Knex.js vs TypeORM

Overview

Knex.js

Stacks181

Followers406

Votes49

TypeORM

Stacks757

Followers813

Votes81

GitHub Stars36.0K

Forks6.5K

Knex.js vs TypeORM: What are the differences?

Knex.js and TypeORM are JavaScript libraries addressing database interactions with different approaches. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Database Support: Knex.js supports a wider range of databases compared to TypeORM. Knex.js provides support for databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and Oracle, while TypeORM primarily focuses on supporting SQL databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.
Query Building: Knex.js is primarily a query builder, allowing developers to build and execute complex SQL queries in a fluent and flexible manner. TypeORM, on the other hand, is an ORM (Object Relational Mapper) that provides a higher-level abstraction over the database, allowing developers to work with objects and entities rather than writing raw SQL queries. This makes TypeORM more suitable for complex applications with a lot of database interactions.
Migrations: Knex.js has built-in migration support, which makes it easy to manage database schema changes over time. It provides a set of migration tools that allow developers to create, run, and revert migrations. TypeORM also has migration support, but it requires additional configuration and setup to use migrations effectively.
Active Record Pattern: TypeORM follows the Active Record pattern, where entities contain both data and behavior, and are responsible for managing their own state and persistence. Knex.js, being a query builder, does not enforce any strict patterns or structures for data access. It allows developers to write raw SQL queries as needed, providing more flexibility in how data is accessed and manipulated.
TypeScript Support: TypeORM is designed with TypeScript in mind and provides native support for it. This means that developers can leverage TypeScript features, such as static typing and decorators, to enhance their development experience and catch potential errors early on. While Knex.js can be used with TypeScript, it does not provide native support and requires additional configuration to work seamlessly with it.
Ecosystem and Community: Both Knex.js and TypeORM have active communities and are widely used in the JavaScript and Node.js ecosystems. However, Knex.js has been around for a longer time and has a more mature ecosystem with a larger user base. This means that Knex.js has more resources, plugins, and community support available compared to TypeORM.

In summary, Knex.js is a query builder that facilitates SQL query generation, providing flexibility and control over database operations. TypeORM, on the other hand, is an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) library for TypeScript and JavaScript, allowing developers to interact with databases using object-oriented programming paradigms.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs

CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Detailed Comparison

Knex.js	TypeORM
Knex.js is a "batteries included" SQL query builder for Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite3, and Oracle designed to be flexible, portable, and fun to use. It features both traditional node style callbacks as well as a promise interface for cleaner async flow control, a stream interface, full featured query and schema builders, transaction support (with savepoints), connection pooling and standardized responses between different query clients and dialects.	It supports both Active Record and Data Mapper patterns, unlike all other JavaScript ORMs currently in existence, which means you can write high quality, loosely coupled, scalable, maintainable applications the most productive way.
SQL query builder for Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite3, and Oracle	automatically create the database table schemes based on your models; transparently insert / update / delete to the database your objects; map your selections from tables to JavaScript objects and map table columns to object properties; easily create one-to-one, many-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relations between tables; and much more.
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 36.0K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 6.5K
Stacks 181	Stacks 757
Followers 406	Followers 813
Votes 49	Votes 81
Pros & Cons
Pros 11 Write once and then connect to almost any sql engine 10 Faster 8 Nice api, Migrations/Seeds 7 Free 7 Flexibility in what engine you choose	Pros 30 Typescript 12 Supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQLite, MS SQL Ser 9 Cons of TypeORM 9 Easy setup 7 Promise Based Cons 5 Completely abandoned by its creator 3 Too complex for what it does 2 Doesn't really support native javascript 1 Cannot use query on any relation 1 Not proper/real type safety
Integrations
PostgreSQL Oracle MySQL SQLite	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Knex.js, TypeORM?

ExpressJS

Express is a minimal and flexible node.js web application framework, providing a robust set of features for building single and multi-page, and hybrid web applications.

dbForge Studio for MySQL

It is the universal MySQL and MariaDB client for database management, administration and development. With the help of this intelligent MySQL client the work with data and code has become easier and more convenient. This tool provides utilities to compare, synchronize, and backup MySQL databases with scheduling, and gives possibility to analyze and report MySQL tables data.

dbForge Studio for Oracle

It is a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) which helps Oracle SQL developers to increase PL/SQL coding speed, provides versatile data editing tools for managing in-database and external data.

dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL

It is a GUI tool for database development and management. The IDE for PostgreSQL allows users to create, develop, and execute queries, edit and adjust the code to their requirements in a convenient and user-friendly interface.

Django REST framework

It is a powerful and flexible toolkit that makes it easy to build Web APIs.

Sails.js

Sails is designed to mimic the MVC pattern of frameworks like Ruby on Rails, but with support for the requirements of modern apps: data-driven APIs with scalable, service-oriented architecture.

Sinatra

Sinatra is a DSL for quickly creating web applications in Ruby with minimal effort.

dbForge Studio for SQL Server

It is a powerful IDE for SQL Server management, administration, development, data reporting and analysis. The tool will help SQL developers to manage databases, version-control database changes in popular source control systems, speed up routine tasks, as well, as to make complex database changes.

Lumen

Laravel Lumen is a stunningly fast PHP micro-framework for building web applications with expressive, elegant syntax. We believe development must be an enjoyable, creative experience to be truly fulfilling. Lumen attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as routing, database abstraction, queueing, and caching.

Slim

Slim is easy to use for both beginners and professionals. Slim favors cleanliness over terseness and common cases over edge cases. Its interface is simple, intuitive, and extensively documented — both online and in the code itself.

Related Comparisons

Knex.js vs TypeORM: What are the differences?

Knex.js and TypeORM are JavaScript libraries addressing database interactions with different approaches. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Database Support: Knex.js supports a wider range of databases compared to TypeORM. Knex.js provides support for databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and Oracle, while TypeORM primarily focuses on supporting SQL databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.
Query Building: Knex.js is primarily a query builder, allowing developers to build and execute complex SQL queries in a fluent and flexible manner. TypeORM, on the other hand, is an ORM (Object Relational Mapper) that provides a higher-level abstraction over the database, allowing developers to work with objects and entities rather than writing raw SQL queries. This makes TypeORM more suitable for complex applications with a lot of database interactions.
Migrations: Knex.js has built-in migration support, which makes it easy to manage database schema changes over time. It provides a set of migration tools that allow developers to create, run, and revert migrations. TypeORM also has migration support, but it requires additional configuration and setup to use migrations effectively.
Active Record Pattern: TypeORM follows the Active Record pattern, where entities contain both data and behavior, and are responsible for managing their own state and persistence. Knex.js, being a query builder, does not enforce any strict patterns or structures for data access. It allows developers to write raw SQL queries as needed, providing more flexibility in how data is accessed and manipulated.
TypeScript Support: TypeORM is designed with TypeScript in mind and provides native support for it. This means that developers can leverage TypeScript features, such as static typing and decorators, to enhance their development experience and catch potential errors early on. While Knex.js can be used with TypeScript, it does not provide native support and requires additional configuration to work seamlessly with it.
Ecosystem and Community: Both Knex.js and TypeORM have active communities and are widely used in the JavaScript and Node.js ecosystems. However, Knex.js has been around for a longer time and has a more mature ecosystem with a larger user base. This means that Knex.js has more resources, plugins, and community support available compared to TypeORM.

Knex.js vs TypeORM

Overview