head to head · open source
NocoDB vs orm
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars, 5,054 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped yesterday. orm has 47,614 stars, 2,537 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NocoDB leads on adoption by 37% (64,998 vs 47,614 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, orm 5%. orm 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| NocoDB | orm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 48K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 2.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NocoDB if
- You weight community size — 65K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick orm if
- You want the orm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and orm fits your workflow better
About NocoDB
NocoDB is a free and self hostable open source Airtable alternative that turns an existing relational database into an intuitive spreadsheet interface, built for teams who want no code data management without moving their data into a hosted SaaS product.
read the full NocoDB overview →
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.
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Databases projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Databases field.
Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or orm more popular?
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars and orm has 47,614. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and orm free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and orm is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and orm?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and 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, NocoDB or orm?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (64,998 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose orm if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.