Hosted GraphQL Service Providers – Which is the best?

All developer takes the quality of their application seriously. After all, the success of their program ultimately depends on its quality. This article shows you easy-to-follow ways to create and host a GraphQL database without hassles.

Although I have used REST extensively in my previous projects, its shortfalls compelled me to search for better alternatives. The complexity, cost of data transfer, and over-fetching requests are a few factors that made me drop REST for GraphQL.

Finding a hosting provider for your GraphQL is not complicated. Several cloud service providers deliver quality and affordable GraphQL hosting services.

This discourse shall also review a couple of excellent cloud hosting solutions for GraphQL APIs. Some solution providers we shall recommend are relatively new, but they provide outstanding service to developers.

Keep reading to know more about these fantastic developer tools.

The Benefits of GraphQL

Below are the unique advantages of using GraphQL technology for your development projects:

• Lower data transfer /costs resulting from fewer API calls
• It helps you use the mobile-first design concept easily.
• Fetching is no longer required.
• It works perfectly with complicated Schema.
• It enhances microservices orchestration solutions.
• It is contact-oriented by default.
• Its similarity to SOAP makes it excellent for enterprise-level usage.
• It is a modern trend for connecting backend applications.

Uses of GraphQL

The GraphQL API is useful for creating programs that perform tasks such as:

• Broadcast of data.
• Chating.
• IoT.
• Offline data synchronization.

In practical terms, GraphQL has been used to create the following applications:

• Facebook data fetching
• Github APIs
• Page Speed at Artsy

GraphQL  Hosting Options

The number of specialized cloud hosting solutions for GraphQL is increasing daily. We have streamlined some of the best options in this review. Below are some great GraphQL cloud options:

Back4App

Back4app has a reputation as the leading low-code backend solution to build apps. It offers a fully managed backend service that offers GraphQL provisioning and scales your app seamlessly. It is used for web applications and mobile apps. 

The list of available services include:

• Daily backend. 
• It can restore data when the needs arise.
• Boasts of 24/7/365 support.
• It offers many other professional services.

The Benefits

Since Back4app is a low-code solution, here are the main benefits of this GraphQL backend:

• Accelerate app development
• Reduce time to market
• Scalability

Some of the features of Back4app are

• Spreadsheet like database
• GraphQL APIs for handling queries, mutations, and subscriptions
• GraphQL queries
• Extensive SDK covering iOS, Android, Javascript, etc
• Multitenant dashboard
• Live query updates
• Push notifications
• Authentication via third-party
• Email validation and password reset
• Cloud-based Code
• Transfer App
• Cone App
• REST and GraphQL APIs
• Import and export of data
• Version management
• GDPR privacy management settings.

The Cost

• Projects that are currently in development are entitled to a free plan.
• The shared hosting option for GraphQL starts at $25/month.
• The dedicated hosting (GraphQL Private Cloud)  option starts at $250/month.
• Enterprise contracts are available on demand.

Hosting Options

The available hosting options are

• Back4app cloud.
• Back4app private hosting.
• On-premisses or own-cloud deployment.

Parse

Parse is an open-source development framework used by thousands of developers to accelerate application development. It introduced in 2019 the option to use GraphQL APIs on the backends. 

Some of the features of Parse include

• GraphQL APIs for handling queries, mutations, and subscriptions.
• Extensive SDK covering iOS, Android, Javascript, PHP, Arduino,.NET + Xamarin, Unity, and Embedded C.
• Live query updates.
• Business Logic
• Push notifications.
• Authentication via third-party.
• Email validation and password reset.
• Cloud-based Code.
• REST APIs.
• Import and export of data
• Adapters including Mailgun, S3, file storage system, SQS.

The Cost

The parse framework is open-source and completely free. You are only required to pay for hosting your application.

Hosting Options

• You can self-host your app with any of the leading cloud service providers such as AWS, Google Cloud, Alibaba, Azure, Digital Ocean, etc
• You can use specialized hosting such as Back4App.
• You can also deploy your app locally.

To know more about the differences between Parse and Back4app, please read the Differences between B4A and Parse. 

Hasura

This cloud platform specializes in GraphQL APIs, and it is open-source. It is a GraphQL engine that delivers powerful queries, real-time updates, fine-grained access control, etc.

Features

• Queries and Mutations
• Event triggers
• Dynamic access control and authentication
• Real-time with subscriptions
• GraphQL schema

Pricing

• There is an option for a free plan.
• Standard starts at $99/month
• Enterprise under quotation

Hosting Options

• Cloud hosting with Hasura 
• Self-Hosted GraphQL Server – Using the open-source license or the commercial license.

AWS App Sync

The AWS App Sync simplifies the procedure of creating an app. The developer can use this platform to develop decent GraphQL APIs. It is also robust enough for building real-time web/mobile applications that are scalable.

• The features of AWS App Sync include:
• Simplified methods of data access and querying.
• Data access and updates in real-time.
• Data querying, filtering, and search functions.
• Synchronization of offline data.

The Cost

The price is variable according to usage.

Hosting Options

AWS cloud