---
title: "GraphQL vs REST: What’s the difference?"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/graphql-vs-rest-what-s-the-difference--t0jsubrii
source_url: https://fauna.com/blog/graphql-vs-rest
type: article
source: "Fauna"
author: "Fauna Inc"
published: 2022-01-11T21:47:45.330Z
updated: 2022-01-11T21:47:45.333Z
tags: ["graphql"]
reading_time: 9
upvotes: 64
comments: 8
language: en
---

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# GraphQL vs REST: What’s the difference?

**[Fauna](https://daily.dev/sources/fauna)** · [@fauna641](https://daily.dev/fauna641) · 9 min read · 64 upvotes · 8 comments

## Summary

GraphQL and REST have their pros and cons. Depending on what you're building, one could be a better fit than the other. Let’s examine some of the core differences between Graphql and REST, and get some insight into when one should be used over the others.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://fauna.com/blog/graphql-vs-rest>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@zi683** · 1 upvotes

> my tl;dr:
> REST's limitations: can't control how much data to fetch. often leads to over-fetching and under-fetching of data within one API calls.
>
> GraphQL addresses the limitations of REST by fetching the exact data clients need, no more no less, using just one API call.

**@gugocharade** · 1 upvotes

> I tried GraphQl once and I found it very slow compared with rest api, I don't know if it's my fault or it's how it works since it do a lot of work behind the scenes. I will try to dive into it more and make a real project with it.
> Do you think Graphql is slower than rest api??

**@muhannad** · 1 upvotes

> I expected GraphQL to be explained in this article, but sadly it only explains REST and covers so little of GraphQL

**@spdaly** · 0 upvotes

> Good overview of compare/contrast of the two API architectures.

**@lokowackerman** · 0 upvotes

> Very interesting subject

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---

Tags: [#graphql](https://daily.dev/tags/graphql)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/graphql-vs-rest-what-s-the-difference--t0jsubrii)