Altair GraphQL Client vs WunderGraph Cosmo

Altair GraphQL Client is an IDE for running and debugging GraphQL queries, mutations and subscriptions. It formats queries, supports file uploads using the multipart specification, and can export query collections. Users can set environment variables for endpoints, headers and queries, then browse schema types and operations in a documentation explorer. Pre-request and post-request scripts and an extensible plugin system add customization options. Altair GraphQL Cloud provides centralized query management, collections, query versioning and shareable query URLs. Official integration packages include Express middleware, Koa middleware, a static build and a Gatsby plugin. The free Basic plan lists up to two team members and 20 queries; Pro costs $7.99 a month per user and lists unlimited team members, teams and queries. The client is available as a web app and on desktop platforms, including Linux, macOS and Windows, with extension and self-hosted options. The maker says the web app is for quick or one-time use, not full development, because it has limitations. Documentation warns that introspection can expose an API schema and that Content Security Policy support is beta.

WunderGraph Cosmo is an open-source GraphQL Federation platform for platform teams, offering schema checks, guardrails and observability. It unifies GraphQL, REST, gRPC and Kafka in a federated graph and supports Apollo Federation versions 1 and 2 across existing GraphQL services. Cosmo Router is a Go-based, Apache 2.0-licensed router and gateway. Teams can deploy it with Docker, Kubernetes or an AWS Lambda-optimized binary, or use WunderGraph’s managed service. The Schema Registry checks composition, breaking changes, client traffic and linting. Subscriptions work over WebSockets and Server-Sent Events, and event-driven subscriptions can use Kafka, NATS, SQS or RabbitMQ. Cosmo Streams supports Kafka, NATS including JetStream, and Redis. Observability includes OpenTelemetry tracing and Prometheus metrics, which can be exported to compatible backends. The free Developer plan includes one federated graph, 10M requests/month, 10 subgraphs, one team member and seven-day retention. Launch costs $499 a month; Scale costs $3,499 a month. Enterprise pricing is custom. Managed plans include SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance; the site also identifies ISO 27001 certification.