# Apollo GraphQL vs Grafbase

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Apollo GraphQL

| Attribute | Apollo GraphQL | Grafbase |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 62.6 (57% (medium)) | 56.2 (71% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 1 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 76,434 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 13,949 | - |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 2,385,461 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A complete API orchestration and governance platform that enables teams to build, deploy, and scale GraphQL APIs with support for federation, real-time subscriptions, schema management, and compliance across cloud and self-hosted environments. It is indexed under GraphQL Tools.","source":"https://www.apollographql.com/pricing","question":"What is Apollo GraphQL?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Apollo GraphQL is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. A commercial or hosted edition starts at $5. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.apollographql.com/pricing","question":"Is Apollo GraphQL free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Apollo GraphQL supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.apollographql.com/pricing","question":"What platforms does Apollo GraphQL support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Apollo GraphQL can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.apollographql.com/pricing","question":"Can Apollo GraphQL be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 4 integrations for Apollo GraphQL, including Apollo Connectors, Apollo MCP Server, GraphQL APIs and REST APIs. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.apollographql.com/pricing","question":"What does Apollo GraphQL integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for Apollo GraphQL. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Apollo GraphQL not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.apollographql.com/trust","question":"What security certifications does Apollo GraphQL have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Yes. Apollo GraphQL is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server","question":"Is Apollo GraphQL open source?","confidence":0.99},{"answer":"Apollo GraphQL is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://www.apollographql.com/pricing","question":"Where is Apollo GraphQL available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"A GraphQL federation gateway for composing multiple GraphQL services into a unified API. The platform has been sunsetted and is in maintenance-only mode. It is indexed under GraphQL Tools.","source":"https://grafbase.com/","question":"What is Grafbase?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Grafbase does not publish its prices. Pricing is quoted on request, across 2 plans (Open Source and Enterprise), so the figure depends on your seat count and requirements. We record this as a pricing-transparency signal rather than guessing a number. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://grafbase.com/pricing","question":"How much does Grafbase cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Grafbase supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://grafbase.com/pricing","question":"What platforms does Grafbase support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Grafbase can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://grafbase.com/","question":"Can Grafbase be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for Grafbase, including Snowflake, NATS, Kafka, Postgres, gRPC, REST and JWT. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://grafbase.com/pricing","question":"What does Grafbase integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 for Grafbase. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Grafbase not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://grafbase.com/blog/security-considerations-in-graphql-federation","question":"What security certifications does Grafbase have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Apollo helps organizations build a unified GraphQL layer that combines multiple APIs and services, enabling better integration for AI systems and applications. | A GraphQL federation gateway that aggregates and unifies multiple GraphQL APIs into a single interface, with built-in governance and analytics capabilities. |
| features.capabilities | `{"role":"gateway","caching":true,"language":"API-agnostic (supports any GraphQL API regardless of implementation language)","federation":true,"managed_cloud":true,"self_hostable":true,"subscriptions":true,"auth_directives":true,"schema_approach":"introspection","type_generation":true,"db_introspection":false}` | `{"role":"gateway","caching":true,"language":"GraphQL","federation":true,"managed_cloud":true,"self_hostable":true,"subscriptions":true,"auth_directives":true,"schema_approach":"schema_first","db_introspection":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 7 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Apollo Connectors"},{"name":"Apollo MCP Server"},{"name":"GraphQL APIs"},{"name":"REST APIs"}]` | `[{"name":"Snowflake"},{"name":"NATS"},{"name":"Kafka"},{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"gRPC"},{"name":"REST"},{"name":"JWT"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | - |
| license.spdx | MIT | - |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"ios":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Forever free, no credit card required","features":["GraphOS platform","Any GraphQL API support","Self-hosted Router","GraphQL Federation","Response Caching","Schema Proposals","SSO","Audit logging"],"minSeats":3,"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For students or hobbyists learning GraphQL","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"developers":"Up to 3","data_retention":"1 day","router_rate_limit":"60 requests per minute"}},{"free":false,"name":"Developer","summary":"$5 per million requests, billed monthly with volume discounts. $50 credit on signup.","features":["GraphOS platform","Any GraphQL API support","Self-hosted Router","GraphQL Federation","Response Caching","Schema Proposals","SSO","Audit logging"],"minSeats":10,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"million_requests"},"kind":"metered","amount":5,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"For small teams operating production GraphQL APIs","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"developers":"Up to 10","data_retention":"7 days"}},{"free":false,"name":"Standard","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["GraphOS platform","Any GraphQL API support","Self-hosted Router","GraphQL Federation","Response Caching","Schema Proposals","SSO","Audit logging"],"minSeats":30,"description":"For scaling a GraphQL platform across multiple teams","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"developers":"Up to 30","data_retention":"90 days"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["GraphOS platform","Any GraphQL API support","Self-hosted Router","GraphQL Federation","Response Caching","Schema Proposals","SSO","Audit logging"],"description":"For large-scale GraphQL initiatives","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"developers":"Unlimited","data_retention":"18 months"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Premium Support Packages"},{"name":"Professional Services Packages"}],"summary":"From $5 per million requests. Free tier with no credit card required.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.apollographql.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T21:31:14.928Z","startingPrice":{"amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","features":["High performance Rust gateway","Open-source license","No feature gating","Community support"],"description":"High performance Rust gateway with no feature gating","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","features":["Unified schema composition","Schema proposal & approval workflows","Entity-level caching","Persisted queries","Intelligent query execution","Rate limiting","Trusted documents","SAML SSO","Fine-grained access control","Cloud, hybrid, or on-prem hosting","Dedicated customer success team","Slack Connect channel","24/7/365 enterprise support","Up to 99.99% SLA"],"description":"Fully self-hostable with dedicated support and 99.99% SLA","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free open-source tier. 60-day free trial. Enterprise pricing available via contact sales.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://grafbase.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T17:05:27.230Z","freeTrialDays":60,"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.5.1","date":"2026-05-05T16:06:05Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@5.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%405.5.1","date":"2026-05-05T16:06:02Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@5.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/usage-reporting-protobuf%404.1.2","date":"2026-05-04T16:35:44Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/usage-reporting-protobuf@4.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.5.0","date":"2026-03-24T19:49:16Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@5.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%405.5.0","date":"2026-03-24T19:49:19Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@5.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.4.0","date":"2026-02-04T10:58:26Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@5.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%404.13.0","date":"2026-02-04T10:56:52Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@4.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%405.4.0","date":"2026-02-04T10:58:23Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@5.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%404.13.0","date":"2026-02-04T10:56:49Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@4.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.3.0","date":"2026-01-21T11:46:10Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@5.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%405.3.0","date":"2026-01-21T11:46:07Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@5.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.2.0","date":"2025-11-21T23:19:03Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@5.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%405.2.0","date":"2025-11-21T23:19:00Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@5.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.1.0","date":"2025-10-28T15:47:16Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@5.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%405.1.0","date":"2025-10-28T15:47:13Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@5.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.1.0-rc.0","date":"2025-10-21T17:16:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"@apollo/server@5.1.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-plugin-response-cache%405.0.1-rc.0","date":"2025-10-21T17:16:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"@apollo/server-plugin-response-cache@5.0.1-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-integration-testsuite%405.1.0-rc.0","date":"2025-10-21T17:16:47Z","type":"prerelease","version":"@apollo/server-integration-testsuite@5.1.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server%405.0.0","date":"2025-07-17T16:58:26Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server@5.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/releases/tag/%40apollo/server-plugin-response-cache%405.0.0","date":"2025-07-17T16:58:23Z","type":"stable","version":"@apollo/server-plugin-response-cache@5.0.0"}]` | - |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 6 | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://www.apollographql.com/trust | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":5,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=apollo-server-core&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` | - |

## Capabilities (GraphQL Tools)

| Capability | Apollo GraphQL | Grafbase |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Role | Gateway / federation | Gateway / federation |
| Primary language | API-agnostic (supports any GraphQL API regardless of implementation language) | GraphQL |
| **Modelling** |  |  |
| Schema approach | DB introspection | Schema-first |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Federation / subgraph composition | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Realtime** |  |  |
| Real-time subscriptions | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Response / edge caching | ✓ | ✓ |
| **DX** |  |  |
| Typed code generation | ✓ | - |
| **Automation** |  |  |
| Generates API from a database | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Built-in authz / permissions | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Official hosted offering | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self-hostable | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:10:20.961Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*