# Pothos vs TypeGraphQL

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Pothos

| Attribute | Pothos | TypeGraphQL |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 58.8 (48% (low)) | 51.4 (64% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 0 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 316 | 7,054 |
| adoption.github_stars | 2,623 | 8,085 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 477,926 | 748,545 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under GraphQL Tools.","source":"https://pothos-graphql.dev/","question":"What is Pothos?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Pothos is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the ISC licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://pothos-graphql.dev/","question":"Is Pothos free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Pothos supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://pothos-graphql.dev/","question":"What platforms does Pothos support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Pothos can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://pothos-graphql.dev/","question":"Can Pothos be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 6 integrations for Pothos, including Prisma, NestJS, Next.js, Apollo, Mercurius and OpenTelemetry. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://pothos-graphql.dev/","question":"What does Pothos integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Pothos is published under the ISC 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/hayes/pothos","question":"Is Pothos open source?","confidence":0.99}]` | `[{"answer":"A Node.js framework that allows developers to define GraphQL schemas entirely in TypeScript using class-based type definitions and decorators. It provides automatic validation, authorization support, dependency injection, and eliminates the need to maintain separate schema definitions and type files. It is indexed under GraphQL Tools.","source":"https://typegraphql.com/","question":"What is TypeGraphQL?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"TypeGraphQL is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://typegraphql.com/","question":"Is TypeGraphQL free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. TypeGraphQL can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://typegraphql.com/","question":"Can TypeGraphQL be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 6 integrations for TypeGraphQL, including Apollo Server, Azure Functions, AWS Lambda, TypeORM, class-validator and graphql-yoga. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://typegraphql.com/","question":"What does TypeGraphQL integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. TypeGraphQL 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/MichalLytek/type-graphql","question":"Is TypeGraphQL open source?","confidence":0.99}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | A Node.js framework that allows developers to define GraphQL schemas entirely in TypeScript using class-based type definitions and decorators. It provides automatic validation, authorization support, dependency injection, and eliminates the need to maintain separate schema definitions and type files. |
| features.capabilities | `{"role":"schema_builder","language":"TypeScript","federation":true,"self_hostable":true,"subscriptions":true,"schema_approach":"code_first","type_generation":true,"db_introspection":true}` | `{"role":"server","caching":false,"language":"TypeScript","federation":false,"managed_cloud":false,"self_hostable":true,"subscriptions":true,"auth_directives":true,"schema_approach":"code_first","type_generation":true,"db_introspection":false}` |
| integrations.count | 12 | 6 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Prisma"},{"name":"NestJS"},{"name":"Next.js"},{"name":"Apollo"},{"name":"Mercurius"},{"name":"OpenTelemetry"},{"name":"Drizzle","native":true,"category":"database","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Zod","native":true,"category":"validation","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Valibot","native":true,"category":"validation","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"ArkType","native":true,"category":"validation","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"GraphQL Yoga","native":false,"category":"server","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Apollo Server","native":false,"category":"server","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Apollo Federation","native":true,"category":"federation","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"New Relic","native":true,"category":"observability","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Dataloader","native":true,"category":"data_loading","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Grafast","native":true,"category":"execution_engine","direction":"bidirectional"}]` | `[{"name":"Apollo Server"},{"name":"Azure Functions"},{"name":"AWS Lambda"},{"name":"TypeORM"},{"name":"class-validator"},{"name":"graphql-yoga"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| license.spdx | ISC | MIT |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://pothos-graphql.dev/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T09:17:12.302Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://typegraphql.com/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T13:45:51.873Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 51 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-drizzle%400.20.0","date":"2026-09-14T17:05:23Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-drizzle@0.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-zod%404.3.2","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:53Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-zod@4.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-validation%404.3.4","date":"2026-09-13T22:49:26Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-validation@4.3.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-validation%404.3.3","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:26Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-validation@4.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-tracing%401.1.4","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:38Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-tracing@1.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-sub-graph%404.5.3","date":"2026-09-13T22:49:23Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-sub-graph@4.5.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-sub-graph%404.5.2","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:17Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-sub-graph@4.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-smart-subscriptions%404.1.7","date":"2026-09-13T22:49:14Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-smart-subscriptions@4.1.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-smart-subscriptions%404.1.6","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:29Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-smart-subscriptions@4.1.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-scope-auth%404.2.1","date":"2026-09-13T22:48:59Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-scope-auth@4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-scope-auth%404.2.0","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:35Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-scope-auth@4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-relay%404.8.1","date":"2026-09-13T22:49:08Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-relay@4.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-relay%404.8.0","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:14Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-relay@4.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-prisma%404.17.0","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:44Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-prisma@4.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-prisma-utils%401.3.6","date":"2026-09-13T22:49:11Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-prisma-utils@1.3.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-prisma-utils%401.3.5","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:59Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-prisma-utils@1.3.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-mocks%404.1.4","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:56Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-mocks@4.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-federation%404.5.3","date":"2026-09-13T22:48:56Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-federation@4.5.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-federation%404.5.2","date":"2026-09-13T21:56:50Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-federation@4.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hayes/pothos/releases/tag/%40pothos/plugin-errors%404.9.3","date":"2026-09-13T22:49:17Z","type":"stable","version":"@pothos/plugin-errors@4.9.3"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-rc.4","date":"2026-02-26T08:35:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0-rc.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-rc.3","date":"2026-02-08T08:56:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0-rc.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-rc.2","date":"2024-06-07T12:27:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0-rc.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-rc.1","date":"2024-04-24T14:18:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-beta.6","date":"2024-04-24T14:27:42Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.0.0-beta.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-beta.4","date":"2024-04-24T14:27:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.0.0-beta.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-beta.3","date":"2023-08-17T16:48:16Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.0.0-beta.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v2.0.0-beta.2","date":"2023-05-16T08:40:02Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.0.0-beta.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v1.2.0-rc.1","date":"2021-10-06T08:41:05Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.2.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v1.1.1","date":"2020-11-04T20:42:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v1.1.0","date":"2020-10-12T18:43:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v1.0.0","date":"2020-08-19T18:30:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.3","date":"2020-06-29T18:06:47Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.0.0-rc.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.2","date":"2020-05-19T19:36:54Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.0.0-rc.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.1","date":"2020-05-03T16:50:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.0.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v0.17.6","date":"2019-12-21T20:48:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v0.17.5","date":"2019-08-18T11:09:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v0.17.4","date":"2019-05-12T20:26:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v0.17.3","date":"2019-05-06T16:48:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/MichalLytek/type-graphql/releases/tag/v0.17.2","date":"2019-04-23T19:30:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.2"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | - | 3.3 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40pothos%2Fcore&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=type-graphql&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"LOW"}` |

## Capabilities (GraphQL Tools)

| Capability | Pothos | TypeGraphQL |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Role | Schema builder | Server |
| Primary language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| **Modelling** |  |  |
| Schema approach | Code-first | 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 | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:14:53.961Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*