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Differences between Web Services and Web API

Difference between REST API and SOAP API

Last Updated : 08 Mar, 2025

REST (Representational State Transfer) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) are the most common methods for communications. These services enable the web to communicate with the servers with HTTP protocol. REST is an architectural style that works over HTTP for communication, while SOAP is a protocol with strict standards and is helpful for complex system operations.

REST API

REST, or Representational State Transfer, is an architectural style for building web services. It is mostly used for lightweight and stateless communication. It uses simple HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE to perform operations on the data resources.

Key Concepts

Rest uses URI, i.e. Uniform Resource Indetifier and assumes everything as a resource
It does not store any past data or requests and does independent operations
It relies on the HTTP method to request any type of operation on the resourse.
Rest usually works with JSON and XML data formats

SOAP API

SOAP, or Simple Object Access Protocol, is a messaging protocol. It allows the exchange of structure information without any platform. Soap uses the XML data format due to the complexity. It is mostly used for complex systems with strict standards ensuring security and reliability.

Key Concepts

SOAP is a protocol as it has some strict rules for data fomat and communication.
It manages the records and maintains the state between the requests.
SOAP relies on SSL and WS-Securiy for secured communication.
SOAP works with the XML data format to handle the complex data.

Difference between SOAP API and REST API

SOAP API	REST API
Relies on SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)	Relies on REST (Representational State Transfer) architecture using HTTP.
Transports data in standard XML format.	Generally transports data in JSON. It is based on URI. Because REST follows a stateless model, REST does not enforce message format as XML or JSON etc.
Because it is XML based and relies on SOAP, it works with WSDL	It works with GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
Works over HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, XMPP	Works over HTTP and HTTPS
Highly structured/typed	Less structured -> less bulky data
Designed with large enterprise applications in mind	Designed with mobile devices in mind

Differences between Web Services and Web API

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