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APIs · head to head

GraphQL Playground vs Unit

GraphQL Playground logo

GraphQL Playground

APIs

GraphQL IDE and documentation tool for building GraphQL APIs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unit logo

Unit

APIs

Banking as a service platform for embedding deposit accounts, cards and payments, with a sponsor bank behind it

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GraphQL Playground has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: GraphQL Playground apollo's own documentation states GraphQL Playground is officially retired and no longer recommended, directing users to Apollo Sandbox instead; Unit your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
  • They diverge on capability: GraphQL Playground covers Query building, Unit covers Deposit accounts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GraphQL Playground and Unit actually diverge.

Attributes where GraphQL Playground and Unit differ
AttributeGraphQL PlaygroundUnit
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelopen-sourcequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Electron, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2018Unknown

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 GraphQL Playground

  • Query building
  • Schema introspection
  • Real-time testing
  • GraphQL servers
  • Apollo Studio
  • Custom servers
  • Web support
  • Electron support

Only in Unit

  • Deposit accounts
  • Card issuing
  • Payments
  • White label components
  • Compliance operations
  • Lending
  • Programme reporting
  • Sandbox

What people use each for

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

GraphQL Playground

  • API Developmentnot Unit
  • API Gatewaynot Unit
  • API Testingnot Unit
  • API Documentationnot Unit
  • Microservicesnot Unit

Unit

  • A vertical SaaS platform for contractors that wants to hold customer funds and issue expense cards without pursuing a charternot GraphQL Playground
  • A payroll or benefits platform embedding accounts so employees can be paid ahead of schedulenot GraphQL Playground
  • A marketplace that wants seller balances to sit in real accounts under its own brand rather than as ledger entries at a processornot GraphQL Playground
  • A company that needs interchange revenue from a card programme to make the unit economics of its core product worknot GraphQL Playground

Where each one falls short

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

GraphQL Playground

  • Apollo's own documentation states GraphQL Playground is officially retired and no longer recommended, directing users to Apollo Sandbox instead

Unit

  • Your product depends on a sponsor bank you do not contract with directly, and 2024 showed what that means: Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action naming its banking as a service programmes and Blue Ridge Bank went under an OCC consent order and offboarded fintech partners.
  • Programme approval by the bank is a separate gate from signing with Unit, and it can add months and impose product restrictions that were not visible during the commercial conversation.
  • Compliance obligations are shared but the operational load lands on you, and platforms consistently underestimate the staffing needed for disputes, escalations and the bank ongoing oversight requests.
  • Pricing is unpublished and blends platform fees, per-account and per-transaction charges and interchange sharing, which makes it hard to model unit economics before you have volume and easy to be surprised by the minimum.
  • Migrating a live deposit programme to a different provider or bank is extremely disruptive because it involves moving customer accounts and card credentials, so switching costs are far higher than for ordinary software.

Pricing, plan by plan

GraphQL Playground

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Full GraphQL IDE
    • Community support

Unit

On request
  • Unit Banking as a Service$undefined/year
    • Platform fee plus per-account and per-transaction charges, quoted
    • Interchange sharing arrangements negotiated per programme
    • Minimum commitment typical

Which should you pick?

Choose GraphQL Playground if

  • You need query building.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Electron, Self-hosted.
  • You also want schema introspection.
GraphQL Playground review

Choose Unit if

  • You need deposit accounts.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want card issuing.
Unit review

Questions people ask

Is GraphQL Playground or Unit better?
Neither clearly leads. GraphQL Playground starts at Free and Unit at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GraphQL Playground or Unit?
GraphQL Playground has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for GraphQL Playground and On request for Unit.
Does GraphQL Playground or Unit run on more platforms?
GraphQL Playground runs on Web, Electron, Self-hosted. Unit runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use GraphQL Playground for free?
Yes. GraphQL Playground has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Unit starts at On request.
What is GraphQL Playground best used for?
GraphQL Playground is most often used for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation. Of those, api development and api gateway are not what Unit is typically brought in for.
What can GraphQL Playground do that Unit cannot?
GraphQL Playground covers Query building, Schema introspection, Real-time testing, GraphQL servers. Unit covers Deposit accounts, Card issuing, Payments, White label components.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GraphQL Playground: Is GraphQL Playground free to use?

GraphQL Playground is a testing tool for Apollo Server and is free to use as part of the Apollo Server documentation. However, the broader Apollo GraphQL platform has various paid tiers available for production use.

Source
Unit: Who actually holds the money?

A chartered partner bank, not Unit. Deposits sit at the sponsor bank and FDIC insurance flows from that bank, so its condition is your condition.

GraphQL Playground: Is GraphQL Playground part of a paid product?

GraphQL Playground is a testing tool within the Apollo ecosystem. While Playground itself is free, Apollo offers paid tiers starting at $5 per million requests for the Developer tier, with Standard and Enterprise plans available at custom pricing.

Source
Unit: What happened with Unit sponsor banks in 2024?

Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action that explicitly named its banking as a service and lending as a service programmes, and Blue Ridge Bank was under an OCC consent order from January 2024 and offboarded fintech partners. Blue Ridge exited the order in late 2025.

GraphQL Playground: What is the cost structure for Apollo GraphQL's paid plans?

Apollo uses volume-based tiered pricing for requests: first 250M operations cost $5.00 per million plus $2.00 for performance add-on; next 750M operations are $4.25 per million plus $1.50 add-on; additional tiers scale down to $3.00 per million plus $0.50 add-on for operations over 5 billion.

Source
Unit: What does Unit cost?

Not published. Expect a platform fee, per-account and per-transaction charges, an interchange share and a minimum commitment.

Unit: Do we need our own compliance team?

Yes. Unit supplies tooling and the bank sets the rules, but disputes, escalations and evidence for bank oversight require named people on your side.

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