head to head · open source
orm vs typeorm
orm has 47,614 GitHub stars, 2,537 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped yesterday. typeorm has 36,652 stars, 6,670 forks, 646 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. orm leads on adoption by 30% (47,614 vs 36,652 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; typeorm is written in TypeScript under MIT. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, typeorm 18%. orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 6 topic tags (cockroachdb, database, javascript, mariadb), 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 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| orm | typeorm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 37K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 6.7K |
| 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 typeorm if
- You want the typeorm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and typeorm 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 typeorm
TypeORM is an MIT licensed object relational mapper for TypeScript and JavaScript that runs on Node.js, in the browser, and across mobile and desktop platforms, and it is aimed at developers who want to model, query, and migrate SQL and NoSQL databases from one decorator driven codebase.
read the full typeorm 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 typeorm more popular?
orm has 47,614 GitHub stars and typeorm has 36,652. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and typeorm free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and typeorm under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and typeorm?
orm is written in TypeScript and typeorm 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 typeorm?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,614 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose typeorm if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.