After relying on Prisma for over half a year, I decided to start looking for viable Prisma alternatives, since I started to feel like the available functionality was lacking and I needed to scale and expand my projects. While I appreciated the streamlined database management and intuitive type-safe UI, the software wasn’t capable of keeping up with my increasingly bigger and more complex applications.
My biggest problem was performance. Prisma’s abstraction layer, while very useful, tends to add overhead when handling high-volume queries. My application involved elaborate data-fetching operations that needed to be super quick.
For small to medium datasets, Prisma processed everything effortlessly, but once I moved on to millions of records, I started experiencing lags. As such, if you’re still a beginner videographer with a smaller client base, Prisma should be enough for your needs, but more experienced professionals will need something more powerful.
I also struggled with the restrictive compatibility with specific database features. Even though Prisma is great with relational databases, I wanted more freedom to implement NoSQL systems in my stack. The lack of proper NoSQL was a huge drawback for me, especially when I was handling a project that heavily relied on MongoDB.
Finally, even though Prisma's auto-generated GraphQL API was handy, it couldn’t be personalized to my needs and niche use cases. I had to add extra layers of code to make the API fit my requirements, which detracted from the simplicity I used to love this solution for.
After facing all these issues, I started to look for apps like Prisma, also I talked to the FixThePhoto team of tech professionals to help me find a suitable replacement. The perfect solution for me had to provide better performance when tackling large-scale projects and high-volume queries. Additionally, it would have to provide native compatibility with SQL and NoSQL databases, offering me the freedom I need to manage different data sources.
Lastly, customization is essential, whether we’re talking about APIs, schematics, or query-construction functionality, I wanted to find a data management platform that wouldn’t feel restrictive. As a bonus, I’d prefer to have an active community and developer team that keeps fixing issues and adding new features.
AI can do wonders for streamlining database management by increasing productivity, precision, and scalability. Here's how AI can assist your database management efforts:
Automating everyday tasks. AI can automate common tasks like data entry, indexing, backups, and updates. This minimizes the risk of human error and grants you more time to tackle more elaborate tasks.
Smart query optimization. AI can examine query patterns and database usage to recommend or perform optimizations, providing quicker and more streamlined data retrieval.
Predictive maintenance. By tracking database performance metrics, AI can forecast possible problems like hardware failures or performance bottlenecks, enabling you to take proactive action to avoid downtime.
Data cleaning and verification. AI can localize and fix anomalies, duplicates, and inconsistencies in databases, providing better quality for analytics.
Improved security. AI-based systems can uncover unusual activity or patterns that can signify security threats, which include unauthorized access or privacy breaches, allowing you to respond accordingly.
Smart scalability. AI can forecast usage patterns and suggest or develop scaling methods, like increasing the amount of resources during high-traffic periods or streamlining database schemas to facilitate growth.
While Prisma is great at streamlining and presenting database queries for developers, Adobe Commerce prioritizes holistic management of eCommerce data. This free Adobe software represents a multifunctional tool for managing structured data while being integrated with various marketing, analytics, and customer experience solutions, which can be useful when managing small online stores, for instance, one that sells photo products.
The thing I liked the most was Adobe Commerce's provided for intricate relationships between data entities. For example, handling product variations, promotions, client preferences, and inventory levels was extremely simple and customizable. Meanwhile, Prisma required me to define each relationship separately and tackle most of the operations manually.
I transitioned from Prisma to Drizzle ORM by using the latter for a side project that didn’t affect the grander business workflow. Instantly, I was pleasantly surprised by the lightweight structure of this solution. Setting everything up was quick and intuitive, and I didn’t have to do any CLI tooling or perform elaborate configurations – just a streamlined database setup (PostgreSQL for this project).
I was also happy to see the provided TypeScript integration. Such type safety is great for a person of my needs and I could feel just as confident about the quality of my code without having to mess around as much as I did in Prisma.
Microsoft SQL Server is a cutting-edge relational database management system (RDBMS) developed for enterprise-level projects. In contrast to Prisma, which prioritizes acting as an abstraction layer for database interaction, SQL Server offers a full-stack methodology for managing databases, providing in-depth analytics, integrated protection security, and streamlined integration with other Microsoft software.
The key differentiating factor between Prisma and Microsoft SQL Server is the provided level of control. Previously, I primarily utilized schema files and migrations, but with Microsoft’s tool, I can create raw SQL queries or employ visual designers, enjoying granular control over the tiniest parts of the database, meaning this software can even be used as a potential Adobe Commerce alternative.
While many consider Google Cloud SQL to be an app like Prisma, it actually isn’t an ORM, but rather a completely managed relational database service. Prisma makes it easy for developers to manage queries and schemas, while Google Cloud SQL can take care of backend challenges that come from database hosting, scalability, and availability. Even though the latter is far superior when it comes to infrastructure and reliability, you miss out on the intuitive nature of Prisma.
The main appeal behind Google Cloud SQL is how it simplifies the process of scaling databases and streamlines BigQuery and Cloud Functions integration. If you’re looking for a platform that can handle intense traffic and has cloud-native apps for images and videos, this is the optimal alternative for you.
Prisma is incredible when it comes to being -friendly and type-safety, but it has several strict limitations. Meanwhile, TypeORM offers more freedom in of database schema and query execution. While Prisma prioritizes generating queries via its schema, TypeORM lets you create raw SQL queries while being compatible with a broader selection of databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.
For my test, I redid a schema I worked on in Prisma, along with relationships and indexes. I loved TypeORM’s versatility when defining relations straight in the entity classes via decorators like @OneToMany and @ManyToOne. This method has proven to be very convenient after I got used to it.
I started by implementing Apollo Server as a part of my backend. Rather than being exclusively dedicated to ORM database management, Apollo acts as a middle layer and is used for fetching, caching, and serving data from several sources, including SQL and NoSQL databases. This is excellent for s interested in a powerful solution that can satisfy scenarios, which include more than one data source.
Getting the Apollo Client for the front end helped me tie in all the different components and ensured I had an easier time fetching data, managing states, and enjoying convenient controls. The main downside of this solution is that tasks like migrations or schema evolution now have to be performed by third-party software since Apollo doesn’t such functionality.
In contrast to Prisma, which is primarily SQL-oriented, AWS AppSync is great at deg and handling GraphQL APIs. I needed a tool that could tackle real-time subscriptions and be conveniently integrated with several data sources like dynamoDB for NoSQL needs, RDS for SQL, and sometimes Lambda for customized logic. Prisma isn’t as robust when it comes to this aspect since it was developed for structured, relational databases.
I imported a GraphQL schema straight into AppSync. This task required more manual involvement than it would have in Prisma, but here I can create more complex relationships and queries. The integrated GraphQL Explorer has proven to be highly effective at testing queries and subscriptions.
I didn’t feel the need to get a third-party solution for debugging (which I used previously when working on several video production projects), which also reduced the amount of time spent on managing my databases.
We began testing apps similar to Prisma by determining the weaknesses of the latter. Even though it’s a great solution for many projects, we believe it lacks versatility when handling non-SQL databases and real-time operations. We wanted to find alternatives that are compatible with a wider range of databases, can be integrated into various frameworks, and are easier to scale.
The testing process was challenging but well organized. We created mock projects and employed real-world data scenarios to check the performance of every option. Julia Newman prioritized usability, paying special attention to how each solution tries to accommodate developers of different experience levels.
Vadym Antypenko focused on the technical aspects, gauging performance in resource-intensive scenarios while also evaluating the provided integration with other solutions. Robin Owens, a master of practical applications, tested how capable each option is at providing real-time updates and handling complex queries.
During the test, we often discussed our experiences, mentioning how pleasantly simplistic some solutions are while noting the advanced toolsets of other software. Working together allowed us to get a more complete picture of what each Prisma alternative could offer that was missing in other applications.