What is Drizzle ORM?

Drizzle ORM is a lightweight, type-safe TypeScript ORM that provides a SQL-like query builder. Unlike Prisma, Drizzle schema definitions are written in TypeScript using helper functions like pgTable, mysqlTable, and sqliteTable. Each table is defined as a JavaScript object with column definitions that map directly to database columns.

-- SQL input
CREATE TABLE posts (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  title VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  body TEXT,
  author_id INTEGER REFERENCES users(id),
  published BOOLEAN DEFAULT false
);

// Generated Drizzle ORM schema
import { pgTable, serial, varchar, text, integer, boolean } from "drizzle-orm/pg-core";
import { users } from "./users";

export const posts = pgTable("posts", {
  id: serial("id").primaryKey(),
  title: varchar("title", { length: 255 }).notNull(),
  body: text("body"),
  authorId: integer("author_id").references(() => users.id),
  published: boolean("published").default(false),
});

How the converter generates Drizzle schemas

The converter maps SQL types to Drizzle column functions: integer(), varchar(), text(), boolean(), timestamp(), serial(), uuid(), json(), jsonb(), numeric(), real(), doublePrecision(), and more. Constraints are added as method chains: .primaryKey(), .notNull(), .unique(), .default(), and .references(). The output uses the correct import path based on your selected dialect (drizzle-orm/pg-core, drizzle-orm/mysql-core, or drizzle-orm/sqlite-core).

Drizzle vs Prisma schema

Drizzle schema is pure TypeScript code, making it easy to compose, generate, and version control alongside your application. Prisma uses its own DSL (.prisma files) that requires a separate code generation step. Drizzle provides a thinner abstraction over SQL, while Prisma offers a more opinionated data access layer. Choose based on your project's needs.