Comparison

Pothos vs Strawberry GraphQL

On the evidence we track, Strawberry GraphQL leads this comparison with a composite score of 65/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Pothos59
★Strawberry GraphQL65
Score
vioscaleAI score
Pothos59 / 100low · 48%
Strawberry GraphQL65 / 100medium · 66%
Pricing
Free tier
Pothos–
Strawberry GraphQL✓
Model
Strawberry GraphQLopen_source
Price level
Pothosfree
Strawberry GraphQLfree
Transparent
Pothos–
Strawberry GraphQL✓
Integrations
Count
Pothos12
Strawberry GraphQL6
Adoption
Dependent repos
Pothos316
Strawberry GraphQL325
Github stars
Pothos2,623
Strawberry GraphQL4,722
Package downloads weekly
Pothos477,926
Strawberry GraphQL1,448,848
Activity
Commits last 30d
Pothos100
Strawberry GraphQL76
Release
Cadence days
Pothos–
Strawberry GraphQL1
History
Pothos20 items
Strawberry GraphQL20 items
License
Spdx
PothosISC
Strawberry GraphQLMIT
Language
Primary
Strawberry GraphQLPython
Content
Faq
Pothos6 items
Strawberry GraphQL6 items

Capabilities

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

Core
Role
PothosSchema builder
Strawberry GraphQLServer
Primary language
PothosTypeScript
Strawberry GraphQLPython
Modelling
Schema approach
PothosCode-first
Strawberry GraphQLCode-first
Scale
Federation / subgraph composition
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL✓
Realtime
Real-time subscriptions
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL✓
Performance
Response / edge caching
Pothos-
Strawberry GraphQL-
DX
Typed code generation
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL✓
Automation
Generates API from a database
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL-
Security
Built-in authz / permissions
Pothos-
Strawberry GraphQL✓
Deployment
Official hosted offering
Pothos-
Strawberry GraphQL✗
Self-hostable
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL✓

What each one is

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

Pothos

A GraphQL schema builder that leverages TypeScript's type system to minimize manual type annotations, integrating with databases like Prisma and Drizzle through a modular plugin architecture.

Independently observed

Strawberry GraphQL

Leader

A GraphQL server library for Python that uses type annotations to define schemas, with support for async/await, federation, and integrations with web frameworks like FastAPI and Django.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

Pothos

Open source
as of verify ↗

Strawberry GraphQL

Leader
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
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL✓
CLI
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL✓
Deployment
Self-hosted
Pothos✓
Strawberry GraphQL✓

Integrations

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

In common (1)
  • Next.js

Pothos

16 total - 15 not shared
  • Prisma
  • NestJS
  • Apollo
  • Mercurius
  • OpenTelemetry
  • Drizzle
  • Zod
  • Valibot
  • ArkType
  • GraphQL Yoga
  • Apollo Server
  • Apollo Federation
  • New Relic
  • Dataloader
  • Grafast
Independently observed

Strawberry GraphQL

Leader
13 total - 12 not shared
  • Django
  • FastAPI
  • Flask
  • Aiohttp
  • Chalice
  • Channels
  • Litestar
  • Quart
  • Sanic
  • Starlette
  • SQLAlchemy
  • Pydantic
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Pothos or Strawberry GraphQL: 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.