Apollo GraphQL vs GitLab 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 | GitLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Custom | $29/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.
- 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
Free
- Source Code Management & CI/CD
- 5 licensed users
- 400 compute minutes per month
- 10 GiB storage
Premium
Popular- Unlimited licensed users
- 10,000 compute minutes per month
- Advanced CI/CD
- Team Project Management
- SLA Management
- Priority Support
- Includes $12 in GitLab Credits per user per month*
Ultimate
- Application Security Testing
- Software Supply Chain Security
- Vulnerability Management
- Strategic Portfolio Management
- Value Stream Management
- Compliance and Governance
- 50,000 compute minutes per month
- Unlimited guest users
- Includes $24 in GitLab Credits per user per month*
Apollo GraphQL vs GitLab 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?
- 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 GitLab 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: 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. GitLab: At $29/seat, GitLab Premium sits above GitHub Team ($4/seat) but competes hard on breadth — they're pitching an all-in-one DevSecOps platform versus GitHub's developer-first positioning. They're not the cheap option; they're betting teams will pay more to consolidate tooling instead of stitching together CI, security scanning, and project management separately.
Still deciding? See the best Apollo GraphQL alternatives or the best GitLab alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Apollo GraphQL and GitLab and let you know when something moves.