head to head · open source
orm vs dbtpl
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. dbtpl has 3,896 stars, 337 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. orm leads on adoption by 1,123% (47,640 vs 3,896 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; dbtpl is written in Go under MIT. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, dbtpl 9%. orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (mysql, orm), 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 | dbtpl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 337 |
| 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 dbtpl if
- You want the dbtpl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and dbtpl 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 dbtpl
dbtpl is an MIT licensed command line tool that inspects a SQL database schema or a custom SQL query and generates idiomatic Go code from the results, built for Go developers who want typed models and query code without hand writing the repetitive parts.
read the full dbtpl overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or dbtpl more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and dbtpl has 3,896. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and dbtpl free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dbtpl under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and dbtpl?
orm is written in TypeScript and dbtpl in Go. 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 dbtpl?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dbtpl if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.