Temporal 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.
| Temporal | Apollo GraphQL | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $100/mo | $5/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 4 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | usage-based | usage-based |
Essentials
- 1 M Actions
- 1 GB Active Storage
- 40 GB Retained Storage
- 99.9% SLA, 99.99% HA options
- Multi-Cloud & Multi-Region
- User Roles
- Service Accounts & API Keys
- Audit Logging
- Workflow Management
- Workflow Availability
- 1 business day P0 response time
- Core platform configuration
Business
- 2.5 M Actions
- 2.5 GB Active Storage
- 100 GB Retained Storage
- Commitments
- SAML SSO included
- SCIM add-on
- 2 business hours P0 response times
- Workflow troubleshooting
- Worker configuration
- SDK implementation
Enterprise
- 10 M Actions
- 10 GB Active Storage
- 400 GB Retained Storage
- Commitments
- SAML SSO included
- SCIM included
- 24/7, 30 minute P0
- Usage optimization
- Technical onboarding
- Design review
- Worker tuning
- Senior support staff
- Cost reviews
- Security and contract reviews
- Mission Critical add-on
- Dedicated Platform Architect 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
Temporal vs Apollo GraphQL FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Apollo GraphQL is the cheaper option, starting at $5/mo vs $100/mo for Temporal.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Apollo GraphQL has a free plan. Temporal 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. Temporal: Sitting in the middle-to-premium range for workflow orchestration — not a bargain-bin tool, but the $1,000 free credit and $100 entry point make it accessible enough to try before committing. They're clearly chasing teams who've outgrown DIY orchestration (cron jobs, homegrown retry logic) and need something production-grade without enterprise-only pricing gatekeeping. 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.
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