head to head · open source
orm vs gel
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. gel has 14,168 stars, 450 forks, 948 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. orm leads on adoption by 236% (47,640 vs 14,168 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; gel is written in Python under Apache-2.0. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, gel 3%. orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (database), 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 | gel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-12-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 450 |
| 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 gel if
- You want the gel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and gel 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 gel
Gel is an open source graph relational database, written in Python and released under Apache 2.0, that gives application developers a declarative object type schema, the EdgeQL query language, a migrations system, client libraries and a command line tool in place of hand written SQL and a separate ORM layer.
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or gel more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and gel has 14,168. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and gel free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and gel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and gel?
orm is written in TypeScript and gel in Python. 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 gel?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose gel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.