We replaced REST endpoints with gRPC in a latency-sensitive service.
Metrics:
- Median latency: 45ms → 20ms
- Payload size dropped by ~70%
- Auto-generated client libraries boosted DX
But:
- gRPC-web still lacks maturity
- Debugging gRPC isn’t as easy as curl-ing a REST endpoint
Tradeoffs, always. But the gains were measurable.