REST uses fixed endpoints (/users, /posts). GraphQL uses one endpoint where the client specifies exactly what data they need. REST is simpler, GraphQL is more flexible but harder to cache.

Discussion

0 comments

0% completed

🔍Search

High-Level Design0/247

Vertical vs Horizontal Scaling

Concurrency vs Parallelism

Long Polling vs WebSockets

Stateful vs Stateless Architecture

Strong vs Eventual Consistency

Push vs Pull Architecture

Monolith vs Microservices

Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communications

REST vs GraphQL

🤖Agentic AI0/28

Back to HLD

9/9

mediumPhase 7 · Design Trade-offs 5 min read

REST vs GraphQL

Advanced Content

Free users can access Foundations (Phase 1-4). Upgrade for Advanced content, quizzes, and unlimited access.

Upgrade to Pro

Interactive — Try it yourself!

How to use

1Compare each row: Endpoints, Data fetching, Caching, Versioning

2See which approach wins in each category

3Check the "Best for" use cases

In a nutshell

REST uses fixed endpoints (/users, /posts). GraphQL uses one endpoint where the client specifies exactly what data they need. REST is simpler, GraphQL is more flexible but harder to cache.

Discussion

0 comments