TypeORM

TypeORM is the old guard of TypeScript ORMs — the one everyone used before Prisma and Drizzle showed up. It maps tables to classes with decorators, supports Active Record and Data Mapper patterns, and works with Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, and more. If you've used Hibernate or Entity Framework, this feels familiar.

Skip this for new projects. Prisma gives you better DX with its schema-first approach and generated types. Drizzle is faster and closer to SQL with a 7KB bundle. TypeORM's type safety has gaps, its query builder is clunky, and migration tooling is unreliable. The only reason to use TypeORM in 2026 is if you're maintaining an existing codebase that already depends on it.

The catch: TypeORM's maintainer bandwidth has been thin for years. Issues pile up, releases are slow, and the community has largely moved on. If you're starting fresh, pick Drizzle for performance or Prisma for DX.