The State of Federation in 2025

Stefan and Jens introduced WunderGraph’s first State of Federation report. The key takeaway: federation is becoming an enterprise standard, but success depends on strong schema design and a diverse ecosystem of vendors. The report captures how organizations adopt Federation and what’s next as adoption accelerates.

Why a State of Federation report

Jens suggested the idea after seeing Postman’s State of APIs report. Stefan admitted he was skeptical because of market size but agreed the insights would be valuable. The final report drew on more than 1,000 developer and architect responses from the WunderGraph community.

This is jam-packed with information of why GraphQL Federation… it also includes the future of federation where we see federation going and why customers have been adopting it.

Adoption is accelerating

One of the most striking data points: Gartner® predicts that by 2027, over 60% of enterprises will use GraphQL in production, and 30% of them will adopt Federation — up from less than 5% today. Jens stressed that demand is expanding beyond Apollo’s ecosystem, with 80–90% of new Cosmo customers now coming from outside the Apollo base.

The market is expanding. There is a lot of traction, a lot of companies adopting federation.

Schema quality is the foundation

Jens emphasized that the most important factor in federation success is schema design. If schemas are built just to connect REST APIs, they risk leaking poor abstractions into the graph. A good schema, he said, enables companies to build great APIs and scale without legacy baggage.

The most important thing is the schema. The most important thing is to have a good and well-designed schema.

Competition keeps the ecosystem healthy

Jens also noted that large organizations often run Apollo Federation and Cosmo side by side. This diversity prevents monopoly, drives innovation, and strengthens the ecosystem overall. He argued that competition with Apollo has pushed improvements for everyone and reinforced that federation is becoming a true enterprise standard.

It’s important for a stable ecosystem that there is no one player, no monopoly, but rather multiple players in the market.

This episode was directed by Jacob Javor. Transcript lightly edited for clarity and flow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the State of Federation report?

It’s a 48-page report based on insights from over 1,000 developers, architects, and CTOs in the WunderGraph customer base. It explores federation trends, adoption drivers, and future directions.

What adoption trends did the report highlight?

According to Gartner, by 2027 more than 60% of enterprises will use GraphQL in production, with 30% adopting Federation — a sharp increase from less than 5% today.

Why does schema design matter for federation?

Jens emphasized that the schema is the most important piece. Poorly designed schemas that mirror REST APIs can leak bad abstractions, while strong schemas help organizations scale GraphQL Federation effectively.