Comparison between API Gateway and AWS AppSync
When we are developing any application, we need some API through which we can communicate from client to our server or with other application in a secure way, Both API Gateway and AppSync help us to achieve this.
Both having different advantages in different scenarios. So, in this post we will try to understand the comparison between API Gateway and AppSync.
So let’s start :-
API Gateway :-
API Gateway is a fully managed service that makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale. It allows developers to create RESTful APIs that can handle HTTP/HTTPS requests and route them to various back-end services such as Lambda functions, EC2 instances, and more.
AWS AppSync :-
AWS AppSync is a fully managed service for real-time data queries, synchronization, and communications. Provides a robust, scalable GraphQL interface for application developers to combine data from multiple sources, including Amazon DynamoDB, AWS Lambda, and HTTP APIs.
API Gateway vs AWS AppSync :-
Below is some point based on which we can compare both
API Gateway features :
- Creating RESTful APIs: API Gateway allows developers to create RESTful APIs that can handle HTTP/HTTPS requests and route them to various back-end services such as Lambda functions, EC2 instances, and more.
- Deployment: API Gateway allows you to create multiple stages for your APIs, such as “production” and “test”, and easily deploy changes to those stages.
- Integration: API Gateway integrates with other AWS services like AWS Lambda, Amazon SNS, and Amazon SQS, which allows you to build serverless and event-driven architectures.
- Authentication and Authorization: API Gateway supports various authentication methods such as AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon Cognito, and third-party OAuth providers. It also allows you to set up fine-grained access controls using IAM policies.
- Monitoring and Logging: API Gateway allows you to monitor the usage and performance of your APIs using Amazon CloudWatch and export access logs to other services such as Amazon S3 and CloudWatch Logs.
- Caching: API Gateway can cache responses from your back-end services, improving the performance and reducing the load on those services.
- Throttling: API Gateway can limit the number of requests a client can make in a given time period, to protect your back-end services from overuse and abuse.
AWS AppSync features :
- Real-time and offline functionality: AppSync allows you to create real-time and offline functionality with subscriptions, which allows clients to receive updates in real-time when the data they are interested in changes, and caching, which allows clients to access the data when they are offline.
- Data source integration: AppSync supports integration with various data sources such as AWS DynamoDB, AWS Lambda, and AWS Elasticsearch Service. It also allows you to connect to any HTTP data source using the HTTP data source type.
- Authentication and Authorization: AppSync supports various authentication methods such as AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon Cognito, and OpenID Connect. It also allows you to set up fine-grained access controls using GraphQL schema directives.
- Monitoring and Logging: AppSync allows you to monitor the usage and performance of your APIs using Amazon CloudWatch and export access logs to other services such as Amazon S3 and CloudWatch Logs.
- API Key management: AppSync allows you to create and manage API keys, which can be used to control access to your GraphQL API.
- Resolver Mapping Template: AppSync allows you to write mapping templates to transform the incoming GraphQL request into a format that your data source can understand, and to transform the response from your data source into the format that the client expects.
- Schema management: AppSync allows you to create and manage your GraphQL schema using the AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS SDKs.
API Gateway Advantages :
- Ease of use: API Gateway provides an easy-to-use interface for creating, deploying, and managing APIs. It allows you to create RESTful and WebSocket APIs, and also provides a visual editor for creating and testing your APIs.
- Integration: API Gateway allows you to integrate your APIs with other AWS services, such as AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, and Amazon SNS, as well as any HTTP backend.
- Scalability: API Gateway is a fully managed service, which means that it can automatically scale to handle the number of requests and the size of your data.
- Security: API Gateway provides a number of security features to protect your APIs from unauthorized access, such as AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Amazon Cognito for authentication and access control, and the ability to configure custom domain names and SSL/TLS certificates for your APIs.
- Monitoring and logging: API Gateway allows you to monitor the usage and performance of your APIs using Amazon CloudWatch and export access logs to other services such as Amazon S3 and CloudWatch Logs.
- Traffic management: API Gateway allows you to control and manage the traffic to your APIs by setting up throttling and caching, and it also provides a number of other features like caching, CORS, and binary support.
- Easy to use with other service: API Gateway is a fully managed service which can be easily integrated with other AWS services. This makes it easy to build, deploy, and manage applications and microservices in the cloud.
- Cost effective: API Gateway has a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which allows you to pay only for the resources you use, making it cost-effective for small, medium and large scale applications.
AWS AppSync Advantages :
- Real-time and offline functionality: With AppSync, you can create real-time and offline functionality with subscriptions, which allows clients to receive updates in real-time when the data they are interested in changes, and caching, which allows clients to access the data when they are offline.
- Easy to develop and maintain: AppSync allows you to create and manage your GraphQL schema using the AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS SDKs. It also allows you to write mapping templates to transform the incoming GraphQL request into a format that your data source can understand, and to transform the response from your data source into the format that the client expects.
- Easy to scale: AppSync is a fully managed service, which means that it can automatically scale to handle the number of requests and the size of your data.
- Flexible security: AppSync supports various authentication methods such as AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon Cognito, and OpenID Connect. It also allows you to set up fine-grained access controls using GraphQL schema directives.
- Efficient data fetching: AppSync’s GraphQL schema allows clients to specify exactly the data they need, which can reduce the number of network round trips and the amount of data transferred, resulting in a more efficient and performant API.
- Strongly typed schema: AppSync uses GraphQL schema, which is a strongly typed schema language, to define the types of data that the API can return. This allows clients to understand the shape of the data they can request and makes it easier to catch errors early in the development process.
- Easy data source integration: AppSync supports integration with various data sources such as AWS DynamoDB, AWS Lambda, and AWS Elasticsearch Service. It also allows you to connect to any HTTP data source using the HTTP data source type.
Conclusion :-
In this post we have discussed about API Gateway and AppSync and also did the comparison based on certain parameters. As a summary, we can say API Gateway is a good choice for simple RESTful APIs that do not require real-time functionality or fine-grained access controls. While AppSync is a better choice for applications that require real-time functionality, offline access, efficient data fetching, group based authorization and scalable WebSockets. But AppSync has a steeper learning curve, and it may be more expensive than API Gateway.
- Note: Some features get updated time to time, so please respond if I missed something or wrongly explained.
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