Wednesday, January 15th 2025 · 4 min read

Prisma vs Drizzle: Which ORM Should You Choose for Your SaaS?

A comprehensive comparison of Prisma and Drizzle ORM for TypeScript applications. Learn the key differences in schema definition, queries, migrations, performance, and when to use each.

Choosing the right ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) is one of the most impactful decisions you'll make when building a SaaS application. The two most popular TypeScript ORMs today are Prisma and Drizzle—and they take fundamentally different approaches to database management.

In this guide, we'll break down the key differences, show real code examples, and help you decide which ORM is right for your project.

TL;DR - Quick Comparison

Feature	Prisma	Drizzle
Schema Definition	Custom `.prisma` DSL	TypeScript
Query API	Custom fluent API	SQL-like + Relational
Type Safety	Generated types	Inferred from schema
Bundle Size	~2MB+ (includes engine)	~50KB (zero deps)
Serverless	Requires edge runtime setup	Native support
Learning Curve	Lower (abstracted)	Higher (SQL knowledge needed)
Raw SQL	Supported but less ergonomic	First-class citizen

Schema Definition

The first major difference is how you define your database schema.

Prisma Schema (schema.prisma)

Prisma uses its own Domain Specific Language (DSL) in a .prisma file:

prisma/schema.prisma

// Prisma Schema
datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

model User {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  email     String   @unique
  name      String?
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt

  posts     Post[]
  profile   Profile?
}

model Post {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  title     String
  content   String?
  published Boolean  @default(false)
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())

  author    User     @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  authorId  String
}

model Profile {
  id     String @id @default(cuid())
  bio    String

  user   User   @relation(fields: [userId], references: [id])
  userId String @unique
}

Drizzle Schema (TypeScript)

Drizzle schemas are pure TypeScript, giving you full IDE support:

src/db/schema.ts

import { relations } from 'drizzle-orm';
import { boolean, pgTable, serial, text, timestamp } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';

export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: text('id')
    .primaryKey()
    .$defaultFn(() => crypto.randomUUID()),
  email: text('email').notNull().unique(),
  name: text('name'),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull(),
  updatedAt: timestamp('updated_at').defaultNow().notNull()
});

export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: text('id')
    .primaryKey()
    .$defaultFn(() => crypto.randomUUID()),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  content: text('content'),
  published: boolean('published').default(false).notNull(),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull(),
  authorId: text('author_id')
    .notNull()
    .references(() => users.id)
});

export const profiles = pgTable('profiles', {
  id: text('id')
    .primaryKey()
    .$defaultFn(() => crypto.randomUUID()),
  bio: text('bio').notNull(),
  userId: text('user_id')
    .notNull()
    .unique()
    .references(() => users.id)
});

// Define relations separately
export const usersRelations = relations(users, ({ many, one }) => ({
  posts: many(posts),
  profile: one(profiles)
}));

export const postsRelations = relations(posts, ({ one }) => ({
  author: one(users, { fields: [posts.authorId], references: [users.id] })
}));

export const profilesRelations = relations(profiles, ({ one }) => ({
  user: one(users, { fields: [profiles.userId], references: [users.id] })
}));

Winner: It depends on preference. Prisma's DSL is more concise and readable, while Drizzle's TypeScript approach offers better IDE integration and no context switching.

Querying Data

This is where the ORMs diverge significantly.

Prisma Queries

Prisma provides an intuitive, fluent API that abstracts away SQL:

lib/queries.ts

import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const prisma = new PrismaClient();

// Find a user with their posts
const userWithPosts = await prisma.user.findUnique({
  where: { email: 'john@example.com' },
  include: {
    posts: {
      where: { published: true },
      orderBy: { createdAt: 'desc' }
    },
    profile: true
  }
});

// Create a user with a post
const newUser = await prisma.user.create({
  data: {
    email: 'jane@example.com',
    name: 'Jane',
    posts: {
      create: {
        title: 'My First Post',
        content: 'Hello World!'
      }
    }
  },
  include: { posts: true }
});

// Update with nested writes
const updatedUser = await prisma.user.update({
  where: { id: 'user-id' },
  data: {
    name: 'Updated Name',
    posts: {
      updateMany: {
        where: { published: false },
        data: { published: true }
      }
    }
  }
});

// Complex filtering
const filteredPosts = await prisma.post.findMany({
  where: {
    OR: [
      { title: { contains: 'prisma', mode: 'insensitive' } },
      { content: { contains: 'prisma', mode: 'insensitive' } }
    ],
    AND: {
      published: true
    }
  }
});

Drizzle Queries

Drizzle offers two APIs: SQL-like and Relational.

SQL-like API (mirrors SQL closely):

lib/queries.ts

import { and, desc, eq, ilike, or } from 'drizzle-orm';

import { db } from './db';
import { posts, profiles, users } from './schema';

// Find a user by email
const user = await db
  .select()
  .from(users)
  .where(eq(users.email, 'john@example.com'))
  .limit(1);

// Join users with posts
const usersWithPosts = await db
  .select({
    userId: users.id,
    userName: users.name,
    postTitle: posts.title
  })
  .from(users)
  .leftJoin(posts, eq(users.id, posts.authorId))
  .where(eq(posts.published, true))
  .orderBy(desc(posts.createdAt));

// Insert a user
const newUser = await db
  .insert(users)
  .values({
    email: 'jane@example.com',
    name: 'Jane'
  })
  .returning();

// Update users
await db
  .update(users)
  .set({ name: 'Updated Name' })
  .where(eq(users.id, 'user-id'));

// Complex filtering
const filteredPosts = await db
  .select()
  .from(posts)
  .where(
    and(
      or(ilike(posts.title, '%prisma%'), ilike(posts.content, '%prisma%')),
      eq(posts.published, true)
    )
  );

Relational Query API (Prisma-like):

lib/queries.ts

import { db } from './db';

// Drizzle's relational queries - similar to Prisma's include
const userWithPosts = await db.query.users.findFirst({
  where: eq(users.email, 'john@example.com'),
  with: {
    posts: {
      where: eq(posts.published, true),
      orderBy: desc(posts.createdAt)
    },
    profile: true
  }
});

// Find many with relations
const allUsersWithPosts = await db.query.users.findMany({
  with: {
    posts: true
  }
});

Winner: Prisma for developer experience and abstraction. Drizzle for SQL control and flexibility. Drizzle's relational API brings the best of both worlds.

Migrations

Prisma Migrate

Prisma generates and manages migrations automatically:

Terminal

# Generate migration from schema changes
npx prisma migrate dev --name add_user_table

# Apply migrations in production
npx prisma migrate deploy

# Reset database (dev only)
npx prisma migrate reset

Migration files are SQL but managed by Prisma:

prisma/migrations/20240820_add_user_table/migration.sql

CREATE TABLE "User" (
    "id" TEXT NOT NULL,
    "email" TEXT NOT NULL,
    "name" TEXT,
    "createdAt" TIMESTAMP(3) NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    "updatedAt" TIMESTAMP(3) NOT NULL,

    CONSTRAINT "User_pkey" PRIMARY KEY ("id")
);

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX "User_email_key" ON "User"("email");

Drizzle Kit

Drizzle Kit provides similar functionality:

Terminal

# Generate migration
npx drizzle-kit generate --name add_user_table

# Push schema directly (dev only)
npx drizzle-kit push

# Apply migrations
npx drizzle-kit migrate

Configuration in drizzle.config.ts:

drizzle.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from 'drizzle-kit';

export default defineConfig({
  dialect: 'postgresql',
  schema: './src/db/schema.ts',
  out: './drizzle',
  dbCredentials: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL!
  }
});

Generated SQL:

drizzle/0000_add_user_table.sql

CREATE TABLE "users" (
  "id" text PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
  "email" text NOT NULL,
  "name" text,
  "created_at" timestamp DEFAULT now() NOT NULL,
  "updated_at" timestamp DEFAULT now() NOT NULL,
  CONSTRAINT "users_email_unique" UNIQUE("email")
);

Winner: Tie. Both provide excellent migration tooling with automatic generation and deployment support.

Performance & Bundle Size

This is where Drizzle shines for serverless applications.

Prisma

Bundle size: ~2MB+ (includes Prisma Engine binary)
Cold start: Can be 1-3 seconds in serverless
Connection pooling: Requires Prisma Accelerate or external pooler

lib/prisma.ts

// Optimizing Prisma for serverless
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const globalForPrisma = globalThis as unknown as {
  prisma: PrismaClient | undefined;
};

export const prisma =
  globalForPrisma.prisma ??
  new PrismaClient({
    log: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ? ['query'] : []
  });

if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') globalForPrisma.prisma = prisma;

Drizzle

Bundle size: ~50KB (zero dependencies)
Cold start: Minimal overhead
Connection pooling: Works with any pool (native driver support)

lib/db.ts

// Drizzle with Neon serverless
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/neon-http';
import * as schema from './schema';

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL!);
export const db = drizzle(sql, { schema });

// Or with node-postgres for traditional servers
import { Pool } from 'pg';
import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/node-postgres';

const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });
export const db = drizzle(pool, { schema });

Winner: Drizzle for serverless and edge deployments. Prisma is fine for traditional servers.

Type Safety

Both ORMs provide excellent TypeScript support, but differently.

Prisma Types

Prisma generates types from your schema:

lib/types.ts

import { Post, Prisma, User } from '@prisma/client';

// Generated types
type UserWithPosts = Prisma.UserGetPayload<{
  include: { posts: true };
}>;

// Input types for queries
type UserCreateInput = Prisma.UserCreateInput;
type UserWhereInput = Prisma.UserWhereInput;

// Use the validator for reusable query objects
const userWithPostsQuery = Prisma.validator<Prisma.UserDefaultArgs>()({
  include: { posts: true }
});

Drizzle Types

Drizzle infers types directly from your TypeScript schema:

lib/types.ts

import { InferInsertModel, InferSelectModel } from 'drizzle-orm';

import { posts, users } from './schema';

// Inferred types
type User = InferSelectModel<typeof users>;
type NewUser = InferInsertModel<typeof users>;
type Post = InferSelectModel<typeof posts>;

// Use with queries
const user: User = await db
  .select()
  .from(users)
  .limit(1)
  .then((r) => r[0]);

Winner: Tie. Both provide excellent type safety, just through different mechanisms.

When to Choose Prisma

Choose Prisma if:

You want maximum abstraction from SQL
Your team has less SQL experience
You need Prisma Studio for data browsing
You prefer a declarative schema language
You're building a monolithic application

lib/users.ts

// Prisma excels at complex nested operations
const result = await prisma.user.create({
  data: {
    email: 'user@example.com',
    profile: { create: { bio: 'Hello!' } },
    posts: {
      createMany: {
        data: [{ title: 'Post 1' }, { title: 'Post 2' }]
      }
    }
  },
  include: {
    profile: true,
    posts: true
  }
});

When to Choose Drizzle

Choose Drizzle if:

You want SQL-like control with type safety
You're deploying to serverless/edge
Bundle size and cold starts matter
You prefer schemas in TypeScript
You need raw SQL performance

lib/analytics.ts

// Drizzle excels at SQL-like operations
const result = await db
  .select({
    category: posts.category,
    count: sql<number>`count(*)`.as('count'),
    avgLength: sql<number>`avg(length(${posts.content}))`.as('avg_length')
  })
  .from(posts)
  .where(eq(posts.published, true))
  .groupBy(posts.category)
  .having(sql`count(*) > 5`)
  .orderBy(desc(sql`count(*)`));

Our Choice at Achromatic

At Achromatic, we offer starter kits with both Prisma and Drizzle because different projects have different needs:

Prisma Kit: Best for teams who want a more abstracted, beginner-friendly ORM with excellent tooling.
Drizzle Kit: Best for serverless deployments, edge functions, and teams comfortable with SQL.

Both starter kits include:

Pre-configured database schemas for users, organizations, and billing
Type-safe queries throughout
Migration workflows set up
Multi-tenant architecture support

Conclusion

There's no universally "better" ORM—the choice depends on your priorities:

Priority	Choose
Developer experience	Prisma
SQL control	Drizzle
Serverless/Edge	Drizzle
Learning curve	Prisma
Bundle size	Drizzle
Tooling (Studio)	Prisma

Both are excellent choices for building production TypeScript applications. The best ORM is the one that fits your team's skills and your deployment environment.

Multi-Tenant Architecture in Next.js - See how both ORMs handle multi-tenant data isolation
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Ready to start building? Check out our production-ready starter kits with either Prisma or Drizzle pre-configured and ready to deploy.

February 25th, 2025

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January 23rd, 2026

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Prisma vs Drizzle: Which ORM Should You Choose for Your SaaS?

TL;DR - Quick Comparison

Schema Definition

Prisma Schema (schema.prisma)

Drizzle Schema (TypeScript)

Querying Data

Prisma Queries

Drizzle Queries

Migrations

Prisma Migrate

Drizzle Kit

Performance & Bundle Size

Prisma

Drizzle

Type Safety

Prisma Types

Drizzle Types

When to Choose Prisma

When to Choose Drizzle

Our Choice at Achromatic

Conclusion

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