RestClient vs. WebClient vs RestTemplate

Using the suitable library to call REST API in Spring ‌Boot

I recently wrote an article about how to use WebClient synchronously in the Spring Web MVC stack and described if it is a good idea to call the WebClient block() operation in this case:

Using WebClient synchronously in Spring Web MVC stack

But after releasing Spring Boot 3.2, the story of calling REST APIs from a Spring Boot application has become even more complicated. By releasing Spring Boot 3.2, another new library has entered the game in this area: the RestClient library.

In this article, I will compare these three libraries for calling REST APIs in Spring Boot applications. I will also give some recommendations of which one is the right choice for different situations.

· What does RestTemplate lack from its competitors?
∘ Calling the echo service using RestTemplate
∘ RestTemplate supports the declarative HTTP interface!
∘ RestTemplate pros and cons
· What did WebClient bring us new?
∘ Calling the echo service using WebClient
∘ Defining declarative HTTP interface using WebClient
· Yet another HTTP client library for Spring Framework. Why?
∘ Calling the echo service using RestClient
∘ Migrate from RestTemplate to RestClient
∘ Defining declarative…