Apollo GraphQL vs Elastic Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Apollo GraphQL | Elastic | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Custom | Custom |
| Number of plans | 4 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | usage-based | usage-based |
Free
- GraphOS - Apollo's complete API management platform
- Supports any GraphQL API
- Self-hosted GraphOS Router (limited to 60 requests per minute)
- Built-in support for GraphQL Federation, Connectors, Response Caching, Federated Subscriptions, and more.
- Up to 3
- 1 day
- Community Support
Developer
- GraphOS - Apollo's complete API management platform
- Supports any GraphQL API
- Self-hosted GraphOS Router
- Built-in support for GraphQL Federation, Connectors, Response Caching, Federated Subscriptions, and more.
- Up to 10
- 7 days
- Developer Support (8×5, no SLA)
Standard
- GraphOS - Apollo's complete API management platform
- Supports any GraphQL API
- Self-hosted GraphOS Router
- Built-in support for GraphQL Federation, Connectors, Response Caching, Federated Subscriptions, and more.
- Schema Proposals - Collaboration and approval workflows
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- Up to 30
- 90 days
- Standard Support (8×5, with SLA)
Enterprise
- GraphOS - Apollo's complete API management platform
- Supports any GraphQL API
- Self-hosted GraphOS Router
- Built-in support for GraphQL Federation, Connectors, Response Caching, Federated Subscriptions, and more.
- Schema Proposals - Collaboration and approval workflows
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- Audit logging
- Custom MSA
- Unlimited
- 18 months
- Business Support (24×7×365, with SLA)
- (Add-on) Premium Support Packages
- (Add-on) Professional Services Packages
Elasticsearch
- Build search and vector database applications.
- Serverless
- Hosted
- Self-managed
Elastic Observability
- Monitor health and resolve issues for apps and infrastructure.
- Serverless
- Hosted
- Self-managed
Elastic Security
- Protect, investigate, and respond to cyber threats.
- Serverless
- Hosted
- Self-managed
Apollo GraphQL vs Elastic FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Apollo GraphQL has a free plan. Elastic doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Apollo GraphQL: Apollo sits in a premium position for GraphQL infrastructure — they're not competing on being cheap, they're betting on being the de facto standard for federated GraphQL at scale. They're targeting mid-market to enterprise engineering teams who've already bought into the GraphQL ecosystem and need a managed, production-grade layer. Elastic: Elastic sits in the premium-to-enterprise range of the search and observability space, competing with Datadog, Splunk, and OpenSearch-based alternatives. They're not trying to win on price — they're positioning against Splunk on flexibility and against Datadog on breadth across search, observability, and security in one platform.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Apollo GraphQL and Elastic and let you know when something moves.