head to head · open source
orm vs orbitdb
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. orbitdb has 8,809 stars, 595 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. orm leads on adoption by 441% (47,640 vs 8,809 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; orbitdb is written in JavaScript under MIT. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, orbitdb 7%. 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 | orbitdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 8.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 595 |
| 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 orbitdb if
- You want the orbitdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and orbitdb 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 orbitdb
OrbitDB is a serverless, distributed, peer to peer database for the decentralized web that stores its data in IPFS and syncs it with peers over Libp2p Pubsub, and it is aimed at developers building decentralized, blockchain, and local first applications in JavaScript.
read the full orbitdb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or orbitdb more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and orbitdb has 8,809. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and orbitdb free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and orbitdb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and orbitdb?
orm is written in TypeScript and orbitdb in JavaScript. 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 orbitdb?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose orbitdb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.