diff --git a/.env.development b/.env.development
index 5cde68a8..4aa4763f 100644
--- a/.env.development
+++ b/.env.development
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ OPENSEARCH_MODEL_ID=
 
 # prisma db url
 DATABASE_URL="postgresql://sn:password@db:5432/stackernews?schema=public"
+DB_APP_CONNECTION_LIMIT=2
+DB_WORKER_CONNECTION_LIMIT=2
+DB_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT=5000
 
 # polling intervals
 NEXT_PUBLIC_FAST_POLL_INTERVAL=1000
diff --git a/.env.production b/.env.production
index 72ab1011..ca5c5bb5 100644
--- a/.env.production
+++ b/.env.production
@@ -18,4 +18,7 @@ NEXT_PUBLIC_EXTRA_LONG_POLL_INTERVAL=300000
 NEXT_PUBLIC_URL=https://stacker.news
 TOR_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:7050/
 PRISMA_SLOW_LOGS_MS=50
-GRAPHQL_SLOW_LOGS_MS=50
\ No newline at end of file
+GRAPHQL_SLOW_LOGS_MS=50
+DB_APP_CONNECTION_LIMIT=4
+DB_WORKER_CONNECTION_LIMIT=2
+DB_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT=10000
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/models/index.js b/api/models/index.js
index df098bda..d050e0a2 100644
--- a/api/models/index.js
+++ b/api/models/index.js
@@ -1,18 +1,12 @@
-import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'
+import createPrisma from '@/lib/create-prisma'
 
 const prisma = global.prisma || (() => {
   console.log('initing prisma')
-  const prisma = new PrismaClient({
-    log: [{ level: 'query', emit: 'event' }, 'warn', 'error']
-  })
-  prisma.$on('query', (e) => {
-    if (process.env.PRISMA_SLOW_LOGS_MS && e.duration > process.env.PRISMA_SLOW_LOGS_MS) {
-      console.log('Query: ' + e.query)
-      console.log('Params: ' + e.params)
-      console.log('Duration: ' + e.duration + 'ms')
+  return createPrisma({
+    connectionParams: {
+      connection_limit: process.env.DB_APP_CONNECTION_LIMIT
     }
   })
-  return prisma
 })()
 
 if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') global.prisma = prisma
diff --git a/lib/create-prisma.js b/lib/create-prisma.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d5d3af27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/create-prisma.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'
+
+export default function newPrismaClient ({ options = {}, connectionParams = {} }) {
+  const url = new URL(process.env.DATABASE_URL)
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(connectionParams)) {
+    if (value === undefined) continue
+    url.searchParams.set(key, value)
+  }
+
+  const prisma = new PrismaClient({
+    datasourceUrl: url.toString(),
+    ...options,
+    transactionOptions: {
+      timeout: process.env.DB_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT ? parseInt(process.env.DB_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT) : undefined,
+      ...options.transactionOptions
+    }
+  })
+
+  prisma.$on('query', (e) => {
+    if (process.env.PRISMA_SLOW_LOGS_MS && e.duration > process.env.PRISMA_SLOW_LOGS_MS) {
+      console.log('Query: ' + e.query)
+      console.log('Params: ' + e.params)
+      console.log('Duration: ' + e.duration + 'ms')
+    }
+  })
+
+  return prisma
+}
diff --git a/worker/earn.js b/worker/earn.js
index ed98e489..52ef63dd 100644
--- a/worker/earn.js
+++ b/worker/earn.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { notifyEarner } from '@/lib/webPush.js'
-import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'
+import createPrisma from '@/lib/create-prisma.js'
 import { proportions } from '@/lib/madness.js'
 import { SN_NO_REWARDS_IDS } from '@/lib/constants.js'
 
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ const TOTAL_UPPER_BOUND_MSATS = 1_000_000_000
 
 export async function earn ({ name }) {
   // grab a greedy connection
-  const models = new PrismaClient()
+  const models = createPrisma({ connectionParams: { connection_limit: 1 } })
 
   try {
     // compute how much sn earned yesterday
diff --git a/worker/index.js b/worker/index.js
index c601ad04..738ac5a6 100644
--- a/worker/index.js
+++ b/worker/index.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import PgBoss from 'pg-boss'
 import nextEnv from '@next/env'
-import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'
+import createPrisma from '@/lib/create-prisma.js'
 import {
   autoDropBolt11s, checkInvoice, checkPendingDeposits, checkPendingWithdrawals,
   finalizeHodlInvoice, subscribeToWallet
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ loadEnvConfig('.', process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development')
 
 async function work () {
   const boss = new PgBoss(process.env.DATABASE_URL)
-  const models = new PrismaClient()
+  const models = createPrisma({
+    connectionParams: { connection_limit: process.env.DB_WORKER_CONNECTION_LIMIT }
+  })
 
   const apollo = new ApolloClient({
     link: new HttpLink({
diff --git a/worker/views.js b/worker/views.js
index 99ce219d..d9acf252 100644
--- a/worker/views.js
+++ b/worker/views.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'
+import createPrisma from '@/lib/create-prisma.js'
 
 const viewPrefixes = ['reg_growth', 'spender_growth', 'item_growth', 'spending_growth',
   'stackers_growth', 'stacking_growth', 'user_stats', 'sub_stats']
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const viewPrefixes = ['reg_growth', 'spender_growth', 'item_growth', 'spending_g
 // this is intended to be run everyday after midnight CT
 export async function views ({ data: { period } = { period: 'days' } }) {
   // grab a greedy connection
-  const models = new PrismaClient()
+  const models = createPrisma({ connectionParams: { connection_limit: 1 } })
 
   try {
     // these views are bespoke so we can't use the loop
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ export async function views ({ data: { period } = { period: 'days' } }) {
 // this should be run regularly ... like, every 5 minutes
 export async function rankViews () {
   // grab a greedy connection
-  const models = new PrismaClient()
+  const models = createPrisma({ connectionParams: { connection_limit: 1 } })
 
   try {
     for (const view of ['zap_rank_personal_view']) {