How it works
You write models in schema.prisma, run a command, and Prisma generates a client whose every query and result is typed, so a misspelt field fails at compile time. Prisma Migrate turns schema changes into SQL migration files. It supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server, CockroachDB and MongoDB.
The ORM is open source. The company also sells Prisma Postgres (a hosted database), connection pooling and caching, and app hosting, all optional.
Prisma pros and cons
Pros
- Excellent type safety and editor autocomplete
- One readable schema file as the source of truth
- Mature migrations and a visual data browser (Prisma Studio)
Cons
- Its own schema language and query API to learn instead of SQL
- Some complex queries still need raw SQL
- Historically heavier than thin query builders on serverless and edge runtimes
When to use Prisma
Pick it when
- TypeScript backends that want strong types with little effort
- Teams that prefer a declarative schema to hand-written SQL
Skip it when
- You want queries that read like SQL (Drizzle or plain SQL)
- Tiny serverless functions where bundle size matters
Prisma pricing
Open source
Prisma ORM is free. Prisma Postgres has a free tier (about 100,000 operations and 500 MB a month) and paid plans from about $10 a month.
Prisma pricing page (opens in a new tab)Approximate, checked September 2026.What the other tools cost
Prisma vs the alternatives
Related terms
More in Databases and storage
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