API Management · head to head
Apollo GraphQL vs Liveblocks
Apollo GraphQL
API Management
GraphQL platform and API orchestration layer for building unified graphs
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Liveblocks
API Management
Realtime collaboration infrastructure for building multiplayer features
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Apollo GraphQL pricing beyond the Developer tier requires contacting sales, making cost comparison harder for mid-size teams.; Liveblocks on the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
- They diverge on capability: Apollo GraphQL covers Apollo Connectors, Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Apollo GraphQL and Liveblocks actually diverge.
| Attribute | Apollo GraphQL | Liveblocks |
|---|
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (web, api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (API Management).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Apollo GraphQL
- Apollo Connectors
- GraphOS Router
- Schema registry
- Schema checks
- Response caching
- Audit logging
Only in Liveblocks
- Realtime presence and cursors
- Comments
- Version history
- Custom notifications
- SSO and SOC 2
- Management API
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Apollo GraphQL
- Federating multiple backend services into one GraphQL APInot Liveblocks
- Wrapping legacy REST APIs for frontend consumptionnot Liveblocks
- Enterprise API governance with schema checks and audit logsnot Liveblocks
- Reducing frontend over-fetching and under-fetching of datanot Liveblocks
Liveblocks
- Adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editornot Apollo GraphQL
- Building threaded comments on documents or designsnot Apollo GraphQL
- Sending realtime notifications tied to collaborative actionsnot Apollo GraphQL
- Restoring previous versions of collaborative contentnot Apollo GraphQL
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Apollo GraphQL
- Pricing beyond the Developer tier requires contacting sales, making cost comparison harder for mid-size teams.
- Adopting GraphOS effectively requires buy-in to the GraphQL paradigm, which is a larger architectural shift than adding a REST gateway.
- The free plan's 1-day data retention and 60 req/min self-hosted router limit make it unsuitable for production use.
- Volume-based per-request pricing can become expensive at very high request volumes compared to flat-rate API gateways.
Liveblocks
- On the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
- The jump from Pro ($30/month) to Team (starting at $600/month) is steep for teams that outgrow Pro but don't need full Team scale.
- Multi-region hosting and SCIM provisioning are Enterprise-only and require custom pricing.
Pricing, plan by plan
Apollo GraphQL
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 3 developers
- 1-day data retention
- Community support
- Developer$5/month
- $5 per million requests with volume discounts
- $50 usage credit for new signups
- Up to 10 developers
- Standard$undefined/month
- Up to 30 developers
- 90-day data retention
- Standard support with SLA
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited developers
- 18-month data retention
- 24x7x365 support with SLA
Liveblocks
Free- FreeFree
- 10 projects
- 3 dashboard seats
- 10 simultaneous connections per room
- Pro$30/month
- $30 monthly credits
- Removes Liveblocks branding
- 3 dashboard seats
- Team$600/month
- SSO and SOC 2
- 10 dashboard seats
- 50 connections/room
Which should you pick?
Choose Apollo GraphQL if
- You need apollo connectors.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want graphos router.
Choose Liveblocks if
- You need realtime presence and cursors.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want comments.
Questions people ask
- Is Apollo GraphQL or Liveblocks better?
- Neither clearly leads. Apollo GraphQL starts at Free and Liveblocks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Apollo GraphQL or Liveblocks?
- Apollo GraphQL starts at Free and Liveblocks at Free.
- Does Apollo GraphQL or Liveblocks run on more platforms?
- Both run on web, api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Apollo GraphQL for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Apollo GraphQL best used for?
- Apollo GraphQL is most often used for federating multiple backend services into one graphql api, wrapping legacy rest apis for frontend consumption, enterprise api governance with schema checks and audit logs, reducing frontend over-fetching and under-fetching of data. Of those, federating multiple backend services into one graphql api and wrapping legacy rest apis for frontend consumption are not what Liveblocks is typically brought in for.
- What can Apollo GraphQL do that Liveblocks cannot?
- Apollo GraphQL covers Apollo Connectors, GraphOS Router, Schema registry, Schema checks. Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Comments, Version history, Custom notifications.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Apollo GraphQL: What does Apollo GraphQL cost?
The Free plan supports up to 3 developers at no cost. Developer plan starts at $5 per million requests with a $50 signup credit, while Standard and Enterprise require contacting sales for custom pricing.
SourceLiveblocks: What does Liveblocks cost?
Liveblocks offers a Free plan with hard usage caps, a Pro plan at $30/month ($25/month billed annually) including $30 in monthly credits, a Team plan from $600/month, and custom Enterprise pricing.
SourceApollo GraphQL: Is there a free plan and what are its limits?
Yes, the Free 'Forever Free' plan supports up to 3 developers, 1-day data retention for checks and insights, and a self-hosted router capped at 60 requests per minute.
SourceLiveblocks: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?
Yes, the Free plan includes 10 projects, 3 dashboard seats, 10 simultaneous connections per room, 3,000 collaboration minutes, 200 comments, and 1GB of realtime data storage, with features pausing once a cap is hit.
SourceApollo GraphQL: How is usage metered on paid plans?
Standard requests are billed per million operations with tiered volume discounts, starting at $5.00/million for the first 250M and dropping to $3.00/million beyond 5B, with similar tiered pricing for subscription update events.
SourceLiveblocks: How is usage metered?
Paid plans include monthly credits covering collaboration minutes, comments, and storage; usage beyond the credit is billed at metered rates such as $0.002 per collaboration minute and $0.01 per comment, with credits resetting each billing cycle without rollover.
SourceRelated pages
More on Apollo GraphQL
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