The problem on the article is because the author seems to be using ORM as a complete replacement of SQL query. When it's used like that, for sure it's gonna be

The problem on the article is because the author seems to be using ORM as a complete replacement of SQL query. When it's used like that, for sure it's gonna be a hindrance. How I use ORM is to help automating some of the things, while on top of that, I'd still write raw queries for the more complex things. For example, I create base tables using ORM, and then lay off all the joins and more complexity in a handwritten views. For query, I use ORM for something simple such as direct single-table queries or straight forward joins. When things get more complex such as joining a bunch of tables, or doing nested queries, I just use raw query. The thing about ORM is that it should always be used as a complementary tool. Feel free to mix and match it with raw SQL queries as needed. Trying to do everything in ORM is just too much. One would end up spending too much time learning about the inner working of the ORM, instead of getting things done. So yeah, use it as a complement to raw queries, not as a substitution.