Web API Vs REST API

 

Web API type	Description	Type
REST	Follows REST architecture	RESTful
SOAP	Utilizes XML, strict standards	Non-RESTful
GraphQL	Flexible query language	Non-RESTful

	Web API	REST API
What they are	Web APIs encompass any API using HTTP or HTTPS. All REST APIs are Web APIs, but not all Web APIs are RESTful.	REST APIs are Web APIs that follow specific architectural principles like statelessness and client-server architecture.
State	Technically, they can be stateless or stateful.	Statelessness implies that between sessions of API invocation, the server that hosts the program doesn’t need to ‘remember’ or hold any information between sessions to perform the appropriate action.
When to choose	Non-RESTful Web APIs are used for stateful operations, ACID-compliant transactions with a web server, and working with legacy systems.	Statelessness is the main consideration when choosing RESTful APIs over non-RESTful APIs.
Common use case	Many legacy systems, especially those that communicate with systems such as hardware or IoT devices, also use non-REST-based APIs.	RESTful APIs are often used in web services that require standardized communication and interoperability between different systems.