Softwr

APIs · head to head

Apollo GraphQL vs Skaleet

Apollo GraphQL logo

Apollo GraphQL

APIs

GraphQL platform and API orchestration layer for building unified graphs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Skaleet logo

Skaleet

APIs

Cloud-native core banking and payment hub with deployments measured in months

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.; Skaleet the installed base is in the tens rather than the hundreds, so the pool of consultants and systems integrators who know the platform is small and expensive.
  • They diverge on capability: Apollo GraphQL covers Apollo Connectors, Skaleet covers Cloud-native core.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apollo GraphQL and Skaleet actually diverge.

Attributes where Apollo GraphQL and Skaleet differ
AttributeApollo GraphQLSkaleet
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiWeb, REST API, Linux

Identical on both: 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 Skaleet

  • Cloud-native core
  • Payment hub
  • Card management
  • Lending
  • API-first
  • Configurable products

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

Skaleet

  • A banking group launching a digital savings or deposit brand in a new country within a yearnot Apollo GraphQL
  • A bank modernising payments to ISO 20022 without replacing its whole corenot Apollo GraphQL
  • A payroll or HR software company adding embedded banking to its productnot Apollo GraphQL
  • A payment service provider needing a ledger and accounts under its existing licencenot 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.

Skaleet

  • The installed base is in the tens rather than the hundreds, so the pool of consultants and systems integrators who know the platform is small and expensive.
  • Speed references are mostly greenfield launches inside large groups, which is an easier problem than migrating an existing book off a legacy core.
  • It is European-centric, with payment rails and regulatory work concentrated on SEPA and EU requirements rather than global coverage.
  • As a smaller vendor carrying a bank core, it attracts hard concentration and viability questions in procurement that larger competitors do not face.
  • Pricing is unpublished and scaled by accounts and transactions, so a bank whose volumes grow faster than forecast faces cost escalation it did not model.

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

Skaleet

On request
  • Skaleet Core Banking Platform$undefined/year
    • Subscription licence scaled by accounts and transaction volume
    • Payment hub licensable separately from the full core
    • Implementation and configuration charged as a project

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 Skaleet if

  • You need cloud-native core.
  • You work on Web, REST API, Linux.
  • You also want payment hub.
Skaleet review

Questions people ask

Is Apollo GraphQL or Skaleet better?
Neither clearly leads. Apollo GraphQL starts at Free and Skaleet at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apollo GraphQL or Skaleet?
Apollo GraphQL has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Apollo GraphQL and On request for Skaleet.
Does Apollo GraphQL or Skaleet run on more platforms?
Apollo GraphQL runs on web, api. Skaleet runs on Web, REST API, Linux.
Can I use Apollo GraphQL for free?
Yes. Apollo GraphQL has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Skaleet 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 Skaleet is typically brought in for.
What can Apollo GraphQL do that Skaleet cannot?
Apollo GraphQL covers Apollo Connectors, GraphOS Router, Schema registry, Schema checks. Skaleet covers Cloud-native core, Payment hub, Card management, Lending.

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
Skaleet: What was Skaleet called before?

TagPay. The company rebranded to Skaleet while keeping the same platform lineage.

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
Skaleet: Can I buy just the payment hub?

Yes. The payment engine is licensable standalone and can sit over an existing core, which is a common first step.

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
Skaleet: How fast are real deployments?

Named European deployments have gone live in six to twelve months, including a Crédit Agricole savings platform live in Germany in eight months.

Share

Related pages

More on Apollo GraphQL

More on Skaleet

Keep looking

Other head to heads