Directus vs Apollo GraphQL Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Directus | Apollo GraphQL | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $599/mo | $5/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 4 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | — | — |
| Pricing model | hybrid | usage-based |
Core
- 3 user seats
- 25 Collections
- 5 Flows
- AI Assistant
- Advanced RBAC
- Community Support
- Cloud Hosted
- Add-On
Team
Popular- 10 SSO seats
- 50 Collections
- 20 Flows
- Granular RBAC
- Basic Support
- Add-On
- Cloud Hosted
- Add-On
Enterprise
- Custom SSO seats
- Custom Collections
- Unlimited Flows
- SSO (SAML / OIDC)
- Custom LLM
- Offline Mode
- AI Translations
- Telemetry Opt-out
- Basic Support
- Premium Support
- Add-On
- Cloud Hosted
- Add-On
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
Directus vs Apollo GraphQL FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Apollo GraphQL is the cheaper option, starting at $5/mo vs $599/mo for Directus.
- 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. Directus uses hybrid pricing, while Apollo GraphQL goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Directus: A flat $599/mo (or $499 annual) puts them in an odd spot — way pricier than typical per-seat headless CMS tools for small teams, but potentially cheaper than competitors once you have more than a handful of users since there's no seat tax. They're clearly courting mid-size and larger teams who'd otherwise blow past per-seat pricing elsewhere, while still keeping hobbyists and OSS purists happy with a genuinely free self-hosted tier. 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.
Still deciding? See the best Directus alternatives or the best Apollo GraphQL alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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