GraphQL vs. REST: Top 4 Advantages & Disadvantages ['25]

Since the release of GraphQL in 2015, there have been comparisons between GraphQL and REST due to their similar end results and GraphQL’s innovative approach. In some instances, GraphQL is even seen as a direct alternative or has been used in conjunction with REST.¹

While REST is far more widely used than GraphQL at the moment, industry leaders and big companies such as Facebook, Airbnb, and Github are adopting GraphQL.² We evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of GraphQL to determine in what instances it may be better to use GraphQL over REST, and vice versa. 

GraphQL vs. REST

What are the key differences between GraphQL and REST?

GraphQL is a query language and runtime that allows clients to specify the exact data they need, while REST APIs rely on multiple endpoints to return fixed data structures. REST uses standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE, whereas GraphQL operates through a single endpoint, enabling more flexible and efficient data fetching.

Advantages of GraphQL over REST

1. Specificity 

GraphQL can provide customers with the exact data they need. One of the most common problems with traditional REST APIs is that they tend to cause overfecthing, obtaining more information than needed. A REST query will extract all the data from a specific resource, while GraphQL will only get what is dictated in a query (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1: Rest API query vs. GraphQL query

Source: Medium.³

2. Performance

GraphQL can process customized queries which contribute to enhanced performance. Processing customized queries reduce the number of API calls. 

Contrary to REST, GraphQL has a single endpoint, it is much more predictable, and there is a lower chance of unnecessary API calls. Research shows that mitigating GraphQL from REST increases performance by 66%⁴ of the applications.

3. Flexibility

GraphQL allows its user to integrate multiple systems, and it can fetch data from existing systems. This allows GraphQL to be utilized without needing to uninstall existing infrastructures, and it can work with existing API management tools.

4. Less effort to implement

Due to the simplified use of GraphQL, implementing queries requires less effort than REST. Research shows that when executing remote service queries, GraphQL is less time-consuming than REST, with a difference of 9 vs. 6.⁵

Advantages of REST over GraphQL

1. Single endpoint bottleneck

Research shows that GraphQL performed below its REST counterpart for workloads above 3000⁶ requests due to endpoint bottleneck disadvantage.

While a single endpoint is one of the strengths of GraphqL, it can become a bottleneck in certain circumstances. HTTP’s built-in cache function in REST APIs produces faster results than GraphQL in almost every scenario. This is because REST APIs’ multiple endpoints allow them to use HTTP caching to avoid reloading resources. GraphQL’s single endpoint pushes the user to rely on an additional library. 

2. Security 

REST’s vast popularity and authentication methods make it a better option for security reasons than GraphQL. While REST has built-in HTTP authentication methods, GraphQL does not provide a specific process to ensure security. The user must figure out their own security methods, whether authentication or authorization. However, users can overcome this issue with a well-planned security plan for using GraphQL.

3. Complexity 

While GraphQL offers a caching mechanism, the cache-implementing process is much more complex and time-consuming than REST implementation. This is due to REST’s advantage of allowing the user to access resources with URLs. 

4. Cost

One of the significant drawbacks to using GraphQL is that it is more difficult to specify the API rate limit than REST. This creates the risk of the cost of queries being unexpectedly large, leading to computation, resource, and infrastructure overload.⁷

To overcome such risks, the user must calculate a query’s cost before executing it. However, calculating GraphQL’s queries is challenging due to its nested structure. Thus, it is best to use a machine-learning approach to estimate.

What is GrahpQL?

Figure 2: GraphQL

GraphQL is an open-source query and manipulation language for APIs developed by Facebook in 2012 and released publicly in 2015. Contrary to REST architecture, GraphQL is not an API specification; it’s a runtime for fulfilling queries with existing data. Backbend GraphQL provides a type system that describes a schema for data; in return, this gives front-end API consumers the ability to request the exact data they need.

GraphQL is schema-driven, meaning the server defines a strict schema outlining data types and relationships. Clients query or modify data (create, update, delete) based on this schema, receiving predictable JSON responses. It also supports real-time updates via subscriptions. Its flexibility and efficiency make it ideal for complex, interconnected data scenarios, such as mobile apps requiring minimal network requests.

Web developers utilize REST APIs where data entities live on several URLs on a server. Contrary to multiple URLs and entry points of REST APIs (see Figure 3), GraphQL has a single entry point (see Figure 2). Data is fetched by describing it with a syntax that mirrors its return shape in JSON.⁸  

What is REST?

REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for building web services that operate over HTTP. It centers around the concept of resources, which are identified by URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), and these resources can be manipulated using standard HTTP methods such as:

• GET (retrieve data),
• POST (create data),
• PUT (update data),
• DELETE (remove data)

RESTful services are stateless, meaning that each request from the client to the server must contain all the necessary information, and the server does not maintain any session state between requests. This simplicity and adherence to the widely understood principles of HTTP have made REST a popular choice for designing APIs.

One of the core benefits of REST is its use of standard HTTP features, including status codes and headers, which allow for simpler error handling and caching. REST services are flexible, enabling data to be exchanged in various formats like JSON, XML, or plain text, depending on the client’s needs. Its clear structure and well-established conventions make it easy to implement and understand, making REST a go-to approach for many web-based applications, particularly when simplicity, scalability, and cacheability are key concerns.

Figure 3: Representation of REST API 

Frequently Asked Questions: GraphQL vs. REST

Further Reading

• Top API Security Testing Tools
• DAST: Importance, Pros, Cons & 7 Use Cases

If you want to explore specific software, feel free to check our data-driven list of testing tools and data-driven test automation tools vendor list.

External Links

• 1. Can GraphQL Replace REST? A Study of Their Efficiency and Viability | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore.
• 2. REST vs GraphQL: A Controlled Experiment | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore.
• 3. GraphQL vs. RESTful. When it comes to API’s most people are… | by Jordan Panasewicz | Nerd For Tech | Medium. Nerd For Tech
• 4. REST or GraphQL? | Proceedings of the XIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Components, Architectures, and Reuse.
• 5. REST or GraphQL? | Proceedings of the XIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Components, Architectures, and Reuse.
• 6. REST or GraphQL? | Proceedings of the XIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Components, Architectures, and Reuse.
• 7. Learning GraphQL Query Cost | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore.
• 8. GraphQL Explained in 100 Seconds - YouTube.