When embarking on a new NextJS project, one of the critical decisions you'll face is choosing the right Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tool. Two popular choices in the TypeScript ecosystem are Prisma and Drizzle. Both are designed to facilitate database operations, but they differ significantly in their approach, philosophy, and features. In this article, we'll explore the differences between Prisma and Drizzle, and provide guidance on which one might be the best fit for your project. Additionally, we'll invent custom examples to illustrate how each ORM could be used in a practical scenario.

Understanding Prisma and Drizzle

Prisma is an ORM that aims to solve many of the problems associated with traditional ORMs, such as bloated model instances, mixing business logic with storage logic, and unpredictable queries due to lazy loading. It uses a Prisma schema to define application models declaratively and generates SQL migrations from this schema. Prisma Client, a type-safe database client for Node.js and TypeScript, provides CRUD operations.

Drizzle, on the other hand, is a traditional SQL query builder that allows you to compose SQL queries using JavaScript/TypeScript functions. It offers a Queries API for a higher level of abstraction from SQL, enabling you to read nested relations. Drizzle's schema is defined in TypeScript files, which are then used to generate and execute SQL migrations against a database.

API Design and Level of Abstraction

Drizzle's philosophy is "If you know SQL, you know Drizzle ORM." It mirrors SQL in its API, providing a familiar environment for those well-versed in SQL. Prisma Client offers a higher-level abstraction designed with application developers in mind, making common tasks more accessible without requiring deep SQL knowledge.

Data Modeling

Prisma models are defined in the Prisma schema, while Drizzle uses TypeScript functions for table definitions. Prisma's data modeling DSL is lean and intuitive, with a powerful VS Code extension that enhances developer productivity. Drizzle's use of TypeScript offers additional flexibility and the power of code reuse.

Migrations

Both Drizzle and Prisma ORM handle migrations similarly, generating SQL files based on model definitions and providing a CLI to execute them. The SQL files can be modified before execution, allowing custom database operations with either system.

Querying

Query construction is natural in both Drizzle and Prisma ORM. Drizzle's Queries API and Prisma's querying methods are similar, but Drizzle requires the use of its SQL-like APIs for mutations, while Prisma provides a more fluent API for creating, updating, or deleting records.

Relations

Prisma ORM simplifies working with foreign key-connected records through virtual relation fields, offering a fluent API, nested writes, filters on related records, and type-safe querying of nested data. Drizzle requires more complex SQL construction to achieve similar results.

Filtering

Drizzle exposes SQL dialect-specific filter and conditional operators, while Prisma ORM provides a more generic and intuitive set of operators, such as contains, startsWith, and endsWith.

Pagination

Drizzle offers limit-offset pagination, whereas Prisma ORM provides APIs for both limit-offset and cursor-based pagination, making it more versatile.

Observability

Both ORMs allow query logging and SQL generation logging. Prisma ORM has additional features like metrics and tracing, which can be integrated with external tools for performance tracking.

Additional Products and Ecosystem

Prisma and Drizzle offer additional products alongside their ORMs. Prisma Studio and Drizzle Studio allow users to interact with their databases via a GUI. Prisma also offers commercial products like Prisma Accelerate and Prisma Pulse, which integrate with Prisma ORM for comprehensive data tooling.

Prisma ORM is well-established and included as the data layer tool of choice in many meta-frameworks and development platforms. Its community has developed a plethora of useful tools to assist with various workflows.

Database Support

Both ORMs support multiple databases, with Drizzle achieving this through driver implementations and Prisma primarily using built-in drivers. Prisma also supports databases like CockroachDB, Microsoft SQL Server, and MongoDB, which Drizzle does not currently support.

Custom Example: Blogging Platform

Let's consider a blogging platform where users can create, update, and delete blog posts. We'll see how Prisma and Drizzle can be used to handle this scenario.

Prisma Example

// Define models in Prisma schema
model User {
  id    Int     @id @default(autoincrement())
  name  String?
  email String  @unique
  posts Post[]
}

model Post {
  id        Int     @id @default(autoincrement())
  title     String
  content   String?
  published Boolean @default(false)
  authorId  Int?
  author    User?   @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
}

// Create a new post
const newPost = await prisma.post.create({
  data: {
    title: 'My First Post',
    content: 'This is the content of my first post.',
    published: true,
    authorId: 1,
  },
});

// Update a post
const updatedPost = await prisma.post.update({
  where: { id: 1 },
  data: { title: 'Updated Title' },
});

// Delete a post
const deletedPost = await prisma.post.delete({
  where: { id: 1 },
});

Drizzle Example

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

// Define tables using TypeScript functions
export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  name: text('name'),
  email: text('email').unique(),
});

export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  content: text('content'),
  published: boolean('published'),
  authorId: integer('author_id').references(() => users.id),
});

// Create a new post
const newPost = await db.insert(posts).values({
  title: 'My First Post',
  content: 'This is the content of my first post.',
  published: true,
  authorId: 1,
});

// Update a post
const updatedPost = await db
  .update(posts)
  .set({ title: 'Updated Title' })
  .where(eq(posts.id, 1))
  .returning();

// Delete a post
const deletedPost = await db
  .delete(posts)
  .where(eq(posts.id, 1))
  .returning();

Conclusion

Choosing between Prisma and Drizzle for your NextJS project depends on your team's familiarity with SQL, the level of abstraction you prefer, and the specific features you need. Prisma offers a more abstracted, developer-friendly approach, while Drizzle provides a closer-to-SQL experience with type safety. Both have their strengths and can be effectively used to build robust applications.

For teams that use SQL daily, Drizzle's familiar SQL-like syntax may be more appealing. For teams with varying levels of database experience, Prisma's comprehensive and easy-to-learn approach may be more suitable. Ultimately, the decision should be based on your project requirements, team expertise, and the trade-offs you are willing to make.

So, what's your ORM of choice ?