Turso vs Prisma for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Turso Overview

Turso gives you SQLite at the edge. Built on libSQL, it replicates your database globally so reads are fast everywhere. The embedded replicas feature puts a read copy inside your application, making reads local. No network round trip, no latency. For read-heavy applications, this is a significant performance win.

The free tier is generous enough for real projects. The developer experience is straightforward if you know SQLite. Write to a primary, read from local replicas. The architecture is simple to reason about, which matters when you're the only developer on the project.

For solo developers building edge-first applications on platforms like Cloudflare Workers or Fly.io, Turso is one of the few databases designed specifically for that architecture.

Prisma Overview

Prisma is the TypeScript ORM that generates type-safe database clients from your schema. You define your models in a .prisma file, and Prisma generates a client with full TypeScript types for every query. Autocomplete in your editor, type errors caught at compile time, and Prisma Studio for visual data browsing.

The migration system tracks your schema changes over time. prisma migrate dev generates SQL, applies it, and updates your client types. It removes the tedious parts of database management and lets you focus on building features.

Prisma works with PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, and CockroachDB. It's database-agnostic by design, which means you can swap your database without rewriting your queries.

Key Differences

These aren't alternatives. They're different layers. Turso is where your data lives (infrastructure). Prisma is how your code accesses data (application tooling). You can use Prisma with Turso. In fact, Prisma added libSQL/Turso support, so the two work together natively.

The real question is whether Prisma is the best ORM for Turso. Currently, Drizzle ORM has more mature Turso/libSQL support than Prisma. Drizzle was designed with SQLite and edge databases in mind from the start. Prisma added Turso support later. Both work, but Drizzle's SQLite-specific features and lighter weight make it a more natural pairing.

Prisma adds significant value on top of any database. Even if you use Turso with a lighter ORM, Prisma's value proposition is real: auto-generated types, visual database browser, migration management. The question isn't whether Prisma is useful. It's whether the bundle size and cold start overhead are worth it for your specific deployment target.

Bundle size matters for edge deployments. Turso is designed for edge platforms like Cloudflare Workers where bundle size limits exist. Prisma's client is heavier than alternatives like Drizzle. If you're deploying to Workers with strict size limits, Drizzle + Turso is the more practical combination. If you're on Vercel or a traditional server, Prisma + Turso works fine.

Schema management approaches. Prisma manages migrations through its own system. Turso doesn't have a built-in migration tool, so you need something like Prisma Migrate or Drizzle Kit. Here, Prisma provides real value by handling the migration workflow that Turso doesn't include.

When to Choose Turso

• You need a database that runs at the edge with global replication
• You want SQLite's simplicity in production
• You're building on Cloudflare Workers or other edge platforms
• Embedded replicas for zero-latency reads interest you
• You need a database host for your application

When to Choose Prisma

• You're building with TypeScript and want type-safe queries
• You need auto-generated types and excellent IDE support
• You want visual database browsing with Prisma Studio
• You need a migration management system
• You want an ORM that works across multiple databases

The Verdict

You likely want both, not either/or. Turso hosts your data. Prisma (or Drizzle) gives you type-safe access to it.

If you're building a TypeScript application on edge platforms like Cloudflare Workers, I'd actually recommend Drizzle + Turso over Prisma + Turso. Drizzle is lighter, has more mature libSQL support, and was designed for exactly this use case. The SQL-like syntax also pairs more naturally with SQLite.

If you're on a traditional platform (Vercel, Railway, or a VPS) and you prefer Prisma's developer experience, Prisma + Turso works well. The bundle size isn't a concern, and you get Prisma's excellent tooling on top of Turso's global performance.

For most solo developers, the winning combination is either Neon + Prisma (for full Postgres power) or Turso + Drizzle (for edge-first SQLite). Both are excellent stacks. Choose based on whether you need Postgres features or edge distribution.