head to head · open source
typeorm vs rxdb
typeorm has 36,656 GitHub stars, 6,673 forks, 646 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. rxdb has 23,386 stars, 1,175 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. typeorm leads on adoption by 57% (36,656 vs 23,386 stars). typeorm is written in TypeScript under MIT; rxdb is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. typeorm has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, rxdb 5%. rxdb 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
| typeorm | rxdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 23K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick typeorm if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rxdb if
- You want the rxdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and rxdb fits your workflow better
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 →
About rxdb
RxDB is a local first, reactive NoSQL database for JavaScript applications, aimed at developers building offline capable or realtime user interfaces who want client side data storage and sync through their own backend rather than a hosted vendor.
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Frequently asked questions
Is typeorm or rxdb more popular?
typeorm has 36,656 GitHub stars and rxdb has 23,386. typeorm has the larger community by that measure.
Are typeorm and rxdb free?
Both are open source. typeorm is licensed under MIT and rxdb under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between typeorm and rxdb?
typeorm is written in TypeScript and rxdb 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, typeorm or rxdb?
Choose typeorm if you want the larger community (36,656 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rxdb if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.