BigAl vs Prisma

Prisma is a multi-database ORM with its own schema language, a generated client, and a migration tool. BigAl is a PostgreSQL-only ORM with decorator models and a fluent query builder, and it ships no migrations. Choose Prisma for schema-driven development across databases. Choose BigAl when you want Postgres features such as row locks and pgvector in the typed query API.

This page compares BigAl 16 with Prisma ORM 7, the current stable release. Prisma ORM 8 is a release candidate with general availability expected in October 2026. It adds a TypeScript runtime, a new query API, and TypeScript schema files, and some Prisma 7 features are not yet available in it.

At a glance

Criterion	BigAl	Prisma ORM 7
Databases	PostgreSQL only	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, SQLite, CockroachDB, MongoDB
Query style	Fluent builder: find().where({...}).sort().limit()	Object arguments: findMany({ where, orderBy, take, include })
Schema definition	Classes with @table and @column decorators	schema.prisma; prisma generate writes a typed client
Migrations	None; BigAl issues no DDL, so pair it with a migration tool	prisma migrate dev and prisma migrate deploy, generated from the schema
JSONB	Property paths (->, ->>) and @> containment in .where()	Json fields with path filters on PostgreSQL
DISTINCT ON	.distinctOn([...])	distinct option; native DISTINCT ON behind the nativeDistinct preview
ON CONFLICT	create() option: onConflict with ignore or merge	upsert() uses ON CONFLICT when criteria are met; createMany({ skipDuplicates })
pgvector	vector columns; nearestTo sorting and distance filters	Unsupported("vector") columns; query with $queryRaw or TypedSQL
Row locks	.lock(): update, no key update, share, key share; nowait, skipLocked	No API; $queryRaw with FOR UPDATE in an interactive transaction
Type safety	From class properties; .select() and .populate() narrow results	Generated from the schema; select and include narrow results
Runtime deps	Zero; add postgres-pool, pg, or @neondatabase/serverless	@prisma/client, a driver adapter such as @prisma/adapter-pg, prisma CLI
Runtimes	Node.js 22.11+, Bun, Deno 2; edge runtimes untested	Node.js 20.19+, Bun, Deno; Cloudflare Workers and Vercel Edge in preview
Transactions	transaction() with isolation level and lock, statement, idle timeouts	$transaction() batch or interactive; isolationLevel, maxWait, timeout
Raw SQL	pool.query(), or query() on the transaction scope	$queryRaw tagged templates and TypedSQL .sql files
Read replicas	Built in: readonlyPool serves reads	@prisma/extension-read-replicas client extension

When to choose BigAl

• You run only PostgreSQL and want row locks, DISTINCT ON, JSONB paths, and vector search in the typed API instead of raw SQL.
• Your schema already lives in SQL migrations, and you want the ORM to stay out of DDL.
• You want no code generation step and no runtime dependencies beyond your Postgres driver.
• You want read replica routing without an extension. See Configuration.

When to choose Prisma

• You want one schema file to drive migrations, client types, and Prisma Studio.
• You need MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite, or MongoDB, or you may switch databases later.
• You rely on nested writes, such as creating a store and its products in one call.
• Your team prefers a large ecosystem of guides, extensions, and hosted tooling.

Migrating from Prisma

BigAl works with the tables Prisma already created, so the database does not change. Keep prisma migrate for schema changes, or move to plain SQL migrations. Prisma names tables and columns after models and fields unless you use @@map and @map, so set name on @table and @column to match.

Models

Prisma

model Product {
  id         Int    @id @default(autoincrement())
  name       String
  sku        String @unique
  priceCents Int    @map("price_cents")
  storeId    Int    @map("store_id")
  store      Store  @relation(fields: [storeId], references: [id])

  @@map("products")
}

BigAl

import { column, Entity, primaryColumn, table } from 'bigal';
import type { Store } from './Store';

@table({ name: 'products' })
export class Product extends Entity {
  @primaryColumn({ type: 'integer' })
  public id!: number;

  @column({ type: 'string', required: true })
  public name!: string;

  @column({ type: 'string', required: true })
  public sku!: string;

  @column({ type: 'integer', required: true, name: 'price_cents' })
  public priceCents!: number;

  @column({ model: () => 'Store', name: 'store_id' })
  public store!: number | Store;
}

Queries

Prisma

const products = await prisma.product.findMany({
  where: { priceCents: { gte: 1000 }, name: { contains: 'widget', mode: 'insensitive' } },
  orderBy: { name: 'asc' },
  take: 10,
  include: { store: { select: { name: true } } },
});

BigAl

const products = await productRepository
  .find()
  .where({ priceCents: { '>=': 1000 }, name: { contains: 'widget' } })
  .sort('name asc')
  .limit(10)
  .populate('store', { select: ['name'] });

BigAl string operators such as contains are case-insensitive (ILIKE) by default.

Row locks

Prisma

await prisma.$transaction(async (tx) => {
  const [product] = await tx.$queryRaw<{ id: number; price_cents: number }[]>`
    SELECT id, price_cents FROM products WHERE sku = ${sku} FOR UPDATE`;
  // ...
});

BigAl

await transaction({ pool, repositories: { Product: productRepository } }, async ({ repositories }) => {
  const product = await repositories.Product.findOne().where({ sku }).lock('update');
  // product is null when no row matches
});

Last reviewed: September 2026