GraphQL vs REST: Honest Comparison
Quick Comparison
| Factor | REST | GraphQL |
|---|---|---|
| Learning curve | Lower | Higher |
| Over-fetching | Common | Eliminated |
| Caching | Easy (HTTP) | Complex |
| Error handling | HTTP status codes | Custom |
| File uploads | Native | Needs workaround |
| Tooling | Mature | Growing |
Choose REST If:
- Simple CRUD operations
- Caching is important
- Team is experienced with REST
- Public API for external developers
- File uploads are frequent
Choose GraphQL If:
- Mobile apps need different data than web
- Multiple related entities per request
- Frontend needs flexibility in data fetching
- Rapid frontend iteration is priority
- Complex data relationships
Can You Use Both?
Yes. Many teams use REST for simple APIs and GraphQL for complex data needs. Start with REST and add GraphQL when you hit its limitations.
My Approach
I build REST APIs for most projects because they are simpler, well-understood, and sufficient for 90% of use cases. GraphQL is added when frontend data flexibility becomes a bottleneck.