REST vs GraphQL: Which Should You Use?

When building APIs, one of the most common questions is:

Should I use REST or GraphQL?

Both are widely used, powerful, and solve similar problems — but in very different ways.
This article compares REST and GraphQL from a practical developer perspective so you can choose the right one for your project.

🔹 What is REST?

REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style based on HTTP and resources.

You access data using endpoints like:

GET /users
GET /users/123
POST /users

Each endpoint represents a resource.

Key characteristics:

• Multiple endpoints
• Uses HTTP verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
• Responses are fixed per endpoint

🔹 What is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs.

Instead of multiple endpoints, GraphQL uses a single endpoint and allows clients to request exactly what they need.

Example:

query {
  user(id: 123) {
    id
    name
    posts {
      title
    }
  }
}

🔹 Core Differences

🔹 Over-fetching vs Under-fetching

REST Example:

To get user + posts:

GET /users/123
GET /users/123/posts

You might get more or less data than needed.

GraphQL:

You request exactly what you need in one call.

🔹 When to Use REST

Use REST if:

• You want simplicity
• Your data model is simple
• You want easy caching
• You are building public APIs

🔹 When to Use GraphQL

Use GraphQL if:

• Clients need flexible data
• You have multiple frontends (web, mobile)
• You want fewer requests
• You need strong typing

🔹 Performance

REST can be faster for simple requests and caching.
GraphQL can reduce network usage but requires more server-side processing.

🔹 Security

GraphQL needs protection against:

• Deep nested queries
• Expensive queries

REST relies on standard HTTP protections.

🔹 Conclusion

Neither is better — they solve different problems.