head to head · open source
orm vs pgcli
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pgcli has 13,394 stars, 613 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped yesterday. orm leads on adoption by 256% (47,640 vs 13,394 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; pgcli is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, pgcli 5%. pgcli was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, 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 | pgcli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 613 |
| 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 pgcli if
- You want the pgcli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pgcli 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 pgcli
pgcli is a Python command line REPL for PostgreSQL, distributed under the BSD 3 Clause licence, that replaces psql for interactive sessions by adding autocompletion and syntax highlighting for developers, DBAs, and analysts who work in a terminal.
read the full pgcli overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or pgcli more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and pgcli has 13,394. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and pgcli free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pgcli under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and pgcli?
orm is written in TypeScript and pgcli 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 pgcli?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pgcli if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.