Side by side
GraphQL Hive vs Pact
Both stand on api design tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb
GraphQL Hive combines schema management, API observability, and gateway capabilities, with a free plan for small projects. Teams should account for usage-based charges and the shorter retention on Hobby before choosing a plan.
Visit GraphQL Hive
Free plan APILinuxMac+2
Pact focuses on contract-based integration checks, with tools for HTTP, messaging and deployment compatibility workflows. Its value is strongest when the same team controls both consumer and provider development; the free Broker requires self-hosting.
Visit PactThe facts
| GraphQL Hive | Pact | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Self-hosted, Web | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | See the plans | PactFlow Team (yearly): $115.42 a month |
| Plans published | 3 | 5 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | the-guild.dev | pact.io |
| On api design tools | #6 of 26 | #10 of 26 |
GraphQL Hive: what it does well
- Free Hobby plan with 1M monthly operations
- Hosted or self-hosted Console
- Gateway supports federation, subgraph, and proxy roles
- Includes schema checks and a schema explorer
- Pro includes 90-day usage-data retention
What to know first
- Hobby retains usage data for 7 days
- Pro charges $10 per million operations after included usage
- Enterprise pricing is by custom request
Pact: what it does well
- Tests consumer and provider applications in isolation
- Implementations cover more than ten languages
- Broker supports contract sharing and CI/CD compatibility checks
- Verifier supports HTTP and multiple message types
What to know first
- Free Pact Broker must be hosted and operated separately
- Self-hosting makes the operator responsible for security and upgrades
- Not intended for performance or load testing
- Not intended for provider functional testing
Alternatives to GraphQL Hive Alternatives to Pact The whole list