# GraphQL Benefits Compared with REST APIs

DevFeed: [GraphQL Benefits Compared with REST APIs](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/why-use-graphql-23601.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.apollographql.com/blog/why-use-graphql>)

Author: Kyle Schrade

Published: 2020-11-02T15:50:05Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Apollo Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/apollo-blog.md>)

Topics: [GraphQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/graphql.md>), [API](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/api.md>), [Back end](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/backend.md>)

Tags: [api](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/api.md>), [backend](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/backend.md>), [graphql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/graphql.md>), [http](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/http.md>), [rest](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rest.md>)

## AI overview

The article explains why StockX migrated from a RESTful API architecture to GraphQL. It contrasts REST limitations such as over-fetching, multiple and waterfall requests, and service-location knowledge with GraphQL's client-defined queries, single-query access, schema registry, and potential for smaller payloads.

## Source excerpt

Before there was GraphQL, there was REST. In recent years, REST has become the dominant API style for building backend web services. With REST, you could signal the type of request we want to make (ex: GET, POST, PUT, or DELETE) and the resource we'd like to fetch or interact with (ex: /api/pets/1) using an HTTP method and a URL. It's a great approach (and one we initially used at StockX for several years).