Hasura vs AWS AppSync
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Hasura and AWS AppSync built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose 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.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose 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.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- 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.
- 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.
Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Hasura alternatives · AWS AppSync alternatives
5 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Hasura 0
AWS AppSync 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Hasura | AWS AppSync |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| 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. |
| Data | ||
| Real-time subscriptions | GraphQL subscriptions push updates from the connected data sources to clients instead of polling — but they are in beta, and Hasura says they are free to use for as long as that lasts. | WebSocket subscriptions, billed separately from queries: $2.00 per million real-time updates plus $0.08 per million connection-minutes. Every outbound broadcast and every client connection counts as a real-time update. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- Hasura
- Yes
- AWS AppSync
- No
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Hasura DDN Pricing ↗
“DDN Free Always $0 Ideal for individual developers building and running a supergraph, at any scale.”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
- AWS AppSync Pricing ↗
“The AppSync GraphQL Free Tier offers 250,000 query or data modification operations 250,000 real-time updates 600,000 connection-minutes”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
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.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Hasura DDN Pricing ↗
“Includes: Unlimited models, at any scale 1 supergraph developer Observability: 15-minute retention [...] Infrastructure API requests/month - No limit Concurrent API users - No limit”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
- AWS AppSync Pricing ↗
“The AppSync GraphQL Free Tier offers 250,000 query or data modification operations 250,000 real-time updates 600,000 connection-minutes Use beyond these levels is billed at the published rates. The AWS AppSync Free Tier automatically expires after 12 months.”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
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.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Hasura DDN Pricing ↗
“Optional hosting for third-party & code connectors - $0.075/vCPU-hour, $0.0075/GiB-hour [...] DDN Base Starting at $5/active model/month* For a single team building a business-critical supergraph.”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
- AWS AppSync Pricing ↗
“With AWS AppSync, you pay only for what you use with no minimum fees or mandatory service usage. [...] Query and Data Modification Operations $4.00 per million Query and Data Modification Operations Data transfer is charged at the EC2 data transfer rate”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
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.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Hasura DDN Pricing ↗
“Hasura Data Delivery Network (DDN) offers innovative model-based pricing that scales with your needs - from startup to enterprise - in a predictable way.”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
- AWS AppSync Pricing ↗
“you pay only for what you use with no minimum fees or mandatory service usage. This provides you with transparency and a low price regardless of your workload type, because you only pay for the specific AppSync GraphQL and AppSync Events features you use.”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
Real-time subscriptions
- Hasura
- GraphQL subscriptions push updates from the connected data sources to clients instead of polling — but they are in beta, and Hasura says they are free to use for as long as that lasts.
- AWS AppSync
- WebSocket subscriptions, billed separately from queries: $2.00 per million real-time updates plus $0.08 per million connection-minutes. Every outbound broadcast and every client connection counts as a real-time update.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Basics of Subscriptions — Hasura DDN Docs ↗
“Subscriptions allow you to push real-time updates from your data sources to clients, making them ideal for building reactive applications without constant polling. Currently in beta Subscriptions are in beta and are free to use during this period.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official docs · Report a correction
- AWS AppSync Pricing ↗
“Real-time Updates $2.00 per million Real-time Updates. All outbound messages broadcast, and WebSockets operations, like client connections, are considered Real-time Updates. $0.08 per million minutes of connection to the AWS AppSync GraphQL service”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing · Report a correction
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.
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.
Free tier: Hasura or AWS AppSync?
Hasura: Yes
AWS AppSync: No
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.
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