- REST remains the safest default for most straightforward system-to-system integrations.
- GraphQL earns its complexity when clients need flexible, varying shapes of the same data.
- Webhooks are the right fit for event-driven, real-time-ish updates rather than polling.
- Most real integrations end up combining more than one of these approaches, not picking just one.
REST is still the safe default
For most straightforward integrations — pulling records, pushing updates — REST remains the most broadly understood, simplest-to-debug, and most widely supported option. It's not the most modern-sounding choice, but for a large share of integration needs, it's genuinely the right one.
GraphQL earns its keep with varied data needs
GraphQL's real advantage shows up when different clients need different shapes of the same underlying data — a mobile app needing a lean payload, a dashboard needing a rich one — from the same API, without maintaining separate REST endpoints for each. Outside that specific need, its added complexity often isn't worth it.
Webhooks solve a different problem entirely
Webhooks aren't a competitor to REST or GraphQL — they solve the 'notify me the moment something changes' problem that polling an API repeatedly handles poorly and wastefully. For anything that needs near-real-time updates without constant polling, webhooks are usually the right building block.
Most real integrations combine approaches
A typical production integration often uses REST or GraphQL to pull and push data on demand, and webhooks to get notified the instant something relevant changes elsewhere. Treating this as an either/or choice misses that the three are frequently used together, each for the part of the problem it solves best.
Choose based on what you're integrating with, not preference
Many third-party systems only offer one of these options, which settles the question immediately regardless of team preference. Where there is a genuine choice, matching the approach to the actual data shape and update-frequency need produces a better outcome than picking based on which is currently trendiest.