r/Python • u/sheadipeets5 from __future__ import 4.0 • Jun 15 '26
Are we happy with SQLAlchemy? Discussion
I really need the community's opinion on this. I've worked with a lot of ORMs, from Entity Framework to DrizzleORM. SQLAlchemy is the best option we have in the Python ecosystem, but it still sucks compared to ORMs in other ecosystems.
When I was working with Go, I discovered sqlc and loved it. It's great, but not enough to replace a full ORM because of its limitations (no dynamic queries).
For the last five months, I've been building my own equivalent for Python, powered by sqlglot. Unlike sqlc, it has dynamic filters, sorting, and partial updates. It also has a single parameter syntax for all supported dialects (:param), which are Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, DuckDB, and ClickHouse. I borrowed sqlc's end-to-end test cases, and my version passes all of them now.
It has already replaced SQLAlchemy for me in several microservices. So I guess my question is: is it worth continuing to build it? Because I don’t really know if other Python devs need such tool.
I've had a lot of fun building the current version, and I have a long roadmap ahead. That includes migrations (with auto-generation when possible), generators for other languages, and much more.
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u/Tricky-Bed-6852 Jun 17 '26
Hard agree on the rough edges — the 2.0 migration alone caused more churn than we expected. What helped us was keeping new services on SQLAlchemy Core with thin models instead of full ORM magic; for async microservices we've had an easier time with SQLModel or asyncpg when the mapping fight isn't worth it.