vioscaleAI
Comparison

Grafbase vs Relay

On the evidence we track, Relay leads this comparison with a composite score of 70/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Grafbase full profile →Relay full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Grafbase56
★Relay70
Score
vioscaleAI score
Grafbase56 / 100medium · 71%
Relay70 / 100medium · 58%
Pricing
Free tier
Grafbase✓
Relay✓
Model
Grafbasefreemium
Relaycommercial
Price level
Grafbaselow
Relayfree
Transparent
Grafbase✗
Relay–
Integrations
Count
Grafbase7
Relay–
Security
Scorecard
Grafbase–
Relay5.8
Soc2
Grafbase✓
Relay–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Sla pct
Grafbase99.99
Relay–
Status page
Grafbase✓
Relay–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Grafbase–
Relay76,213
Github stars
Grafbase–
Relay18,962
Package downloads weekly
Grafbase–
Relay4,659,338
Activity
Commits last 30d
Grafbase–
Relay100
Release
Cadence days
Grafbase–
Relay47
History
Grafbase–
Relay20 items
License
Spdx
Grafbase–
RelayMIT
Language
Primary
Grafbase–
RelayRust
Market
Availability
Grafbase–
RelayAvailable worldwide
Content
Faq
Grafbase6 items
Relay5 items

Capabilities

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

Core
Role
GrafbaseGateway / federation
RelayClient
Primary language
GrafbaseGraphQL
RelayJavaScript / TypeScript
Modelling
Schema approach
GrafbaseSchema-first
RelayCode-first
Scale
Federation / subgraph composition
Grafbase✓
Relay✗
Realtime
Real-time subscriptions
Grafbase✓
Relay✓
Performance
Response / edge caching
Grafbase✓
Relay✓
DX
Typed code generation
Grafbase-
Relay✓
Automation
Generates API from a database
Grafbase✓
Relay✗
Security
Built-in authz / permissions
Grafbase✓
Relay✗
Deployment
Official hosted offering
Grafbase✓
Relay✗
Self-hostable
Grafbase✓
Relay✓

What each one is

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

Grafbase

A GraphQL federation gateway that aggregates and unifies multiple GraphQL APIs into a single interface, with built-in governance and analytics capabilities.

Independently observed

Relay

Leader

A GraphQL client for React that automates data fetching and manages normalized client-side state across components. It provides type-safe queries, mutations with optimistic updates, streaming support, and maintains data consistency across the application.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

Grafbase

HybridFree tier60-day trial

Free open-source tier. 60-day free trial. Enterprise pricing available via contact sales.

  • Open SourceFree
    • High performance Rust gateway
    • Open-source license
    • No feature gating
    • Community support
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Unified schema composition
    • Schema proposal & approval workflows
    • Entity-level caching
    • Persisted queries
    • Intelligent query execution
    • +9 more
as of verify ↗

Relay

Leader
Open sourceFree tier

Free and open-source

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
Grafbase✓
Relay✓
iOS
Grafbase✗
Relay✓
CLI
Grafbase✓
Relay✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Grafbase✓
Relay✗
Self-hosted
Grafbase✓
Relay✓

Integrations

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

Grafbase

7 total
  • Snowflake
  • NATS
  • Kafka
  • Postgres
  • gRPC
  • REST
  • JWT
Independently observed

Relay

Leader

Not documented yet.

Still deciding?

Grafbase or Relay: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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