head to head · open source
orm vs Orama
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Orama has 10,557 stars, 402 forks, 23 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. orm leads on adoption by 351% (47,640 vs 10,557 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Orama is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Orama 4%. orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| orm | Orama | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 402 |
| 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 Orama if
- You want the Orama feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Orama 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 Orama
Orama is a search engine and RAG pipeline written in TypeScript and distributed as an npm package. It can run in a browser, on a server, or on an edge network, and it provides full text, vector, and hybrid search in a package described as less than 2kb. The project lives in the JavaScript and Node ecosystem, and it is categorized as infrastructure and operations database software.
read the full Orama overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Databases projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Databases field.
Frequently asked questions
Is orm or Orama more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and Orama has 10,557. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and Orama free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Orama has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between orm and Orama?
orm is written in TypeScript and Orama in TypeScript. 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 Orama?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Orama if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.