Prisma

Developer Database Platformprisma.io

Prisma is a developer data platform for TypeScript applications, offering a type-safe ORM, managed serverless PostgreSQL, and application hosting under a usage-based pricing model, serving primarily TypeScript developers and platform builders with a self-serve, product-led go-to-market.

Company typePrivate
Founded2016
HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
Headcount1–10
GTM typeB2B
OfferingSoftware

What Prisma does

Prisma is a developer data platform for TypeScript applications, built around three natively integrated products: Prisma ORM, a type-safe database access layer with schema-first workflow and a generated client; Prisma Postgres, a managed PostgreSQL service with built-in connection pooling, serverless deployment, and provisioning in under one second; and Prisma Compute, a TypeScript application hosting runtime that deploys apps as long-lived processes co-located with the database. The company serves primarily TypeScript developers and platform builders, with secondary segments including startup teams, enterprise engineering groups, AI code generator platforms, and no-code tools.

The platform is monetized through a freemium, usage-based model: Prisma ORM is free and open-source under Apache 2.0, functioning as the adoption funnel, while Prisma Postgres and Prisma Compute charge on usage metrics (requests, provisioned memory, active CPU, outbound bandwidth). A four-tier Partner Network (Entry, Growth, Scale, Reseller) adds recurring subscription revenue with white-label and revenue-share arrangements of 10–20%. Go-to-market is product-led and self-serve via console.prisma.io with GitHub/Google OAuth, supplemented by a Vercel Marketplace listing and a developer community ecosystem (500K+ monthly active developers, 45.5K GitHub stars, Discord, OSS Friends program).

Prisma is venture-backed and private, having raised approximately $56.5M across disclosed rounds (Series B of $40M in May 2022 led by Altimeter Capital, with Amplify, Kleiner Perkins, IVP, Fathom, and System.one as investors). The company maintains enterprise compliance certifications (GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II), supporting expansion into regulated workloads. Named enterprise customers include Rapha and Lush, with broader adoption among startups such as Dub.co.

Prisma firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Prisma
Legal name: Prisma GmbH
Website: https://prisma.io
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2016
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 1–10 employees
Short description: Prisma is a developer data platform for TypeScript applications, offering a type-safe ORM, managed serverless PostgreSQL, and application hosting under a usage-based pricing model, serving primarily TypeScript developers and platform builders with a self-serve, product-led go-to-market.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Prisma industry classification

Industry

Product category: Developer Database Platform
NAICS: Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
SIC: Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
akta.pro primary industry: Data Platform (Unified Data & Analytics) Suites (HDAEABAD)
akta.pro secondary industries: Embedded / Edge Databases (HDAEAAAM), IT Operations Management (ITOM) Platforms (HDAEALAC)

Keywords

TypeScript ORM
Managed PostgreSQL
Database developer tools
Serverless Postgres
TypeScript app hosting

Where Prisma is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: San Francisco
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

Prisma business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

Prisma Postgres: Managed PostgreSQL database with usage-based pricing. Free tier available with pay-as-you-go scaling for production workloads.
Prisma Compute: TypeScript app hosting with usage-based metering on requests, provisioned memory, active CPU, and outbound bandwidth. Free during public beta.
Prisma ORM: Open-source ORM available free under Apache 2.0 license. Core product that drives adoption of managed services.
Partner Network - Entry Tier: Up to 5,000 databases/month with 10% partner revenue share, transferable database ownership.
Partner Network - Growth Tier: Up to 50,000 databases/month with 15% revenue share, 12-month contract, white-label with partner branding.
Partner Network - Scale Tier: Custom database limits with 20% revenue share, full white-labeling, 12-month contract.
Partner Network - Reseller Tier: Custom pricing with 24-month contract, non-transferable database ownership.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Usage-based	Pay-as-you-go	Requests: $1.00 per 1M requests
Usage-based	Pay-as-you-go	Provisioned memory: $0.006 per GB-hour
Usage-based	Pay-as-you-go	Active CPU: $0.064 per vCPU-hour
Usage-based	Pay-as-you-go	Outbound bandwidth: $0.025 per GB
Usage-based	Pay-as-you-go	Free during public beta
Subscription	Monthly	Included with Prisma Postgres at no additional cost
Subscription	Monthly	Partner Entry Tier - 5,000 databases/month, 10% revenue share
Subscription	Annual	Partner Growth Tier - 50,000 databases/month, 15% revenue share
Subscription	Annual	Partner Scale Tier - Custom limits, 20% revenue share
Subscription	Multi-year contract	Partner Reseller Tier - Custom pricing

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Prisma product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Prisma provides a developer data platform for TypeScript applications, combining the open-source Prisma ORM for type-safe database access, the managed Prisma Postgres service (a serverless PostgreSQL with branching, scaling-to-zero, and integrated caching), and Prisma Compute for hosting TypeScript applications. Optional add-on modules include Prisma Pulse for database change events, Prisma Accelerate for connection pooling and global query caching, Prisma Optimize for AI-driven query analytics, and Prisma Studio as an embeddable database UI. The platform is sold primarily to developer teams and enterprise engineering organizations on a usage-based subscription model.

Product overview

Prisma is a developer data platform offering a suite of products for TypeScript applications: Prisma ORM (type-safe database access with schema-first workflow), Prisma Postgres (managed PostgreSQL with serverless architecture), and Prisma Compute (TypeScript app hosting). These core products work together natively, with Prisma ORM providing database access, Prisma Postgres delivering managed infrastructure, and Prisma Compute enabling app deployment on the same infrastructure. Additional modules include Prisma Studio (embeddable data explorer), Query Insights (AI-powered query analysis), Prisma Pulse (database-event infrastructure for real-time features), Prisma Accelerate (global caching and connection pooling for performance), Prisma Streams (durable event logging), Prisma Optimize (AI-powered performance recommendations), and the MCP Server for AI agent automation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Prisma ORM: Type-safe database access ORM for TypeScript with schema-first workflow, generated client, and autocomplete.
Prisma Postgres
Prisma Compute
Prisma Query Insights
Prisma Studio
Prisma Pulse
Prisma Accelerate
Prisma Streams
Prisma Partner Network

Products and services

Prisma ORM Open-source TypeScript ORM licensed under Apache 2.0 that provides a type-safe Prisma Client and a schema-first workflow for relational databases. Used by application developers to get end-to-end type safety from the database schema through to application code.
Prisma Postgres Managed PostgreSQL service with serverless scaling, database branching for preview environments, scaling-to-zero, and an integrated cache. Sold as a usage-based subscription to development teams building data-driven applications.
Prisma Compute Hosting service for deploying TypeScript applications alongside Prisma Postgres, providing a tightly integrated runtime for TypeScript backends on Prisma's infrastructure. Sold as a usage-based subscription for TypeScript application deployment.
Prisma Studio Embeddable database user interface with white-label support for inspecting and editing data. Sits alongside Prisma Postgres and ORM, targeting both end-user developers and partners wanting to embed a database UI in their platforms.
Prisma Pulse Add-on service that delivers database change events from Prisma Postgres, enabling event-driven architectures. Sold as a usage-based add-on for application teams that need reactive data pipelines.
Prisma Accelerate Add-on service providing connection pooling and global query caching for Prisma Postgres to scale read-heavy and multi-region workloads. Sold as a usage-based add-on for production applications.
Prisma Optimize AI-driven query analytics and optimization add-on for Prisma Postgres, surfacing slow or expensive queries and recommending optimizations. Sold as a usage-based add-on to engineering teams operating production databases.
Prisma Streams Append-only event log / streaming primitive offered alongside the Prisma data platform for ingesting durable events that other services can react to. Sold as part of the Prisma data platform to teams building event-driven applications.

Quantifiable outcome

Up to 1000x faster database interactions with latency as low as 5ms
+2 more outcomes

Companies that use Prisma

Customer profile

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Prisma technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: Yes
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration22 records

AI capability6 records

Feature11 records

Prisma partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

VercelcoreTechnology or IntegrationDeep partnership for instant app deployment. One-click full-stack app deployment with Prisma Postgres and Vercel integration. User claiming lets entire deployments transfer into users' own Vercel and Prisma accounts.
DenocoreTechnology or IntegrationDeno Deploy uses Prisma for per-branch databases and migration testing isolation. Quote: 'The provisioning experience was smooth and fast... With per-branch databases, developers can safely test migrations and isolate changes when using Deno Deploy.'

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Prisma competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Supabase: Supabase offers a managed Postgres service with authentication, storage, and realtime APIs targeting JavaScript/TypeScript developers. It is the closest direct competitor to Prisma Postgres given the shared developer-tool positioning and managed Postgres offering.
Neon: Neon provides serverless, branchable managed Postgres with separation of storage and compute, designed for modern app deployment environments. Competes head-on with Prisma Postgres on serverless architecture, per-branch isolation, and developer experience.
Drizzle ORM: Drizzle is a TypeScript-first ORM with schema-in-TypeScript design competing directly with Prisma ORM for TypeScript developer mindshare. It is a primary OSS competitor in the ORM layer that drives Prisma's free-tier funnel.
PlanetScale: PlanetScale is a managed MySQL-compatible database platform with branching, schema migrations, and developer-focused tooling. Comparable to Prisma Postgres as a managed database platform targeting application developers with workflow features.
CockroachDB: CockroachDB offers a distributed SQL database with PostgreSQL compatibility and managed cloud offerings. Competes with Prisma Postgres in the scalable managed PostgreSQL-compatible database category, especially for enterprise deployments.

Emerging players

Railway: Railway is an application and database hosting platform with simple deployment and managed Postgres. It overlaps with Prisma Compute and Prisma Postgres in providing app and database infrastructure for developers.
Fly.io: Fly.io provides application hosting with managed Postgres globally distributed close to users. Comparable to Prisma Compute and Prisma Postgres for teams building globally distributed TypeScript applications.
Kysely: Kysely is a type-safe SQL query builder for TypeScript. It is a competing open-source data-access layer in the TypeScript ecosystem, partially overlapping with Prisma ORM's query-building functionality.
Turso: Turso is a distributed SQLite-based database platform with edge replicas, targeting developers building serverless and edge applications. It overlaps with Prisma's edge/serverless positioning and competes in the modern developer database category.

Others

Vercel: Vercel is a deep strategic partner and Prisma's largest distribution channel via Vercel Marketplace, but is also a potential competitor in the compute layer and recommended-database stack for Next.js applications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Prisma compliance and trust

Trust signal

Compliance4 records

Prisma financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Prisma leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Prisma funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Prisma M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prisma

What does Prisma do?

Is Prisma a public or private company?

Prisma is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.

When was Prisma founded?

Prisma was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.

Where is Prisma based?

Prisma is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.

How does Prisma make money?

Seven revenue lines are on record. Prisma Postgres are the primary driver. The others are prisma Compute, prisma ORM, partner Network - Entry Tier, partner Network - Growth Tier, partner Network - Scale Tier and partner Network - Reseller Tier.

Who are Prisma's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Supabase, Neon, Drizzle ORM, PlanetScale and CockroachDB. Emerging players are Railway, Fly.io, Kysely and Turso. Vercel is listed as an others.

Does Prisma have an API?

Yes. Prisma offers a Management API for provisioning and managing Prisma Postgres databases programmatically. The API can provision databases in under a second. Additionally, Prisma provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Prisma Postgres that enables AI agents to automate database creation and management through natural language commands. The platform also offers a CLI with commands like app deploy, database management, and project operations.

What industry is Prisma in?

Prisma's product category is Developer Database Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEABAD, Data Platform (Unified Data & Analytics) Suites, with a secondary code of HDAEAAAM, Embedded / Edge Databases. Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7370.