head to head · open source
orm vs algernon
orm has 47,661 GitHub stars, 2,605 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. algernon has 3,032 stars, 150 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. orm leads on adoption by 1,472% (47,661 vs 3,032 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; algernon is written in JavaScript under BSD-3-Clause. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, algernon 5%. orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | algernon | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 150 |
| 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 algernon if
- You want the algernon feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and algernon fits your workflow better
About orm
Docs Discord X Blog Post Architecture Using Prisma 7? It remains fully supported. Its source lives on the v7 branch of this repository and its docs at prisma.io/docs/orm/v7. Prisma 8 is a release candidate. 8.0.0 final is expected in the next four to eight weeks. Until then a release candidate may include breaking changes, and every release ships with an upgrade recipe that the prisma 8 skill applies for you. The candidate is a complete implementation we stand behind: we treat bugs in it as urgent, and the risk you take on is a feature that is not built yet rather than churn. The feature scoreboard names every…
About algernon
Web server with built in support for HTTP/2, HTTP/3 (QUIC), Lua, Teal, Markdown, Pongo2, HyperApp, Amber, Sass(SCSS), GCSS, JSX, TypeScript, Ollama (LLMs), BoltDB (built in, stores the database in a file, like SQLite), Redis, Valkey, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB, MySQL, MSSQL, IPv6, npm less React 19, rate limiting, graceful shutdown, plugins, users and permissions. All in one small self contained executable. Distro Packages Quick installation Requires Go 1.26 or later. go install github.com/xyproto/algernon@latest Or manually (development version): Releases and pre built images See the release page for releases…
read the full algernon overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or algernon more popular?
orm has 47,661 GitHub stars and algernon has 3,032. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and algernon free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and algernon under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and algernon?
orm is written in TypeScript and algernon 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 algernon?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,661 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose algernon if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.