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Comparison

kysely vs @prisma/client

ORMs and query buildersPackage data 25 Sept 2026
kyselyv0.29.6, 16 Sept 2026

Type safe SQL query builder

$ npm install kysely
@prisma/clientv7.10.0, 25 Aug 2026

Prisma Client is an auto-generated, type-safe and modern JavaScript/TypeScript ORM for Node.js that's tailored to your data. Supports PostgreSQL, CockroachDB, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, SQLite & MongoDB databases.

$ npm install @prisma/client
Metrickysely@prisma/clientDifference
Weekly downloads12,012,56811,810,728kysely +2%
12-month download growth+1153%+235%kysely +918 pts
Gzip size---
Minified size---
Dependencies01@prisma/client 1 more
Unpacked size1.6 MB71.0 MBkysely 43.1x smaller
Latest release0.29.6, 16 Sept 20267.10.0, 25 Aug 2026kysely 22 days more recent
Releases, last 12 months1723@prisma/client 6 more
First published18 Feb 202115 Jan 2020@prisma/client 13 months earlier
GitHub stars14,24347,673@prisma/client 3.3x higher
Open issues1402,519@prisma/client 2,379 more
Open pull requests36139@prisma/client 103 more
Contributors---
Commits, last 52 weeks2908,283@prisma/client 28.6x higher
TypeScript typesNoneBundledDiffers
Module formatESM onlyESM + CommonJSDiffers
Runtimes---
LicenseMITApache-2.0Differs

Green marks the smaller size or the more recent release. Bold marks the higher count, with no judgement implied. Sizes are for the whole package per Bundlephobia. Growth compares the average of the last 4 weeks with the first 4 weeks of the 52-week series.

kysely12m latest week@prisma/client11.8m latest week
Week of 23 Sept 2025Week of 15 Sept 2026
Weekly npm downloads, 52 weeks. Y axis starts at zero. Values are not smoothed.

kysely

Major versions
  1. 0.1.018 Feb 2021
Last 5 releases
  1. 0.29.616 Sept 2026
  2. 0.29.510 Aug 2026
  3. 0.29.417 Jul 2026
  4. 0.29.35 Jul 2026
  5. 0.29.216 May 2026
185 releases in total, 17 in the last 12 months

@prisma/client

Major versions
  1. 2.0.09 Jun 2020
  2. 3.0.17 Sept 2021
  3. 4.0.028 Jun 2022
  4. 5.0.011 Jul 2023
  5. 6.0.028 Nov 2024
  6. 7.0.019 Nov 2025
Last 5 releases
  1. 7.10.025 Aug 2026
  2. 7.9.127 Jul 2026
  3. 7.9.020 Jul 2026
  4. 7.8.022 Apr 2026
  5. 7.7.07 Apr 2026
201 releases in total, 23 in the last 12 months
kysely

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@prisma/client

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kysely

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@prisma/client

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  • Need no runtime dependencieskysely (kysely has 0, @prisma/client has 1)
  • Need both ESM and CommonJS entry points@prisma/client (kysely: ESM only; @prisma/client: ESM + CommonJS)
  • Need to load it with require()@prisma/client
  • Need TypeScript types in the package itself@prisma/client (kysely: None; @prisma/client: Bundled)
  • Node.js version requirementkysely: >=22.0.0; @prisma/client: ^20.19 || ^22.12 || >=24.0 (engines field in package.json)
  • Need the more recent releasekysely (0.29.6 on 16 Sept 2026 vs 7.10.0 on 25 Aug 2026)
  • Higher weekly npm downloadskysely (12m vs 11.8m)
  • Licensekysely: MIT; @prisma/client: Apache-2.0

Each line is generated from the data above.

Indexability: Indexed.