What GraphQL infrastructure should I use?

It depends mostly on your app shape, team size, and deployment preferences. Here’s a practical way to choose:

Good default choices

1) Managed GraphQL platform

Best if you want the fastest path to production and minimal ops.

• Apollo GraphOS / Apollo Server
  Best for: larger teams, federation, schema governance, analytics, enterprise workflows.
• Hasura
  Best for: Postgres-backed apps, rapid CRUD, instant GraphQL over DB, event triggers.
• AWS AppSync
  Best for: AWS-native stacks, real-time subscriptions, mobile apps, managed auth/integration.
• GraphQL Yoga / Helix / Mercurius
  Best for: lightweight custom servers if you want control without heavy framework lock-in.

2) Self-hosted GraphQL server

Best if you want full control and already run backend infra.

• Node.js + Apollo Server if you want the most common ecosystem
• GraphQL Yoga if you want modern, simple, framework-agnostic setup
• Mercurius if you’re on Fastify and want performance
• NestJS GraphQL if you prefer structured enterprise-style TypeScript

3) GraphQL over database

Best if most of your API is data-access and you want speed.

• Hasura or PostGraphile
• Great for:
  • internal tools
  • dashboards
  • MVPs
  • apps with a lot of standard CRUD

Quick recommendations by scenario

• MVP / small team / move fast: Hasura or Apollo Server
• Postgres-heavy app: Hasura or PostGraphile
• Complex business logic / custom integrations: Apollo Server or GraphQL Yoga
• AWS-first architecture: AppSync
• Enterprise scale / many services: Apollo GraphOS with federation
• Want simplest modern custom server: GraphQL Yoga

What matters when choosing

Consider:

• Data sources: Postgres, REST, microservices, SaaS APIs?
• Auth needs: role-based access, row-level security, multi-tenant?
• Real-time: subscriptions, live updates, notifications?
• Ops tolerance: do you want managed or self-hosted?
• Scale / composition: one service or many teams/services?

My default advice

If you didn’t give more context, I’d suggest:

• Hasura if your backend is mostly Postgres and CRUD
• Apollo Server if you need custom logic and a common ecosystem
• GraphQL Yoga if you want a clean, modern, flexible self-hosted server

If you tell me:

1. your stack,
2. data sources,
3. team size,
4. and whether you want managed vs self-hosted,

I can recommend one option very specifically.