No. Stubbing out the database does not turn a test into a unit test , it turns it into a stubbed-out integration test. (Mocking is something different) And s

No. Stubbing out the database does not turn a test into a unit test , it turns it into a stubbed-out integration test. (Mocking is something different) And since the point of an integration test is to test the integration, having a stubbed out version of that is fairly pointless, as you have discovered. If you create actual unit tests, and allow those to drive your design, you will find much more joy.