head to head · open source
orm vs aleph
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. aleph has 2,434 stars, 362 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. orm leads on adoption by 1,857% (47,640 vs 2,434 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; aleph is written in JavaScript under MIT. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, aleph 15%. 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.
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Side by side
| orm | aleph | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-02-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 362 |
| 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 aleph if
- You want the aleph feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and aleph 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 aleph
Aleph is an MIT licensed open source search and browsing tool for large collections of documents and structured data. It indexes PDF, Word, HTML, CSV, XLS, and SQL inputs so users can search mixed evidence sources in one tool. The project lives in the open source data search, graph database, investigative journalism, and OSINT ecosystem, and it is built with investigative reporting as a primary use case.
read the full aleph overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or aleph more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and aleph has 2,434. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and aleph free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and aleph under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and aleph?
orm is written in TypeScript and aleph 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, orm or aleph?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose aleph if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.