# Apollo GraphQL vs Stellate

| Attribute | Apollo GraphQL | Stellate |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 62.6 (57% (medium)) | 60.6 (69% (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":"Stellate is a GraphQL CDN that sits at the edge to cache queries, limit request rates, and provide detailed metrics. It helps developers reduce API latency, minimize origin server load, and protect against malicious queries at scale. It is indexed under GraphQL Tools.","source":"https://stellate.co/blog/updates-to-stellates-pricing-model","question":"What is Stellate?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Stellate offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start 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://stellate.co/blog/updates-to-stellates-pricing-model","question":"Is Stellate free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Stellate. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://stellate.co/blog/updates-to-stellates-pricing-model","question":"What platforms does Stellate support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Stellate, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://stellate.co/blog/updates-to-stellates-pricing-model","question":"Can Stellate be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 18 integrations for Stellate, including Fastly, CloudFlare, AWS, Auth0, DataDog, Grafana, Stripe and Vercel, plus 10 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://stellate.co/blog/updates-to-stellates-pricing-model","question":"What does Stellate integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and GDPR for Stellate. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Stellate not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://stellate.co/security","question":"What security certifications does Stellate have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":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. | Stellate is a service for running GraphQL APIs securely at the edge with built-in caching to avoid redundant query processing, observability to monitor every request, and security protections against attacks. |
| 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,"managed_cloud":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 18 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Apollo Connectors"},{"name":"Apollo MCP Server"},{"name":"GraphQL APIs"},{"name":"REST APIs"}]` | `[{"name":"Fastly"},{"name":"CloudFlare"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Auth0"},{"name":"DataDog"},{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"Stripe"},{"name":"Vercel"},{"name":"Salesforce"},{"name":"Aiven"},{"name":"Altinity"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"Hex"},{"name":"Intercom"},{"name":"Mixpanel"},{"name":"Postmark"},{"name":"Retool"},{"name":"WorkOS"},{"name":"WPGraphQL","native":false,"category":"cms"},{"name":"Strapi","native":false,"category":"cms"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | - |
| license.spdx | MIT | - |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"ios":true,"web":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":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free (up to 100k requests/mo)","features":["100k requests per month","Pass-through gateway for excess requests"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Complimentary tier for developers and small projects","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"requests_per_month":"100k"}},{"free":false,"name":"Business","summary":"$10/1M metrics, $5/1M cacheable requests, $5/1M rate-limited requests (min $249/mo)","features":["Metrics","Edge Caching","Rate Limiting","Threat Monitoring","Persisted Queries","Partial Query Caching"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"M requests"},"kind":"metered","amount":10,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"M requests"},"kind":"metered","amount":5,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"M requests"},"kind":"metered","amount":5,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Usage-based pricing for metrics, caching, and rate limiting","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"metrics_requests":"25M at $249 minimum"}}],"summary":"Free: 100k requests/month. Paid: $10/1M metrics + $5/1M cacheable + $5/1M rate-limited. Business minimum: $249/mo","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://stellate.co/blog/updates-to-stellates-pricing-model","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:38:11.676Z","startingPrice":{"amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| 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.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | 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 | Stellate |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Role | Gateway / federation | Gateway / federation |
| Primary language | API-agnostic (supports any GraphQL API regardless of implementation language) | - |
| **Modelling** |  |  |
| Schema approach | DB introspection | - |
| **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 2026-10-16T19:27:16.253Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*