SOAP vs. REST comparison table Although REST is very popular these days, SOAP still has its place in the world of web services. To help you choose between them, here’s a comparison table of SOAP and REST, that highlights the main differences between the two API styles: SOAP REST Meaning Simple Object Access Protocol Representational State Transfer Design Standardized protocol with pre-defined rules to follow. Architectural style with loose guidelines and recommendations. Approach Function-driven (data available as services, e.g.: “getUser”) Data-driven (data available as resources, e.g. “user”). Statefulness Stateless by default, but it’s possible to make a SOAP API stateful. Stateless (no server-side sessions). Caching API calls cannot be cached. API calls can be cached. Security WS-Security with SSL support. Built-in ACID compliance. Supports HTTPS and SSL. Performance Requires more bandwidth and computing power. Requires fewer resources. Message format Only XML. ...