head to head · open source
orm vs spicedb
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. spicedb has 7,077 stars, 421 forks, 157 open issues and last shipped yesterday. orm leads on adoption by 573% (47,640 vs 7,077 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; spicedb is written in Go under Apache-2.0. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, spicedb 6%. spicedb 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 | spicedb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 7.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 421 |
| 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 spicedb if
- You want the spicedb 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 spicedb 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 spicedb
SpiceDB is an open source, Google Zanzibar inspired database written in Go that stores and queries fine grained authorization data, and it is built for platform and product teams that need a reliable answer to whether subject X can perform action Y on resource Z.
read the full spicedb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or spicedb more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and spicedb has 7,077. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and spicedb free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and spicedb under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and spicedb?
orm is written in TypeScript and spicedb 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 spicedb?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose spicedb if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.