What is the difference between apollo server and express-graphql

I would like to build an application and its recommended to use GraphQl for API,

I am not sure which platform to select and what are the differences.

apollo server vs express-graphql 

I need to use TypeScript for the project too. Any good Idea would be appreciated.

4 Answers

Both are almost same.

Here are some trends, If you are intrested.

Below is the now deleted section from the apollo-server README comparing apollo-server to express-graphql.

Note that some of these arguments do not apply anymore e.g. express-grapqhl is now written in TypeScript. Hence the removal of this section from the README.

One observation is that apollo-server is too bloated, and is slowly showing a lack of maintenance. I would go with express-graphql instead if I were to pick one today. But this is personal preference and you should do your own due diligence.

There's also a community-maintained Koa port of express-graphql, called koa-graphql. Using either express-graphql, or koa-graphql, combined with something like envelop, you can achieve everything, if not more, the Apollo "ecosystem" provides in a more modular manner.

Comparison with express-graphql

Both Apollo Server and express-graphql are GraphQL servers for Node.js, built on top of the graphql-js reference implementation, but there are a few key differences:

• express-graphql works with Express and Connect, Apollo Server supports Express, Connect, Hapi, Koa and Restify.
• Compared to express-graphql, Apollo Server has a simpler interface and supports exactly one way of passing queries.
• Apollo Server separates serving GraphiQL (an in-browser IDE for exploring GraphQL) from responding to GraphQL requests.
• express-graphql contains code for parsing HTTP request bodies, Apollo Server leaves that to standard packages like body-parser.
• Apollo Server includes an OperationStore to easily manage whitelisting.
• Apollo Server is built with TypeScript.

application/graphql requests

express-graphql supports the application/graphql Content-Type for requests, which is an alternative to application/json request with only the query part sent as text. In the same way that we use bodyParser.json to parse application/json requests for apollo-server, we can use bodyParser.text plus one extra step in order to also parse application/graphql requests. Here's an example for Express:

'body-parser'; import { graphqlExpress } from 'apollo-server-express'; const myGraphQLSchema = // ... define or import your schema here! const helperMiddleware = [ bodyParser.json(), bodyParser.text({ type: 'application/graphql' }), (req, res, next) => { if (req.is('application/graphql')) { req.body = { query: req.body }; } next(); } ]; express() .use('/graphql', ...helperMiddleware, graphqlExpress({ schema: myGraphQLSchema })) .listen(3000); 

Express-GraphQL is a piece of middleware, to quickly setup a GraphQL Server, either with Express, or any web-framework that supports middleware.

Apollo-server is a package that will sit on an existing node server and parse the GraphQL queries. (Very similar to express-graphql) You can use it with express, Koa etc.

My recommendation is use Graphql-yoga as it's built with apollo-server and express-graphql. And it's built and maintained by the Prisma Team.

Apollo-Server-Express and Express-Graphql are two most using libraries so far and there is no difference in them. I would recommend you to use any two of them.