drizzle-orm vs mongoose
drizzle-orm is downloaded 1.8× more often than mongoose (39,472,031 vs 22,182,965 per month), so it has the larger community and more answered questions online. drizzle-orm ships 98% less gzipped JavaScript (8.4 kB vs 338.0 kB), which matters if bundle size is a priority. Both projects are actively maintained.
| Metric | drizzle-orm | mongoose |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly downloads | 9,868,411✓ | 5,228,646 |
| Monthly downloads | 39,472,031✓ | 22,182,965 |
| GitHub stars | 34,626✓ | 27,480 |
| Minified size | 27.3 kB✓ | 1821.6 kB |
| Minified + gzipped | 8.4 kB✓ | 338.0 kB |
| Dependencies | 0✓ | 6 |
| Open issues | 1,818 | 190✓ |
| Last commit | 2026-06-01 | 2026-06-01✓ |
| Latest version | 0.45.2 | 9.6.3 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
When to choose which
drizzle-orm
Type-safe, SQL-like ORM with a tiny runtime.
Choose it when: Type-safe SQL with minimal abstraction and no codegen — great for serverless/edge where bundle size and cold starts matter.
- + Fully type-safe, no codegen
- + SQL-like & tiny
- + Edge/serverless friendly
- - Younger ecosystem
- - You work closer to raw SQL
mongoose
The de-facto ODM for MongoDB.
Choose it when: MongoDB apps that want schemas, validation and middleware on top of a schemaless database.
- + Schemas & validation for Mongo
- + Middleware/hooks
- + Huge community
- - MongoDB only
- - TypeScript types are secondary
Feature comparison
| Feature | drizzle-orm | mongoose |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | ORM / query builder | ODM |
| Type safety | Inferred (no codegen) | Partial |
| Built-in migrations | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Databases | PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQLite | MongoDB only |
| Pattern | SQL-like functional | Schema / models |
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[](https://devcompare.dev/compare/drizzle-orm-vs-mongoose)Data from npm, Bundlephobia and GitHub. Last updated 2026-06-02.