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APIs · head to head

Formance vs GraphQL Apollo

Formance logo

Formance

APIs

Open source double-entry ledger and payment orchestration for money-moving software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
GraphQL Apollo logo

GraphQL Apollo

APIs

Complete platform for building GraphQL APIs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Formance formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.; GraphQL Apollo standard and Enterprise plans require sales contact for custom pricing
  • They diverge on capability: Formance covers Double-entry ledger, GraphQL Apollo covers Apollo Server.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Formance and GraphQL Apollo differ
AttributeFormanceGraphQL Apollo
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, APIJavaScript, Node.js, Web, Mobile
FoundedUnknown2016

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Formance

  • Double-entry ledger
  • Numscript transaction DSL
  • Multi-currency
  • Payments connectivity
  • Reconciliation
  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Cloud offering
  • API and SDKs

Only in GraphQL Apollo

  • Apollo Server
  • Apollo Client
  • GraphQL Federation
  • REST APIs
  • Microservices
  • Databases
  • JavaScript support
  • Node.js support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Formance

  • A marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditablenot GraphQL Apollo
  • A fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an auditnot GraphQL Apollo
  • A payments team that wants one normalised model across several PSPs so reconciliation is not written separately for eachnot GraphQL Apollo
  • A company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappearsnot GraphQL Apollo

GraphQL Apollo

  • GraphQL API managementnot Formance
  • Schema federationnot Formance
  • API analytics and monitoringnot Formance
  • Developer-focused infrastructurenot Formance

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Formance

  • Formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.
  • Numscript is a domain-specific language your team must learn, and while it makes complex splits expressible it also means transaction logic sits outside the languages your engineers already debug well.
  • Self-hosting a ledger that must never lose or duplicate a transaction is a serious operational commitment covering backups, upgrades and Postgres tuning, which is real cost the zero licence fee hides.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, so the difference between the free path and the supported path cannot be evaluated without a sales conversation.
  • The company is much smaller than the incumbent alternatives, and while the MIT licence protects the code it does not protect the roadmap, so features on the hosted side may arrive slowly or change direction.

GraphQL Apollo

  • Standard and Enterprise plans require sales contact for custom pricing
  • Free plan limited to 3 developers and 1-day retention
  • Self-hosted router on free tier heavily rate-limited to 60 requests/minute

Pricing, plan by plan

Formance

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT licensed core ledger
    • Numscript transaction DSL
    • Multi-currency tracking
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Managed or private deployment
    • Payments connectivity and reconciliation
    • Support with response commitments

GraphQL Apollo

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 3 developers
    • 1-day data retention
    • Community support only
  • Developer$5/per million requests
    • $50 usage credit for new signups
    • Up to 10 developers
    • 7-day data retention
  • Standard$null/custom
    • Up to 30 developers
    • 90-day data retention
    • Standard support with SLA (8x5)
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Unlimited developers
    • 18-month data retention
    • Business support 24x7x365 with SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose Formance if

  • You need double-entry ledger.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API.
  • You also want numscript transaction dsl.
Formance review

Choose GraphQL Apollo if

  • You need apollo server.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on JavaScript, Node.js, Web, Mobile.
  • You also want apollo client.
GraphQL Apollo review

Questions people ask

Is Formance or GraphQL Apollo better?
Neither clearly leads. Formance starts at Free and GraphQL Apollo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Formance or GraphQL Apollo?
Formance starts at Free and GraphQL Apollo at Free.
Does Formance or GraphQL Apollo run on more platforms?
Formance runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API. GraphQL Apollo runs on JavaScript, Node.js, Web, Mobile.
Can I use Formance for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Formance best used for?
Formance is most often used for a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable, a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit, a payments team that wants one normalised model across several psps so reconciliation is not written separately for each, a company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappears. Of those, a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable and a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit are not what GraphQL Apollo is typically brought in for.
What can Formance do that GraphQL Apollo cannot?
Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Numscript transaction DSL, Multi-currency, Payments connectivity. GraphQL Apollo covers Apollo Server, Apollo Client, GraphQL Federation, REST APIs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Formance: Is Formance really open source?

Yes. The core ledger is MIT licensed with full source access and no deployment restrictions.

GraphQL Apollo: How much does Apollo GraphQL cost?

Apollo GraphQL is free for up to 3 developers. Paid plans start at $5 per million GraphQL requests on the Developer plan, which includes $50 usage credit for new signups. Standard and Enterprise plans require custom pricing via sales contact.

Source
Formance: Does Formance move money?

No. It records and orchestrates movements; the actual payments happen at a PSP or bank you connect.

GraphQL Apollo: Is there a free version of Apollo GraphQL?

Yes, Apollo GraphQL offers a forever-free plan with no credit card required for up to 3 developers, including 1-day data retention, community support, and self-hosted GraphOS Router rate-limited to 60 requests per minute.

Source
Formance: What does the enterprise version cost?

Not published. It is an annual subscription quoted per customer.

GraphQL Apollo: What does Apollo's Enterprise plan include that Standard does not?

The Enterprise plan offers unlimited developers versus 30 on Standard, 18-month data retention versus 90 days, and 24x7x365 business support with SLA instead of 8x5 support. It also includes premium and professional services add-ons and custom MSA agreements. Both require custom pricing.

Source
Formance: Do I have to use Numscript?

Yes for anything beyond the simplest transfers. It is how multi-party transactions are expressed atomically.

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