Prisma Postgres

Prisma Postgres is a managed PostgreSQL database with built-in connection pooling, query caching, and edge runtime support.

To your application it is a regular PostgreSQL database behind a connection string:

Your application
      ↓ DATABASE_URL
Prisma Postgres

Any PostgreSQL client works: Prisma ORM, psql, Kysely, Drizzle, node-postgres, or anything else that speaks Postgres.

Getting started

1. Create a database

The fastest way, with no account required:

bunx create-db@latest

create-db creates a temporary Prisma Postgres database and prints a connection string plus a claim URL. Open the claim URL to keep the database in your workspace. See create-db for details. You can also create databases in the Console or with the Prisma CLI (npx prisma@latest postgres create).

2. Copy the connection string

create-db prints it once. For an existing database, open it in Prisma Console and click Connect to your database. Store it where your app reads configuration:

DATABASE_URL="postgres://...@db.prisma.io:5432/postgres?sslmode=require"

3. Connect and run a query

Pick the client you use; each quickstart takes you from connection string to a first query:

Also available: the TypeORM quickstart and Connecting to your database, which covers connection strings for psql, GUI tools, and serverless runtimes.

If you work with a coding agent, copy this prompt:

Create a Prisma Postgres database for this project.

1. Run `npx create-db@latest`. It creates a temporary Prisma Postgres database without an account and prints a connection string plus a claim URL.
2. Put the connection string in `.env` as DATABASE_URL and wire it into whichever of Prisma ORM, Kysely, Drizzle, TypeORM, or node-postgres the project already uses (detect it from package.json; if none, ask me). Verify the connection with one trivial query such as `select 1`.
3. Remind me to open the claim URL to keep the database in my Prisma workspace.

Current docs: https://www.prisma.io/docs/postgres.md.

What's included

Each Prisma Postgres database includes the following, with no extra services to configure:

• Connection pooling: a dedicated PgBouncer instance runs alongside your database, with nothing to set up or manage. It also works for serverless and edge deployments. See Connection pooling.
• Query caching: add a cacheStrategy to any Prisma ORM query to cache results at the edge, using TTL or stale-while-revalidate. See Caching.
• Edge and serverless support: connect from Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge Functions, and other edge runtimes via the serverless driver, which uses HTTP instead of TCP.
• Automated backups: daily backups with point-in-time recovery. See Backups.

Local development

Run Prisma Postgres locally with prisma dev, then switch to cloud when ready.

• Local Postgres

Use with the rest of Prisma

Each integration is optional. Prisma Postgres works with any PostgreSQL client.

• If you use Prisma 8, the quickstart provisions a database and connects it to your data contract.
• If you deploy on Prisma Compute, each branch of a Compute project can have its own Prisma Postgres database; pass the connection string through environment variables.
• For a multi-service application, Prisma Composer declares a database as a service dependency and injects the connection at runtime.

Manage

• Connecting to your database
• Connection pooling
• Caching
• Backups
• PostgreSQL extensions
• Troubleshooting
• FAQ

Billing and limits

Prisma Postgres uses usage-based pricing and includes spend controls.

• Pricing
• Operations-based billing explained
• FAQ: estimating costs

In Prisma Console, you can track usage, set spend limits, and view billing details.

Technical details

Prisma Postgres is based on PostgreSQL v17 and uses a unikernel-based architecture.

Learn more: Prisma Postgres: Building a modern PostgreSQL service.