head to head · open source
orm vs TimescaleDb
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. TimescaleDb has 23,548 stars, 1,154 forks, 389 open issues and last shipped yesterday. orm leads on adoption by 102% (47,640 vs 23,548 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; TimescaleDb is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, TimescaleDb 5%. TimescaleDb 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 | TimescaleDb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 24K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 TimescaleDb if
- You want the TimescaleDb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and TimescaleDb 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 TimescaleDb
TimescaleDB is a time series database built on top of PostgreSQL and packaged as a PostgreSQL extension. It lives in the PostgreSQL ecosystem, and it uses SQL and PostgreSQL clients such as psql and pgAdmin. The project targets high performance real time analytics on time series and event data, with repository topics for IoT, financial analysis, and historian workloads.
read the full TimescaleDb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or TimescaleDb more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and TimescaleDb has 23,548. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and TimescaleDb free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0, and TimescaleDb has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between orm and TimescaleDb?
orm is written in TypeScript and TimescaleDb in C. 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 TimescaleDb?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose TimescaleDb if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.