Apollo GraphQL vs GitHub 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 | GitHub | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $5/mo | $4/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 3 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | usage-based | per-seat |
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.
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.
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)
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
- (Add-on) Premium Support Packages
- (Add-on) Professional Services Packages
Free
- Unlimited public/private repositories
- Dependabot security and version updates
- 2,000 CI/CD minutes/month
- 500MB of Packages storage
- Issues & Projects
- Community support
- GitHub Codespaces Access
Team
- Access to GitHub Codespaces
- Repository rules
- Multiple reviewers in pull requests
- Draft pull requests
- Code owners
- Required reviewers
- Pages and Wikis
- Environment deployment branches and secrets
- 3,000 CI/CD minutes/month
- 2GB of Packages storage
- Web-based support
- GitHub Secret Protection
- GitHub Code Security
Enterprise
Popular- Data residency
- Enterprise Managed Users
- User provisioning through SCIM
- Enterprise Account to centrally manage multiple organizations
- Environment protection rules
- Repository rules
- Audit Log API
- SOC1, SOC2, type 2 reports annually
- FedRAMP Tailored Authority to Operate (ATO)
- SAML single sign-on
- Advanced auditing
- GitHub Connect
- 50,000 CI/CD minutes/month
- 50GB of Packages storage
- Premium support
Apollo GraphQL vs GitHub FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- GitHub is the cheaper option, starting at $4/mo vs $5/mo for Apollo GraphQL.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Apollo GraphQL uses usage-based pricing, while GitHub goes with per-seat. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Apollo GraphQL: They're positioned as the accessible entry point into GraphQL federation tooling — $5/mo to start is nearly frictionless compared to enterprise API management suites that require sales calls from day one. The custom-priced tiers exist to compete for platform-level deals against players like Postman or enterprise API gateways once volume and compliance needs escalate. GitHub: At $4/seat, GitHub undercuts most serious competitors on the entry paid tier, using Free as a wedge to keep the entire developer world inside its ecosystem. Enterprise at $21 is where they extract real revenue, positioned as the default choice for orgs already bought into GitHub Actions, Copilot, and the broader Microsoft stack.
Still deciding? See the best Apollo GraphQL alternatives or the best GitHub alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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