gRPC is (mostly) a waste of time

August 14, 2025

gRPC is one option for creating type-safe binary APIs, typically for service to service communication. When it works it is fantastic; everything clicks together like LEGO pieces. While neat, I believe the benefit is not worth the cost. You probably need much less, unless you are operating at a Google or Netflix scale.

GZipped JSON over HTTP is plenty performant. Most programming languages have mature and efficient JSON and HTTP libraries. The same cannot be said for gRPC, which has questionable support outside of the Go and JVM ecosystems. Systems that need faster communication should probably not be separated over a network, if you can help it. The need for gRPC, therefore, represents an architectural or organisational failure masquerading as a technical one.

Valid uses for this technology certainly exist, but this is one area where the pursuit of type-safety and efficiency go too far for most projects.