head to head · open source
orm vs dbx
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. dbx has 20,130 stars, 1,959 forks, 1,406 open issues and last shipped today. orm leads on adoption by 137% (47,640 vs 20,130 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; dbx is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, dbx 10%. dbx was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (database, mongodb, 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 | dbx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 20K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| 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 dbx if
- You want the dbx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and dbx 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 dbx
dbx is a roughly 25 MB cross platform database client written in Rust that connects to more than 90 databases and ships as a desktop application, a Docker container, a CLI, and a browser based web version, aimed at developers and teams who want a single lightweight tool for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis, MongoDB, DuckDB, SQL Server, Dameng, and many others.
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or dbx more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and dbx has 20,130. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and dbx free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dbx under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and dbx?
orm is written in TypeScript and dbx in Rust. 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 dbx?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dbx if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.