Tools: New Rest Vs Graphql: Which Should You Use? 2026

Posted on Jan 24

• Originally published at blog.apiverve.com

GraphQL isn't better than REST. REST isn't better than GraphQL. They solve different problems, and the "right" choice depends entirely on what you're building.

The debates online are mostly ideology. What actually matters is matching the tool to your situation.

Before diving into trade-offs, here's the shortest possible answer:

If you're not sure, start with REST. It's simpler, and you can add GraphQL later for specific use cases that need it.

REST is resource-based. Each endpoint returns a complete resource. You call /users/123 and get the full user object. You call /orders and get all orders. Simple, predictable, stateless.

GraphQL is query-based. You write a query specifying exactly what you want, and you get exactly that—nothing more, nothing less. Multiple resources can come back in a single request.

Neither approach is inherently faster or more "modern." They're different mental models for organizing API access.

REST is HTTP. Everyone knows HTTP. Your junior dev knows HTTP. The contractor you just hired knows HTTP. The curl examples in documentation just work.

GraphQL requires learning a query language, understanding schemas, and often using specialized client libraries. That's not prohibitive, but it's overhead.

Source: Dev.to