head to head · open source
orm vs age
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. age has 4,828 stars, 525 forks, 249 open issues and last shipped yesterday. orm leads on adoption by 887% (47,640 vs 4,828 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; age is written in C under Apache-2.0. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, age 11%. age 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 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| orm | age | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 4.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 525 |
| 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 age if
- You want the age 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 age 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 age
Apache AGE is an extension for PostgreSQL that adds a graph database to an existing relational database. AGE stands for A Graph Extension, and the project is inspired by Bitnine's AgensGraph, a multi model database fork of PostgreSQL. It lives in the PostgreSQL ecosystem and is written in C under the Apache 2.0 license. The core principle is a single storage layer that handles both the relational and the graph data model, so users can write standard ANSI SQL alongside openCypher, one of the most widely used graph query languages.
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Databases projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Databases field.
Frequently asked questions
Is orm or age more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and age has 4,828. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and age free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and age under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and age?
orm is written in TypeScript and age 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, orm or age?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose age if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.