TanStack Query vs SWR vs Apollo Client
A side-by-side look at how actively TanStack Query, SWR and Apollo Client are developed on GitHub — popularity, contributor base, commit activity and how quickly issues and pull requests move.
What the numbers say
- TanStack Query is the most-starred of the 3, with 50k stars — about 2.5× Apollo Client's 20k.
- Over the 52 weeks to the snapshot, TanStack Query recorded the most commits (1.2k), against 56 for SWR.
- Apollo Client has closed or merged the most pull requests in its lifetime: 7.4k.
- Relative to its popularity, TanStack Query carries the lightest open-issue load: 1.1 open issues per 1,000 stars, versus 18.0 for Apollo Client.
Head-to-head
Snapshot taken 30 September 2026.
| Metric | TanStack Query Active | SWR Active | Apollo Client Active |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 50k | 32k | 20k |
| Forks | 4.2k | 1.4k | 2.9k |
| Contributors | 1.1k | 205 | 937 |
| Commits, last 52 weeks | 1.2k | 56 | 395 |
| Open issues | 57 | 149 | 357 |
| Open pull requests | 124 | 77 | 53 |
| Closed / merged PRs | 5.2k | 1.0k | 7.4k |
| Watchers | 263 | 216 | 310 |
| Last push | 30 Sep 2026 | 22 Sep 2026 | 29 Sep 2026 |
| Latest release | release-2026-09-26-0357 (Sep 2026) | v2.5.1 (Aug 2026) | @apollo/client@4.3.1 (Sep 2026) |
| Main language | TypeScript | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Licence | MIT | MIT | MIT |
| Created | Sep 2019 | Oct 2019 | Feb 2016 |
Bold marks the highest value in a row. “Active / Slowing / Dormant” is a simple heuristic from how recently code was pushed and open issues per star — a starting point, not a verdict. Stars measure popularity, not quality.
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