# Hasura vs AWS AppSync

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/hasura-vs-aws-appsync/

Every value below is read from Hasura's and AWS AppSync's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Hasura | AWS AppSync |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| What the free plan includes | Unlimited models at any scale, one supergraph developer, and 15 minutes of observability retention. API requests per month and concurrent API users are both listed as no limit. | 250,000 query or data-modification operations, 250,000 real-time updates and 600,000 connection-minutes — and it expires after 12 months rather than renewing. |
| Entry paid plan | DDN Base starts at $5 per active model per month — a per-model rate rather than a plan fee, so no magnitude is recorded. Hosting third-party and code connectors is separate, at $0.075/vCPU-hour and $0.0075/GiB-hour. | None. AWS states there are no minimum fees and no mandatory service usage: the bill is $4.00 per million query and data-modification operations, $2.00 per million real-time updates and $0.08 per million connection-minutes, plus EC2-rate data transfer. |
| Pricing model | Per active model, per month, with connector hosting billed separately by vCPU-hour and GiB-hour. API requests and concurrent users are not metered. | Purely per request, with no plan tier: query and data-modification operations, real-time updates and connection-minutes are each metered and priced separately. |

## Where they differ

### What the free plan includes

- Hasura: Unlimited models at any scale, one supergraph developer, and 15 minutes of observability retention. API requests per month and concurrent API users are both listed as no limit. ([source](https://hasura.io/pricing))
- AWS AppSync: 250,000 query or data-modification operations, 250,000 real-time updates and 600,000 connection-minutes — and it expires after 12 months rather than renewing. ([source](https://aws.amazon.com/appsync/pricing/))

### Entry paid plan

- Hasura: DDN Base starts at $5 per active model per month — a per-model rate rather than a plan fee, so no magnitude is recorded. Hosting third-party and code connectors is separate, at $0.075/vCPU-hour and $0.0075/GiB-hour. ([source](https://hasura.io/pricing))
- AWS AppSync: None. AWS states there are no minimum fees and no mandatory service usage: the bill is $4.00 per million query and data-modification operations, $2.00 per million real-time updates and $0.08 per million connection-minutes, plus EC2-rate data transfer. ([source](https://aws.amazon.com/appsync/pricing/))

### Pricing model

- Hasura: Per active model, per month, with connector hosting billed separately by vCPU-hour and GiB-hour. API requests and concurrent users are not metered. ([source](https://hasura.io/pricing))
- AWS AppSync: Purely per request, with no plan tier: query and data-modification operations, real-time updates and connection-minutes are each metered and priced separately. ([source](https://aws.amazon.com/appsync/pricing/))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Hasura if Putting one GraphQL API over several data sources at once when the free tier's terms matter more than the paid one's: unlimited models at any scale, no cap on API requests or concurrent users, and self-hosting with the v3 engine, all at $0.

Pick AWS AppSync if GraphQL over AWS data sources when you want no floor on the bill: no minimum fees, no mandatory usage, $4.00 per million query and data-modification operations, and WebSocket subscriptions priced separately at $2.00 per million updates.

Consider something else: Hasura — The bill has to be predictable before you design the schema. Hasura charges $5 per active model per month, so cost scales with how wide your supergraph is rather than how much traffic it serves, and connector hosting is billed separately by vCPU-hour on top.

Consider something else: AWS AppSync — You need a free tier that stays. AppSync's 250,000 operations, 250,000 real-time updates and 600,000 connection-minutes expire after 12 months, where Hasura's and Directus's free plans do not — and nothing on the pricing page addresses running it yourself.

## Documented by only one

- Kind of free offer: AWS AppSync: Introductory free tier
- Autoscaling: Hasura: Supported
- Self-hostable: Hasura: Supported
- SOC 2: Hasura: Supported

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Hasura or AWS AppSync?**

Hasura: DDN Base starts at $5 per active model per month — a per-model rate rather than a plan fee, so no magnitude is recorded. Hosting third-party and code connectors is separate, at $0.075/vCPU-hour and $0.0075/GiB-hour.
AWS AppSync: None. AWS states there are no minimum fees and no mandatory service usage: the bill is $4.00 per million query and data-modification operations, $2.00 per million real-time updates and $0.08 per million connection-minutes, plus EC2-rate data transfer.

**Should I choose Hasura or AWS AppSync?**

Pick Hasura if Putting one GraphQL API over several data sources at once when the free tier's terms matter more than the paid one's: unlimited models at any scale, no cap on API requests or concurrent users, and self-hosting with the v3 engine, all at $0.
Pick AWS AppSync if GraphQL over AWS data sources when you want no floor on the bill: no minimum fees, no mandatory usage, $4.00 per million query and data-modification operations, and WebSocket subscriptions priced separately at $2.00 per million updates.