Comparison

Apollo GraphQL vs Pothos

No clear leader: Apollo GraphQL (61.9) and Pothos (57.1) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Apollo GraphQL full profile →Pothos full profile →

Machine formatsJSON Markdown GraphQLor send Accept: application/json

Apollo GraphQL62

Pothos57

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Apollo GraphQL	Pothos
Vioscale score	62 / 100medium · 59%	57 / 100low · 42%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	-
Modelpricing.model	freemium	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	-
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	4	6
Security
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	5.8	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.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	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40pothos%2Fcore&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	-
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	76,434	316
Github starsadoption.github_stars	13,947	2,611
Package downloads weeklyadoption.package_downloads_weekly	2,958,758	487,927
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	1	26
Release
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	MIT	ISC
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	TypeScript	TypeScript
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US · HQ US	-

Score

Vioscale score

Apollo GraphQL62 / 100medium · 59%

Pothos57 / 100low · 42%

Pricing

Free tier

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos–

Model

Apollo GraphQLfreemium

Pothoscommercial

Price level

Apollo GraphQLlow

Pothosfree

Transparent

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos–

Integrations

Count

Apollo GraphQL4

Pothos6

Security

Gdpr

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos–

Scorecard

Apollo GraphQL5.8

Pothos–

Vulnerabilities

Apollo GraphQLCount: 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

PothosCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40pothos%2Fcore&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos–

Adoption

Dependent repos

Apollo GraphQL76,434

Pothos316

Github stars

Apollo GraphQL13,947

Pothos2,611

Package downloads weekly

Apollo GraphQL2,958,758

Pothos487,927

Activity

Commits last 30d

Apollo GraphQL1

Pothos26

Release

History

Apollo GraphQL20 items

Pothos20 items

License

Spdx

Apollo GraphQLMIT

PothosISC

Language

Primary

Apollo GraphQLTypeScript

PothosTypeScript

Market

Availability

Apollo GraphQLAvailable worldwide · Popular in US · HQ US

Pothos–

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for graphql tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for GraphQL Tools
Capability	Apollo GraphQL	Pothos
Core
Role	Gateway / federation	Schema builder
Primary language	API-agnostic (supports any GraphQL API regardless of implementation language)	-
Modelling
Schema approach	DB introspection	Code-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	✓	✓

Core

Role

Apollo GraphQLGateway / federation

PothosSchema builder

Primary language

Apollo GraphQLAPI-agnostic (supports any GraphQL API regardless of implementation language)

Pothos-

Modelling

Schema approach

Apollo GraphQLDB introspection

PothosCode-first

Scale

Federation / subgraph composition

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✓

Realtime

Real-time subscriptions

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✓

Performance

Response / edge caching

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos-

Typed code generation

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✓

Automation

Generates API from a database

Apollo GraphQL✗

Pothos✓

Security

Built-in authz / permissions

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos-

Deployment

Official hosted offering

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos-

Self-hostable

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Apollo GraphQL

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.

Independently observed

Pothos

Pothos is a GraphQL schema builder for TypeScript that emphasizes type-safety and ease of use. It features a plugin ecosystem for extending functionality while maintaining zero-overhead at runtime.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Apollo GraphQL

from $5/moHybridFree tier

From $5 per million requests. Free tier with no credit card required.

FreeFree
- GraphOS platform
- Any GraphQL API support
- Self-hosted Router
- GraphQL Federation
- Response Caching
- +3 more
Developer$5 per million requests, billed monthly with volume discounts. $50 credit on signup.
- GraphOS platform
- Any GraphQL API support
- Self-hosted Router
- GraphQL Federation
- Response Caching
- +3 more
StandardContact sales
- GraphOS platform
- Any GraphQL API support
- Self-hosted Router
- GraphQL Federation
- Response Caching
- +3 more
EnterpriseContact sales
- GraphOS platform
- Any GraphQL API support
- Self-hosted Router
- GraphQL Federation
- Response Caching
- +3 more

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Pothos

Open source

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Apollo GraphQL	Pothos
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓

Platforms

Web

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✓

CLI

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✗

Self-hosted

Apollo GraphQL✓

Pothos✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Apollo GraphQL

4 total

Apollo Connectors
Apollo MCP Server
GraphQL APIs
REST APIs

Independently observed

Pothos

6 total

Prisma
NestJS
Next.js
Apollo
Mercurius
OpenTelemetry

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.