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 lowdb if
- You want the lowdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and lowdb fits your workflow better
About typeorm
TypeORM is an ORM that can run in Node.js, Browser, Cordova, Ionic, React Native, NativeScript, Expo, and Electron platforms and can be used with TypeScript and JavaScript (ES2023). Its goal is to always support the latest JavaScript features and provide additional features that help you to develop any kind of application that uses databases from small applications with a few tables to large scale enterprise applications with multiple databases. TypeORM supports more databases than any other JS/TS ORM: Google Spanner, Microsoft SqlServer, MySQL/MariaDB, MongoDB, Oracle, Postgres, SAP HANA and SQLite, as well as…
read the full typeorm overview →
About lowdb
lowdb Simple to use type safe local JSON database 🦉 If you know JavaScript, you know how to use lowdb. Read or create db.json Use plain JavaScript to change data In the same spirit, query using native Array functions: It's that simple. db.data is just a JavaScript object, no magic. Sponsors Become a sponsor and have your company logo here 👉 GitHub Sponsors Features Lightweight Minimalist TypeScript Plain JavaScript Safe atomic writes Hackable: Change storage, file format (JSON, YAML, ...) or add encryption via adapters Extend it with lodash, ramda, ... for super powers! Automatically switches to fast in memory…
read the full lowdb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is typeorm or lowdb more popular?
typeorm has 36,661 GitHub stars and lowdb has 22,582. typeorm has the larger community by that measure.
Are typeorm and lowdb free?
Both are open source. typeorm is licensed under MIT and lowdb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between typeorm and lowdb?
typeorm is written in TypeScript and lowdb in JavaScript. 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 lowdb?
Choose typeorm if you want the larger community (36,661 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose lowdb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.