Features
- Intelligent client-side caching with normalized store
- Apollo Server with schema federation for microservices
- DevTools browser extension for query debugging
- Apollo Studio for schema management and monitoring
Pros
- Most mature GraphQL ecosystem with extensive tooling
- Powerful cache management reduces network requests
- Federation enables distributed GraphQL architectures
Cons
- Large bundle size for the client library
- Cache management complexity can be significant
- Commercial platform lock-in for advanced features
Overview
Apollo GraphQL provides a comprehensive platform for building, managing, and scaling GraphQL APIs. Apollo Client is the most popular GraphQL client for React and other frontend frameworks, featuring a powerful normalized cache that automatically updates your UI when data changes.
Apollo Server provides a production-ready GraphQL server with features like schema federation, which allows you to compose a unified API from multiple microservices. The Apollo platform also includes Studio for schema tracking, query analytics, and performance monitoring.
When to Use
Choose Apollo when building a GraphQL-based application that needs sophisticated client-side caching, when composing a federated GraphQL gateway across microservices, or when you need production monitoring and schema management tooling.
Getting Started
npm install @apollo/client graphqlimport { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, gql } from "@apollo/client";
const client = new ApolloClient({
uri: "https://api.example.com/graphql",
cache: new InMemoryCache(),
});
const { data } = await client.query({
query: gql`{ users { id name } }`,
});