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Apollo vs Socket.IO: What are the differences?

Introduction

This markdown code provides a comparison between Apollo and Socket.IO for a website.

  1. Key Difference 1: Real-time functionality Socket.IO is primarily designed for real-time, bidirectional communication between the client and the server. It enables event-based communication, allowing both the client and server to send and receive data instantly. On the other hand, Apollo is a GraphQL client that facilitates efficient data fetching and caching, but it does not have built-in real-time functionality. To achieve real-time updates with Apollo, a separate solution like subscriptions or websockets needs to be integrated.

  2. Key Difference 2: Data Fetching Apollo is specifically built to work with GraphQL servers and allows for flexible and efficient data fetching. It provides powerful features like automatic batching, caching, and optimistic UI updates. Socket.IO, on the other hand, can be used with any server-side technology and supports different data formats like JSON, XML, HTML, etc. It does not have the advanced data fetching capabilities of Apollo, but it provides low-level control over the data transfer process.

  3. Key Difference 3: Protocol Support Apollo primarily uses HTTP or HTTPs protocols for communication between the client and the server. It leverages the query and mutation operations of GraphQL to fetch and modify data. Socket.IO, on the other hand, uses websockets as its underlying protocol. Websockets provide a persistent connection and allow bidirectional communication, making Socket.IO suitable for real-time applications where instant updates are required.

  4. Key Difference 4: Ecosystem and Community Apollo has a rapidly growing and active community due to its popularity and support from major companies like Meteor Development Group and Apollo GraphQL. It has a comprehensive ecosystem with tools, libraries, and resources to enhance the GraphQL development experience. Socket.IO also has a significant community, but it is primarily focused on real-time applications and not specific to a particular technology like Apollo.

  5. Key Difference 5: Scalability Apollo is designed to work well with large-scale applications due to its efficient data fetching and caching mechanisms. It supports features like automatic persisted queries and incremental data delivery, which optimize network usage and improve performance. Socket.IO, being a real-time communication library, can also scale to handle a large number of concurrent connections, making it suitable for applications that require real-time updates for multiple clients.

  6. Key Difference 6: Server Compatibility Apollo requires a GraphQL server to handle GraphQL operations and provide the necessary data. It works seamlessly with various GraphQL server implementations like Apollo Server, Prisma, and Hasura. Socket.IO, on the other hand, can be used with any server-side technology that supports websockets. It is not limited to a specific server implementation and can be integrated with frameworks like Express, Flask, Django, etc.

In summary, Apollo is a GraphQL client focused on efficient data fetching and caching, primarily using HTTP or HTTPs protocols, while Socket.IO is a real-time communication library based on websockets, providing bidirectional communication and event-based messaging between clients and servers in various data formats.

Advice on Apollo and Socket.IO
Needs advice
on
ApolloApolloFirebaseFirebase
and
Socket.IOSocket.IO

We are starting to work on a web-based platform aiming to connect artists (clients) and professional freelancers (service providers). In-app, timeline-based, real-time communication between users (& storing it), file transfers, and push notifications are essential core features. We are considering using Node.js, ExpressJS, React, MongoDB stack with Socket.IO & Apollo, or maybe using Real-Time Database and functionalities of Firebase.

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Replies (3)
Timothy Malstead
Junior Full Stack Developer at Freelance · | 7 upvotes · 486.9K views
Recommends
on
FirebaseFirebase

I would recommend looking hard into Firebase for this project, especially if you do not have dedicated full-stack or backend members on your team.

The real time database, as you mentioned, is a great option, but I would also look into Firestore. Similar to RTDB, it adds more functions and some cool methods as well. Also, another great thing about Firebase is you have easy access to storage and dead simple auth as well.

Node.js Express MongoDB Socket.IO and Apollo are great technologies as well, and may be the better option if you do not wish to cede as much control to third parties in your application.

Overall, I say if you wish to focus more time developing your React application instead of other parts of your stack, Firebase is a great way to do that.

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Recommends
on
AblyAbly

Hello Noam 👋,

I suggest taking a look at Ably, it has all the realtime features you need and the platform is designed to guarantee critical functionality at scale.

Here is an in depth comparison between Ably and Firebase

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Recommends
on
8base8base

Hey Noam,

I would recommend you to take a look into 8base. It has features you've requested, also relation database and GraphQL API which will help you to develop rapidly.

Thanks, Ilya

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Decisions about Apollo and Socket.IO
Márton Danóczy

We wanted to save as much time as possible when writing our back-end, therefore Apollo was out of the question, we went for an auto-generated API instead. Hasura looked good in the beginning, but we wanted to retain the ability to add a few manual resolvers and modifications to auto-generated ones, which ruled out Hasura. Postgraphile with its Plug-In architecture was the right choice for us, we never regretted it!

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Pros of Apollo
Pros of Socket.IO
  • 12
    From the creators of Meteor
  • 8
    Great documentation
  • 3
    Open source
  • 2
    Real time if use subscription
  • 219
    Real-time
  • 143
    Node.js
  • 141
    Event-based communication
  • 102
    Open source
  • 102
    WebSockets
  • 26
    Binary streaming
  • 21
    No internet dependency
  • 10
    Large community
  • 6
    Push notification
  • 5
    Ease of access and setup
  • 1
    Test

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Cons of Apollo
Cons of Socket.IO
  • 1
    File upload is not supported
  • 1
    Increase in complexity of implementing (subscription)
  • 12
    Bad documentation
  • 4
    Githubs that complement it are mostly deprecated
  • 3
    Doesn't work on React Native
  • 2
    Small community
  • 2
    Websocket Errors

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What companies use Apollo?
What companies use Socket.IO?
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What are some alternatives to Apollo and Socket.IO?
Helios
Helios is a Docker orchestration platform for deploying and managing containers across an entire fleet of servers. Helios provides a HTTP API as well as a command-line client to interact with servers running your containers.
GraphQL
GraphQL is a data query language and runtime designed and used at Facebook to request and deliver data to mobile and web apps since 2012.
Python
Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.
Relay Framework
Never again communicate with your data store using an imperative API. Simply declare your data requirements using GraphQL and let Relay figure out how and when to fetch your data.
NGINX
nginx [engine x] is an HTTP and reverse proxy server, as well as a mail proxy server, written by Igor Sysoev. According to Netcraft nginx served or proxied 30.46% of the top million busiest sites in Jan 2018.
See all alternatives