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Glossary · Web & App Development

Drizzle

Definition: Drizzle (Drizzle ORM) is a lightweight, TypeScript-first ORM for SQL databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite. It provides fully type-safe queries with a SQL-like syntax and near-zero runtime overhead, making it well suited to serverless and edge environments.

Official source: Drizzle

Overview

What Drizzle is

Drizzle, or Drizzle ORM, is a TypeScript-first object-relational mapper for SQL databases including PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite. You define your schema in TypeScript and write queries with a syntax that closely mirrors SQL, while the library provides full type safety end to end. It is a thin layer with near-zero runtime overhead and no heavy query engine.

Drizzle vs traditional ORMs

Compared with heavier ORMs like Prisma, Drizzle stays close to raw SQL, so developers who know SQL get predictable queries and fewer surprises. It ships as a lightweight library without a separate binary engine, which makes it fast to start and well suited to serverless and edge runtimes. Schema changes are managed with its companion tool, drizzle-kit.

How an agency uses Drizzle

For Next.js development, backend development, full-stack development, and app backend and API development, Drizzle pairs well with modern serverless deployments where cold-start time and bundle size matter. Its type safety catches database mistakes at compile time, which an in-house team relies on to ship data-driven features quickly without sacrificing reliability.

Where we use it

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How our team puts Drizzle to work in real projects.

FAQ

Drizzle — common questions

Drizzle vs Prisma — which should I choose?

Choose Drizzle for a lightweight, SQL-like experience with full type safety and excellent serverless performance, especially if your team knows SQL. Choose Prisma for a more abstracted, feature-rich developer experience and mature tooling. Both are strong, type-safe TypeScript ORMs.

Is Drizzle production-ready?

Yes. Drizzle is stable, widely adopted, and used in production across PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite, including on serverless and edge platforms. Its small footprint and type safety make it a dependable choice for modern TypeScript backends.

Does Drizzle work in serverless and edge environments?

Yes. Drizzle's lightweight design and lack of a separate query engine make it well suited to serverless functions and edge runtimes, where fast cold starts and small bundle sizes matter. It supports common serverless database drivers.

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