head to head · open source
orm vs FerretDB
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. FerretDB has 11,074 stars, 488 forks, 448 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. orm leads on adoption by 330% (47,640 vs 11,074 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; FerretDB is written in Go under Apache-2.0. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, FerretDB 4%. orm 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, postgres), 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 | FerretDB | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-06-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 488 |
| 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 FerretDB if
- You want the FerretDB feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and FerretDB 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 FerretDB
FerretDB is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed proxy written in Go that converts MongoDB 5.0+ wire protocol queries into SQL and stores the data in PostgreSQL with the DocumentDB extension, giving developers a drop in MongoDB compatible document database without MongoDB's SSPL licence.
read the full FerretDB overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or FerretDB more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and FerretDB has 11,074. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and FerretDB free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and FerretDB under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and FerretDB?
orm is written in TypeScript and FerretDB 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 FerretDB?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose FerretDB if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.