head to head · open source
orm vs mikro-orm
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. mikro-orm has 9,229 stars, 673 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped yesterday. orm leads on adoption by 416% (47,640 vs 9,229 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; mikro-orm is written in TypeScript under MIT. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, mikro-orm 7%. mikro-orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 6 topic tags (database, javascript, mongodb, mysql), 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
| orm | mikro-orm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 9.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 673 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick orm if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mikro-orm if
- You want the mikro-orm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and mikro-orm fits your workflow better
About orm
Prisma ORM is a next generation TypeScript ORM for Node.js and TypeScript applications, supporting PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, SQLite, MongoDB, and CockroachDB, and it is aimed at developers and teams building data backed applications in that ecosystem.
About mikro-orm
MikroORM is a TypeScript ORM for Node.js built on the Data Mapper, Unit of Work and Identity Map patterns, aimed at TypeScript teams that want typed, entity based persistence across MongoDB, MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle and SQLite/libSQL databases.
read the full mikro-orm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or mikro-orm more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and mikro-orm has 9,229. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and mikro-orm free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mikro-orm under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and mikro-orm?
orm is written in TypeScript and mikro-orm in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, orm or mikro-orm?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mikro-orm if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.