REST API vs tRPC

The old reliable of web APIs meets typescript's love letter to api developers. Here's our take.

REST API

Nice Pick

The old reliable of web APIs. Simple enough to get you started, but good luck with those nested resources.

Pros

• Easy to understand with standard HTTP methods
• Stateless design simplifies scaling
• Wide tooling and community support

Cons

• Over-fetching and under-fetching data is common
• Versioning can get messy fast

tRPC

TypeScript's love letter to API developers. Write types once, cry about mismatched schemas never.

Pros

• End-to-end type safety without code generation
• Seamless autocompletion and real-time error prevention
• Reduces boilerplate by sharing types between client and server

Cons

• Tightly coupled to TypeScript, limiting use in non-TypeScript projects
• Can feel like magic, making debugging more opaque when things go wrong

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. REST API is a apis while tRPC is a ai coding tools. We picked REST API based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

REST API wins

Based on overall popularity. REST API is more widely used, but tRPC excels in its own space.