Regarding the “it’s not worth the extra complexity” argument, I think it depends on how you’re creating your GraphQL server. If you’re writing the server logic yourself, I think GraphQL is absolutely not worth the extra complexity. Making a REST server is way easier than making a GraphQL server.
But I think the balance can tip in favor of GraphQL if you’re using a managed GraphQL server like Hasura. I’m using Hasura for a solo project and I actually find it simpler than maintaining my own REST API code. All I need to do is specify my data model and never need to write any boiler plate for new endpoints. I know there are similar services for REST that can automate the boiler plate code away (like Supabase). But Hasura automates away the hard parts of GraphQL, and I prefer the experience as a client of GraphQL over REST. I like being able to specify exactly what data I want from the API and being able to get values for foreign tables in one query without needing to join the data client-side.
But I think the balance can tip in favor of GraphQL if you’re using a managed GraphQL server like Hasura. I’m using Hasura for a solo project and I actually find it simpler than maintaining my own REST API code. All I need to do is specify my data model and never need to write any boiler plate for new endpoints. I know there are similar services for REST that can automate the boiler plate code away (like Supabase). But Hasura automates away the hard parts of GraphQL, and I prefer the experience as a client of GraphQL over REST. I like being able to specify exactly what data I want from the API and being able to get values for foreign tables in one query without needing to join the data client-side.