Strapi 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.
| Strapi | Apollo GraphQL | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $35/mo | $5/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 4 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Pricing model | flat-rate | usage-based |
Starter
- 100k API requests
- 50 GB asset storage
- 50 GB asset bandwidth
- Unlimited database entries
- Built in email provider
- Fast and global CDN
- Custom domains
- Observability
Pro
Popular- 1M API requests
- 250 GB asset storage
- 500 GB asset bandwidth
- Unlimited database entries
- Multi-environment
- Weekly backups
- Manual backups
- CRON jobs
Business
- 10M API requests
- 1,000 GB asset storage
- 1,000 GB asset bandwidth
- Unlimited database entries
- 1 extra environment included
- Daily backups
- Uptime SLA (99.9%)
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
Strapi vs Apollo GraphQL FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Apollo GraphQL is the cheaper option, starting at $5/mo vs $35/mo for Strapi.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Apollo GraphQL has a free plan. Strapi doesn't — you'll need to pay from day one.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Strapi uses flat-rate 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. Strapi: Strapi sits in the mid-range of the headless CMS market — cheaper than Contentful's team tiers but pricier than self-hosted alternatives where you absorb infra costs yourself. They're clearly targeting developer teams who want managed hosting without the enterprise price tag of Contentful or Sanity. 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 Strapi alternatives or the best Apollo GraphQL alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Strapi and Apollo GraphQL and let you know when something moves. See how competitor pricing monitoring works.