Kysely
Hacker ApprovedRanked 5 of 8 SQL query builders by recommenders
People recommend Kysely for type-safe query building with rich TypeScript support while keeping close to raw SQL. One critic says complicated queries fall apart.
People recommend Kysely for type-safe query building with rich TypeScript support while keeping close to raw SQL. One critic says complicated queries fall apart.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 12 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong TypeScript type safety
“The composability, type safety, and overall architecture fit our use case surprisingly well.”
Comment from 25 May 2026 in “Kysely (the type-safe SQL query builder for TypeScript) v0.29 is out btw” “more in-depth, type-safe, expressive, 1:1 and doesn't require importing as many things”
Comment from 23 May 2026 in “Kysely (the type-safe SQL query builder for TypeScript) v0.29 is out btw” “composability and incredibly rich typescript support”
Comment from 4 Nov 2025 in “Why we migrated from Python to Node.js” - Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Cloudflare D1 and Kysely toolkit”
Composable queries stay maintainable
“The composability, type safety, and overall architecture fit our use case surprisingly well.”
Comment from 25 May 2026 in “Kysely (the type-safe SQL query builder for TypeScript) v0.29 is out btw” “Allows you to compose some complex stuff but keep it maintainable af.”
Comment from 23 May 2026 in “Kysely (the type-safe SQL query builder for TypeScript) v0.29 is out btw” “composability and incredibly rich typescript support”
Comment from 4 Nov 2025 in “Why we migrated from Python to Node.js” Thin, lightweight abstraction over SQL
“more in-depth, type-safe, expressive, 1:1 and doesn't require importing as many things”
Comment from 23 May 2026 in “Kysely (the type-safe SQL query builder for TypeScript) v0.29 is out btw” “I like writing SQL or using a lightweight builder like Kysely”
Comment from 22 Feb 2026 in “Postgres Is Your Friend. ORM Is Not” “thinner abstraction with less risk of being acquired”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Drizzle Joins PlanetScale”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Moves queries away from raw SQL
“Drizzle/Kysely fix this by moving the query into TypeScript, but then you're not really writing SQL anymore”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Bun-sqlgen – Type-safe raw SQL for Bun, no ORM”
Other SQL query builders people recommend
The four most recommended other SQL query builders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sqlc | 20 | 4 | 83% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Ecto (Elixir) | 17 | 5 | 77% | 8 | — | Approved |
| sqlx | 13 | 4 | 76% | 8 | — | Approved |
| jOOQ | 13 | 3 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| KyselyThis page | 12 | 1 | 92% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Drizzle/Kysely fix this by moving the query into TypeScript, but then you're not really writing SQL anymore”
“The composability, type safety, and overall architecture fit our use case surprisingly well.”
“more in-depth, type-safe, expressive, 1:1 and doesn't require importing as many things”
“Allows you to compose some complex stuff but keep it maintainable af.”
“I would have used Kysely instead of just raw porsager”
“thinner abstraction with less risk of being acquired”
“I've heard good things about kysely.”
“I like Kysely more than Drizzle”
“I like writing SQL or using a lightweight builder like Kysely”
“for more complicated queries it all falls apart”
“Kysely for type-safe query building”
“it mostly doesn't need to due to Kysely migration files and the database type definition being enough”
“composability and incredibly rich typescript support”
“its a match made in heaven”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.