Drizzle ORM vs Convex

At a Glance

Drizzle ORM

Convex

Drizzle ORM

Pros

Query performance is very close to raw SQL because there's no separate query engine — it compiles directly to SQL strings+173
The schema definition in TypeScript gives you type-safe queries without the overhead of a separate binary or language+159
Bundle size is tiny compared to Prisma, which matters a lot when you're deploying to Cloudflare Workers with strict size limits+148
You write SQL-like syntax that maps one-to-one with what hits the database, so debugging unexpected queries is much easier+134
Supports multiple databases including Postgres, MySQL, and SQLite with the same API — useful for monorepos with different environments+112

Database

Prisma vs Drizzle

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Cons

Documentation has gaps and some advanced use cases require reading GitHub issues or the source code to understand+108
The ORM is still relatively young and some features like soft deletes and complex relations require more boilerplate than Prisma+97
Error messages when queries fail can be cryptic and don't point to the line in your code that caused the problem+81
No GUI like Prisma Studio — you need a separate tool like TablePlus or pgAdmin to inspect and edit data visually+76

Convex

Pros

The reactive query system means your UI automatically updates when data changes without writing any WebSocket or polling code+154
TypeScript end-to-end from database schema to frontend hooks — no API layer to define, no types to duplicate+142
The local development experience with hot reload is the fastest iteration loop I've found for full-stack TypeScript+127
Mutations run as transactions by default, which means you get ACID guarantees without thinking about it+118
Built-in scheduling for background jobs means you don't need a separate queue service for async work+98

Cons

Heavy vendor lock-in — the data model and query language are proprietary and migrating away would require a full rewrite+167
Free tier limits are easy to hit in production with a modest user base and the paid jump is steep for early-stage apps+139
The reactivity model is powerful but adds mental complexity — reasoning about what triggers a re-render requires learning new patterns+103
Not a good fit if you need complex SQL-style analytics or reporting — the document model makes aggregations verbose+88