# gqlgen vs Relay

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Relay

| Attribute | gqlgen | Relay |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 62.8 (36% (low)) | 71.4 (57% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 20 | 72 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 3,167 | 76,213 |
| adoption.github_stars | 10,753 | 18,956 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 5,142,504 |
| deployment.options | - | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A schema-first code generation library for Go that lets developers define GraphQL APIs using the schema definition language and automatically generates type-safe server implementations. It eliminates boilerplate by handling code generation while enforcing type safety throughout. | An open-source framework that enables type-safe GraphQL queries in JavaScript applications, with built-in support for caching, error handling, and server-side rendering via React Server Components. |
| features.capabilities | `{"role":"server","caching":false,"language":"Go","federation":true,"managed_cloud":false,"self_hostable":true,"subscriptions":true,"auth_directives":false,"schema_approach":"schema_first","type_generation":true,"db_introspection":false}` | `{"role":"client","caching":true,"language":"JavaScript / TypeScript","federation":false,"managed_cloud":false,"self_hostable":true,"subscriptions":true,"auth_directives":false,"schema_approach":"code_first","type_generation":true,"db_introspection":false}` |
| language.primary | Go | Rust |
| license.spdx | MIT | MIT |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://gqlgen.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T21:39:40.951Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free and open-source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://relay.dev","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:35:58.790Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.cadence_days | 15 | 47 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.94","date":"2026-07-09T15:29:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.94"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.93","date":"2026-06-25T23:54:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.93"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.92","date":"2026-06-21T13:23:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.92"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.91","date":"2026-06-11T14:33:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.91"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.90","date":"2026-04-25T19:11:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.90"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.89","date":"2026-03-24T18:45:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.89"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.88","date":"2026-03-09T00:10:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.88"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.87","date":"2026-02-19T14:14:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.87"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.86","date":"2026-01-12T01:28:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.86"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.85","date":"2025-12-17T02:21:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.85"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.84","date":"2025-11-24T16:56:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.84"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.83","date":"2025-11-11T02:05:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.83"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.82","date":"2025-11-07T01:29:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.82"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.81","date":"2025-09-25T23:00:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.81"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.80","date":"2025-09-17T16:13:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.80"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.79","date":"2025-09-14T19:35:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.79"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.78","date":"2025-07-27T23:09:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.78"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.77","date":"2025-07-27T03:26:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.77"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.76","date":"2025-06-28T23:25:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.76"},{"url":"https://github.com/99designs/gqlgen/releases/tag/v0.17.75","date":"2025-06-16T14:42:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.75"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v21.0.1","date":"2026-05-27T17:05:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v21.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v21.0.0","date":"2026-05-18T22:35:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v21.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v20.1.1","date":"2025-08-06T23:45:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v20.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v20.1.0","date":"2025-07-28T18:02:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v20.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v20.0.0","date":"2025-06-14T01:18:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v20.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v19.0.0","date":"2025-05-02T21:35:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v19.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v18.2.0","date":"2024-11-21T18:42:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v18.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v18.1.0","date":"2024-10-04T21:25:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v18.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v18.0.0","date":"2024-09-07T01:12:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v18.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v17.0.0","date":"2024-06-14T23:56:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v16.2.0","date":"2024-01-23T16:49:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v16.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v16.1.0","date":"2023-12-11T20:21:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v16.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v16.0.0","date":"2023-10-19T22:38:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v16.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v15.0.0","date":"2023-03-08T22:16:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v15.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v14.1.0","date":"2022-07-27T17:37:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v14.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v14.0.0","date":"2022-06-08T15:11:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v14.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v13.2.0","date":"2022-03-10T18:08:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v13.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v13.1.1","date":"2022-02-09T18:02:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v13.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v13.1.0","date":"2022-02-08T16:53:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v13.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebook/relay/releases/tag/v13.0.3","date":"2022-02-07T21:41:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v13.0.3"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 6.6 | 5.8 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2F99designs%2Fgqlgen&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=relay-runtime&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (GraphQL Tools)

| Capability | gqlgen | Relay |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Role | Server | Client |
| Primary language | Go | JavaScript / TypeScript |
| **Modelling** |  |  |
| Schema approach | Schema-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: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:59:55.763Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*