Grafbase

Grafbase

Grafbase is an enterprise-grade GraphQL federation platform and API-governance suite built for organizations that need to manage sprawling GraphQL and AI infrastructure. It delivers a unified data-access layer, performance tuning, security controls, and full observability, all deployable on-prem for regulated industries like finance and government.
GraphQL federation platformenterprise GraphQL gatewayAPI governanceApollo GraphOS alternativeGraphQL MCP serveron-prem GraphQLAI-friendly APIsecure GraphQL

Features of Grafbase

Federate any number of services into a single GraphQL endpoint with native Apollo Federation v2 support
Ships with a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server so AI agents can query your APIs in plain English
Self-host inside your own VPC or air-gapped environment to keep data and keys under your control
Expose Kafka, NATS and other message queues as typed GraphQL fields via ready-made connectors
Operate and monitor everything from Grafbase Dashboard—real-time traces, metrics, and schema registry
Extend auth, rate-limiting and request logic with WebAssembly plug-ins—no forks or patches required
Out-of-the-box JWT, OAuth2, key-auth and row-level permission rules for zero-trust security
Edge caching and query-plan optimization deliver sub-100 ms latencies at global scale

Use Cases of Grafbase

Unify micro-services, REST endpoints and databases behind one GraphQL gateway for web & mobile teams
Let AI copilots (Cursor, Claude, etc.) discover and call production APIs through natural-language queries
Meet strict compliance mandates (SOC 2, FedRAMP, GDPR) by keeping the entire stack inside your perimeter
Migrate away from Apollo GraphOS or other hosted federation services without rewriting resolvers
Add custom auth hooks or stream events from Kafka into GraphQL subscriptions without boilerplate
Give dozens of engineering teams a single pane of glass for schema stewardship, performance SLAs and cost attribution

FAQ about Grafbase

QWhat is Grafbase and what problem does it solve?

Grafbase is an enterprise GraphQL federation platform that stitches multiple APIs and databases into one secure endpoint while adding AI-native access, governance, and deep observability.

QWhat are the headline features and differentiators?

GraphQL federation, built-in MCP server for AI agents, on-prem or air-gapped deployment, Wasm-based auth extensions, Kafka/NATS connectors, and enterprise-grade security controls.

QHow is Grafbase priced? Is there a free tier?

A 60-day enterprise trial is available with no credit card required. Contact sales for production licensing tailored to self-hosted or managed deployments.

QWhat deployment options are supported?

Fully managed cloud, customer-managed VPC, or air-gapped environments—letting you balance operational overhead with compliance obligations.

QWhat does “AI-native integration” mean in practice?

Grafbase embeds a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so LLMs and AI agents can introspect the schema and generate secure queries on the fly—no custom middleware needed.

QHow does Grafbase compare to Apollo GraphQL?

Grafbase is a drop-in alternative that supports Apollo Federation v2 and provides a migration path from Apollo GraphOS, while adding AI, self-hosting, and Wasm extensibility out of the box.

QDo engineers need deep GraphQL knowledge to use Grafbase?

Basic GraphQL familiarity is helpful, but CLI scaffolding, schema checks, and the web dashboard flatten the learning curve for DevOps and backend teams.

QHow is data security and privacy handled?

Features include end-to-end TLS, row-level access policies, JWT/OAuth2/Key auth, rate limiting, and the option to keep all traffic inside your own network perimeter.

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