Graphene vs Hot Chocolate
Graphene
graphene-python.org
Hot Chocolate
chillicream.comSide by side
| Figure | Graphene | Hot Chocolate |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · GraphQL Tools | 7.9 (#9) | 8.1 (#6) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | Wilmington, Delaware, United States |
| Intended users | The project describes Graphene as a library for developers building GraphQL APIs in Python. | The documentation describes trusted documents as suited to private APIs serving known clients, including an organization's own web or mobile applications. |
| License | The project repository identifies its license as MIT. | The product page says Hot Chocolate is MIT licensed and may be used, modified, and distributed in commercial or private projects. |
| Purpose | Graphene is a Python library for building GraphQL APIs using a code-first approach. | Hot Chocolate is an open-source GraphQL server for .NET that runs on ASP.NET Core. |
Plans
In their own words
Graphene
Graphene has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Hot Chocolate
Hot Chocolate is an open-source GraphQL server for.NET that runs on ASP.NET Core and builds a GraphQL schema from C# types and resolvers. Developers can define typed schemas through implementation-first or code-first methods. It supports GraphQL over HTTP and WebSocket, plus Server-Sent Events for streaming responses. Documentation describes schema downloads, a Nitro GraphQL IDE endpoint, and a command-line interface for schema export. Data integrations include Entity Framework, MongoDB, and Marten; DataLoaders and batch resolvers help batch and cache related requests. OpenTelemetry instrumentation covers server, execution, and DataLoader activity. Security guidance recommends query cost analysis, pagination and execution-depth limits, and timeouts for public APIs; trusted documents can restrict private APIs to registered operations. Servers can act as Fusion subgraphs. Hot Chocolate implements the GraphQL 2025 specification and GraphQL over HTTP, and supports spec-compliant clients including Strawberry Shake, Relay, and Apollo Client. It is MIT licensed for commercial or private use. Community support is free; paid Startup support starts at $450 per month and includes two critical incidents.