GraphQL Kotlin vs urql
GraphQL Kotlin
opensource.expediagroup.comurql
urql.devSide by side
| Figure | GraphQL Kotlin | urql |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · GraphQL Tools | 8.0 (#8) | 6.8 (#23) |
| Intended users | The project describes its common use cases as running a GraphQL server and generating a type-safe client in Kotlin. | The documentation describes urql as a GraphQL client intended to start with minimal features and be extended as app needs grow. |
| License | The library is licensed under Apache License 2.0. | The repository lists an MIT license. |
| Purpose | GraphQL Kotlin is a collection of libraries built on graphql-java to run GraphQL clients and servers in Kotlin. | urql is a customizable GraphQL client for React, Svelte, Vue, Solid, or plain JavaScript. |
| Subscriptions | The Ktor server supports Kotlin Flow subscriptions over WebSockets using the graphql-transport-ws subprotocol. | The Solid bindings provide a createSubscription primitive, and the guide says GraphQL subscriptions typically require WebSocket support and a subscription exchange. |
Plans
In their own words
GraphQL Kotlin
GraphQL Kotlin is a free Apache License 2.0 collection of libraries, built on graphql-java, for running GraphQL clients and servers in Kotlin. Its schema generator creates schemas from Kotlin code, and a federation module can produce Apollo Federation-compliant schemas. Gradle and Maven plugins generate type-safe Kotlin clients from existing schemas. Generated clients support queries, mutations, batching, coroutines, custom scalars, configurable enum defaults, and Jackson or kotlinx.serialization models. Reference HTTP integrations use Ktor HTTP Client and Spring WebClient, while custom engines are possible. Server implementations target Spring Boot and Ktor; the Spring server uses Spring WebFlux. Ktor supports Kotlin Flow subscriptions over WebSockets with the graphql-transport-ws subprotocol. Its plugin leaves route configuration to the application, allowing selective routes and added authentication logic. The schema generator supports Kotlin Lists, but Sets, arbitrary Maps, and arrays are not supported out of the box. The project is self-hosted, with security guidance in its repository and community support through GitHub Discussions and Kotlin Slack.