Is NestJs worth it over just Apollo for a production-grade GraphQL application ?

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The nice thing with using NestJS is that you can write it code first but when you encounter issues they are usually much easier to solve when implementing Apollo directly instead since there are so many layers of abstraction when using Nest. I would probably not use Nest if it’s only a GraphQL API and nothing else, if it’s a larger application I might consider Nest. Maybe TypeGraphQL could be an option? I haven't checked on the project in a while but maybe that could be an option if you want code first and TypeScript? Answer from NormySan on reddit.com

NestJS

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Nest is a framework for building efficient, scalable Node.js server-side applications. It uses progressive JavaScript, is built with TypeScript and combines elements of OOP (Object Oriented Programming), FP (Functional Programming), and FRP (Functional Reactive Programming).

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npm

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@nestjs/graphql - npm

May 21, 2026 - Nest - modern, fast, powerful node.js web framework (@graphql). Latest version: 13.4.2, last published: 23 days ago. Start using @nestjs/graphql in your project by running `npm i @nestjs/graphql`. There are 662 other projects in the npm registry using @nestjs/graphql.

      » npm install @nestjs/graphql

Published May 21, 2026

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Discussions

What do you want to know GRAPHQL + NESTJS ?

Making authenticated calls with GraphQL and possibly an auth library integration walk thru. This was a tough thing for me to figure out recently. More on reddit.com

r/Nestjs_framework

20

14

January 14, 2022

GraphQL and NestJS

You have to way to use graphql with nestjs, "code first "and "schema first"With code first you need to create [name].resolver.ts as a "Controller" in rest api but you have to put the resolver on providers in module.ts(With resolver you can see "Docs" tabs with queries and mutations)In the resolver file you have two decorators @ Query and @ Mutation so your resolver file looks like as follow: == student.resolver.ts == @Resolver((of) => StudentType) export class StudentResolver { constructor( private readonly service: StudentService, ) {} @Query((returns) => [StudentType]) getStudents() { return this.service.getStudents(); } @Mutation((returns => Student) createStudent(@Args('createStudentInput') createStudentInput: CreateStudentInput) { return this.service.createStudent(createStudentInput); } } And you should create a type file (used in resolver) for your graphql type as follow: == student.type.ts == @ObjectType('Student') export class StudentType { @Field((type) => ID) _id: string @Field() name: string; @Field() lastName: string; } And with that you are going to see "Schema" tab with all type definition for graphqlPD: You can use nest g res student to auto generate the files I hope it helps you, All the best! More on reddit.com

r/Nestjs_framework

2

August 17, 2022

Is there a future for graphql?

Do you want to be a “Jr.” in two fields or get better in one? Being generalist is good but it means you will work in small companies where you have to do most of the stuff by yourself, but not enough time to learn any of it extensively. Finding a job is easier if you are experienced in one area while having some knowledge in the other as well.

I would learn more backend and devops now, and get more knowledge of the frontend along the way without focusing on it too much. Even you choose fullstack, you must choose what you want to focus: JavaScript or CSS (although you can and will do both at the same time, it takes time to learn both so again you will lack knowledge and experience in both).

Also focus on the skills that can make you a better programmer in general: testing, JavaScript/typescript, functional programming etc.

Disclaimer

I love Nest and have been using it for quite a long time now for REST applications. I do understand and have already used some advanced features of the framework, but I do not have any expertise on the NestJs matter. There is a lot I might be missing here, hence this post. On the other side, I don't have any concrete experience with "just" Apollo, beside the months I spent coding this application and the days I spent on it's documentation.

Context

For the past 8 months, I have been working at my company in solo on our new GraphQL backend based on NestJs. We have a production grade system, including monitoring (separate logs application + sentry with performance tracing).

This backend, is like 98% GraphQL, and has 1 or 2 rest endpoints, for content that we didn't know how to stream over GraphQL we doing them. The point is, it could be full GraphQL with a bit of rework.

The question

I know that in my application, NestJs is based upon an Apollo middleware for express, so this made me question, why would I not use directly Apollo server to develop our backend ?

I do not feel comfortable with 3 layers of frameworks interacting together to power my GraphQL application and the whole thing seems a bit flaky. My biggest concerns are:

Error handling

This is just an example, but this (fixed) issue is a good recap of what I might fear on this point. In the end, I don't really know what errors are filtered and handled by, and where. There are two exception classes cohabitating, the one from Apollo and the one from NestJs, and this is, frankly, a mess in my code.

Sentry

We use Sentry, and I don't know how to properly integrate it. I want to integrate complex features, like providing a trace id on every request, or tracking performance during query and it's nested fields resolution. I ended up with a middleware for tracing, and an Apollo plugin for performance monitoring. Once again having to deal with two platforms made it a lot more complex.

I'm not gonna mention subscriptions, but in the end, it's lot of "Nest and Apollo conflict themselves on subject A, leading to flaky integrations for stuff A".

I'm not an expert in both, but I will need to come up with a decision quite shortly, some I'm asking for help or feedbacks from anyone who has already been in such a situation :)

Happy new year everyone, and many thanks for your help !

Top answer

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The nice thing with using NestJS is that you can write it code first but when you encounter issues they are usually much easier to solve when implementing Apollo directly instead since there are so many layers of abstraction when using Nest. I would probably not use Nest if it’s only a GraphQL API and nothing else, if it’s a larger application I might consider Nest. Maybe TypeGraphQL could be an option? I haven't checked on the project in a while but maybe that could be an option if you want code first and TypeScript?

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If you care about perf even a little bit, you should not use apollo-server. See https://github.com/benawad/node-graphql-benchmarks#benchmarks I would suggest mercurius with typegraphql/nestjs if you want to get the best perf. You can keep using nest for schema building. Graphql schema is separate abstraction from the transport protocol.

DEV Community

dev.to › husnain › apollo-graphql-implementation-in-nestjs-3chn

Apollo GraphQL Implementation in NestJs - DEV Community

October 21, 2023 - Installing GraphQL We can have either have Express or Fastify as our web framework. For this tutorial, we would go with Express. Below is the command to install apollo graphQL: npm i @nestjs/graphql @nestjs/apollo @apollo/server graphql

Jelani Harris

jelaniharris.com › blog › building-a-graphql-api-with-nestjs-and-prisma

Building a GraphQL API with NestJS and Prisma | Jelani Harris

June 9, 2024 - You describe the shape of your data in a single request and the server responds with that data. This means that data retrieval using GraphQL is efficient. In our case we’ll be using the @nestjs/graphql package to provide support for our graph in NestJs

Medium

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Building a GraphQL API with NestJS | by Jaymeson Mendes | Medium

July 6, 2024 - Resolvers in GraphQL are equivalent to the controllers in a REST API. They handle incoming queries and mutations, delegate the business logic to services, and return the results to the client. Services are responsible for business logic and data handling. They are injected into the resolvers to separate the business logic from the presentation layer. In NestJS, services are typically used to interact with databases or external APIs, perform complex calculations, or manage state.

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Introduction to GraphQL with NestJS - GeeksforGeeks

July 25, 2024 - NestJS is a progressive NodeJS framework that uses TypeScript to build efficient and scalable server-side applications. Combining NestJS with GraphQL, a powerful query language for APIs, offers a robust solution for creating modern, maintainable, ...

LogRocket

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How to build a GraphQL API with NestJS - LogRocket Blog

June 4, 2024 - Under the hood, Nest exposes a GraphQL module that can be configured to use the Apollo GraphQL server in Nest applications. To add GraphQL APIs to our Nest project, we need to install Apollo Server and other GraphQL dependencies: $ npm i --save ...

GitHub

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GitHub - unlight/prisma-nestjs-graphql: Generate object types, inputs, args, etc. from prisma schema file for usage with @nestjs/graphql module · GitHub

May 30, 2026 - Generate object types, inputs, args, etc. from prisma schema file for usage with @nestjs/graphql module - unlight/prisma-nestjs-graphql

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The Guild

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Integration with NestJS | Yoga

June 24, 2026 - GraphQL Yoga provides its own Nest GraphQL Driver that support building standalone GraphQL APIs and Apollo Federation GraphQL APIs (Gateway and Services).

CircleCI

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Continuous integration for NestJS GraphQL projects - CircleCI

February 20, 2024 - NestJS supports building APIs in REST and GraphQL.

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Jobgether

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Software Engineer II - Chat Systems (Fully Remote - Europe) at Unibuddy

Experience building applications powered by GraphQL APIs and working in a microservice-driven environment · Experience with MongoDB or other NoSQL databases and designing data models · Contribute to the Chat, Assistant, and Intelligence products across web, native, and backend to deliver engaging user experiences · Build scalable, well-architected components and services using TypeScript, React, NestJS/Express, GraphQL, and AWS, with a focus on performance and testability

Doug-martin

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Nestjs-query | Nestjs-query

Easily create code first GraphQL CRUD resolvers, with out of the box filtering, paging, sorting, and mutations. Built on top of nestjs.

DEV Community

dev.to › codexam › graphql-in-nestjs-a-concise-5-minute-guide-4ima

GraphQL in NestJS: A Concise 5-Minute Guide - DEV Community

September 23, 2024 - @nestjs/graphql is a NestJS module for GraphQL, @nestjs/apollo is a NestJS module for Apollo, @apollo/server is a community-driven, open-source GraphQL server, and graphql is the JavaScript reference implementation for GraphQL.