head to head · open source
orm vs sqlit
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. sqlit has 4,842 stars, 164 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. orm leads on adoption by 884% (47,640 vs 4,842 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; sqlit is written in Python under MIT. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, sqlit 3%. orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cockroachdb, mariadb, mysql), 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 | sqlit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 4.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 164 |
| 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 sqlit if
- You want the sqlit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and sqlit 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 sqlit
sqlit is a free, MIT licensed terminal user interface for SQL databases, written in Python, that lets a developer connect to a database and run queries from the command line in seconds — it is built for developers who want database access without a heavyweight GUI.
read the full sqlit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or sqlit more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and sqlit has 4,842. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and sqlit free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and sqlit under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and sqlit?
orm is written in TypeScript and sqlit 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 sqlit?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose sqlit if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.