Easy database access in Express servers

Build high-performance and type-safe Express servers with Prisma’s developer-friendly database tools: The world’s most popular TypeScript ORM and the first serverless database without cold starts.

Try Express with Prisma

Why Express and Prisma?

Built for high-performance web apps

Built on unikernels, Prisma Postgres runs on bare metal servers for peak performance and infinite scalability.

Middleware-friendly

Prisma integrates seamlessly with Express's middleware pattern, making it easy to add database operations to your request processing pipeline.

Serverless, without cold starts

The first serverless database with pay-as-you-go pricing, no infrastructure management, and zero cold starts.

Built-in global caching

Add a cache strategy to any database query and its results will be cached close to your users for peak performance and UX.

Helpful communities

Both Express and Prisma have vibrant communities where you find support, fun events and amazing developers.

Lightweight & flexible architecture

Express's minimalist approach pairs perfectly with Prisma's focused database toolkit, giving you a lean stack that's powerful without unnecessary bloat.

How Prisma and Express fit together

Prisma’s database tools are the perfect fit for building scalable Express applications. Prisma integrates smoothly with the modular architecture of Express, no matter if you're building REST or GraphQL APIs.

Basic CRUD Routes

Prisma simplifies building REST APIs in Express by providing an intuitive and type-safe way of sending queries. Instead of writing raw SQL, you can create, read, update, and delete records with JavaScript methods that map directly to your schema. This approach reduces boilerplate while giving you full type safety and autocompletion in your editor.

// src/routes/users.ts

import express from 'express';
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const router = express.Router();
const prisma = new PrismaClient();

// Get all users
router.get('/', async (req, res) => {
  const users = await prisma.user.findMany();
  res.json(users);
});

// Create a new user
router.post('/', async (req, res) => {
  const { name, email } = req.body;
  const newUser = await prisma.user.create({
    data: { name, email },
  });
  res.status(201).json(newUser);
});

export default router;

Authentication Middleware

Transactions

Data model & migrations

// src/routes/users.ts

import express from 'express';
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const router = express.Router();
const prisma = new PrismaClient();

// Get all users
router.get('/', async (req, res) => {
  const users = await prisma.user.findMany();
  res.json(users);
});

// Create a new user
router.post('/', async (req, res) => {
  const { name, email } = req.body;
  const newUser = await prisma.user.create({
    data: { name, email },
  });
  res.status(201).json(newUser);
});

export default router;

Featured Prisma & Express community examples

Express & Prisma ORM Starter Kit

A ready-to-run example project for a REST API with Prisma ORM.

Explore on Github

Master Prisma ORM in Express: Step by Step Video Tutorial

Learn how to integrate Prisma ORM in an Express app in this step-by-step video tutorial.

Watch video

How to Build a REST API with Prisma and PostgreSQL

A comprehensive tutorial for building REST APIs with Express, Prisma and PostgreSQL

Read Tutorial

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