head to head · open source
orm vs studio
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. studio has 5,973 stars, 265 forks, 89 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. orm leads on adoption by 698% (47,640 vs 5,973 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; studio is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, studio 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 (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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| orm | studio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-03-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 265 |
| 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 studio if
- You want the studio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and studio 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 studio
Outerbase Studio is a lightweight, browser based GUI for managing SQL databases, built for developers and teams who want to query, edit data, and adjust schema across SQLite family engines, MySQL, and PostgreSQL without installing a traditional desktop client.
read the full studio 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 studio more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and studio has 5,973. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and studio free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and studio under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and studio?
orm is written in TypeScript and studio 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 studio?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose studio if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.