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APIs · head to head

Apollo GraphQL vs Salt Edge

Apollo GraphQL logo

Apollo GraphQL

APIs

GraphQL platform and API orchestration layer for building unified graphs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Salt Edge logo

Salt Edge

APIs

Independent open banking aggregator covering Europe by PSD2 API and other markets by direct connection

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Apollo GraphQL has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Apollo GraphQL pricing beyond the Developer tier requires contacting sales, making cost comparison harder for mid-size teams.; Salt Edge coverage outside regulated open banking markets is not all direct bank API, and connections that are not regulated interfaces break when a bank changes its systems, so a headline country count overstates the reliability you will actually experience.
  • They diverge on capability: Apollo GraphQL covers Apollo Connectors, Salt Edge covers Account information.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apollo GraphQL and Salt Edge actually diverge.

Attributes where Apollo GraphQL and Salt Edge differ
AttributeApollo GraphQLSalt Edge
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (web, api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).

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 Salt Edge

  • Account information
  • Payment initiation
  • Wide country coverage
  • Open Banking Gateway
  • Categorisation and enrichment
  • Consent management
  • Partner and white label
  • Sandbox

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 Salt Edge
  • Wrapping legacy REST APIs for frontend consumptionnot Salt Edge
  • Enterprise API governance with schema checks and audit logsnot Salt Edge
  • Reducing frontend over-fetching and under-fetching of datanot Salt Edge

Salt Edge

  • A lender operating across several European and non-EU markets that needs one aggregation contract rather than a different provider per countrynot Apollo GraphQL
  • A fintech that wants an aggregator not owned by a card network because its use case competes with card productsnot Apollo GraphQL
  • An accounting or treasury product that needs bank feeds in markets the large aggregators do not servenot Apollo GraphQL
  • A bank that must publish PSD2-compliant APIs and would rather buy the compliance layer than build itnot 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.

Salt Edge

  • Coverage outside regulated open banking markets is not all direct bank API, and connections that are not regulated interfaces break when a bank changes its systems, so a headline country count overstates the reliability you will actually experience.
  • Pricing is not published and is usage-based, so two providers cannot be compared without running both sales processes, and cost grows with the connected user base rather than with revenue.
  • Support and engineering are distributed across Eastern Europe and Canada, and buyers in other time zones report slower turnaround on connection-specific breakages than they get from a domestic provider.
  • PSD2 consent rules require customers to reauthenticate periodically, and Salt Edge cannot change that, so any product depending on continuous data must design for consent expiry and the drop-off it causes.
  • United States coverage is weaker than Plaid or Mastercard Open Banking, so a company with meaningful US volume ends up running two aggregators and normalising between them.

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

Salt Edge

On request
  • Salt Edge Open Banking API$undefined/year
    • Account information and payment initiation
    • Coverage across 50 plus countries
    • Consent management and enrichment

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.
Apollo GraphQL review

Choose Salt Edge if

  • You need account information.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want payment initiation.
Salt Edge review

Questions people ask

Is Apollo GraphQL or Salt Edge better?
Neither clearly leads. Apollo GraphQL starts at Free and Salt Edge at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apollo GraphQL or Salt Edge?
Apollo GraphQL has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Apollo GraphQL and On request for Salt Edge.
Does Apollo GraphQL or Salt Edge run on more platforms?
Apollo GraphQL runs on web, api. Salt Edge runs on Web, API.
Can I use Apollo GraphQL for free?
Yes. Apollo GraphQL has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Salt Edge starts at On request.
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 Salt Edge is typically brought in for.
What can Apollo GraphQL do that Salt Edge cannot?
Apollo GraphQL covers Apollo Connectors, GraphOS Router, Schema registry, Schema checks. Salt Edge covers Account information, Payment initiation, Wide country coverage, Open Banking Gateway.

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.

Source
Salt Edge: Who owns Salt Edge?

It is independently owned, unlike Tink (Visa), Finicity (Mastercard) or Yodlee (Envestnet), which matters if your use case competes with the owner.

Apollo 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.

Source
Salt Edge: Is all coverage direct bank API?

No. Inside PSD2 markets connections use regulated APIs; elsewhere coverage relies on direct connections whose reliability depends on the bank not changing its systems. Ask for a per-institution answer.

Apollo 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.

Source
Salt Edge: Does it do payments as well as data?

Yes, payment initiation is supported in European markets where PSD2 applies.

Salt Edge: What does it cost?

Not published. Pricing is usage-based and quoted, though the sandbox is free.

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