Kaizen #173: A Comparison of Zoho CRM REST APIs and GraphQL APIs

Kaizen #173: A Comparison of Zoho CRM REST APIs and GraphQL APIs


Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!

Zoho CRM offers two API architectures for its users: REST API and GraphQL API. Each of these API architectures has its own strengths and ideal use cases. In this post, we will discuss the difference between REST API and GraphQL API.

REST APIs, or RESTful APIs, allow clients to interact with server resources using standard HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE. GraphQL is a query language that provides a more flexible and efficient way to access data and metadata within your Zoho CRM. Unlike REST APIs that return fixed datasets, GraphQL allows you to request specific resources, fields of the resources and relationships of the resources, reducing redundant data and streamlining your development process.

Endpoints

REST APIs access information through dedicated endpoints. 

REST APIs: Multiple endpoints for different resources

In contrast, GraphQL APIs operate through a single endpoint. In Zoho CRM, it is {api-domain}/crm/graphql

GraphQL APIs: Single endpoint for different resources

Over-fetching and under-fetching of data

REST APIs use Unique Resource Identifiers (URIs) for identifying resources. This approach allows clients to access specific data, but it can also lead to inefficiencies such as over-fetching or under-fetching of information. Over-fetching occurs when the client receives much more data than it requires. Under-fetching occurs when the client requires to send multiple requests to fetch all the data it requires.
In GraphQL APIs, the client controls the structure of the response by specifying the exact information they need.  This enables the clients to have precise data control and avoids over-fetching and under-fetching of data. It fetches required data from different resources and provides it as a single resource.

Schema Introspection

GraphQL APIs have a schema that outlines the different types of data that can be queried in the server. This is like a blueprint for the API and serves as a contract between the server and client for data exchange. Refer to this post on Interpreting Zoho CRM GraphQL schema for more details.

Editions supported

REST APIs are available across all versions of Zoho CRM, including trial versions. GraphQL APIs are supported for Enterprise, Zoho One Enterprise, CRM Plus and Ultimate edition orgs. Please note that GraphQL APIs are not available for trial edition of these editions.

Status Codes

Zoho CRM GraphQL APIs mostly return 200 status code except for a few errors that return 400 status code. Refer to this page on GraphQL error and status code for details.
Zoho CRM REST APIs return different status codes. Refer to this page on REST API status code for more details.

Credits Consumption

   API rate limiting is crucial to ensure fair resource distribution, maintain optimal service quality for all users, and safeguard our system from potential security threats.
Both Zoho CRM REST APIs and Zoho CRM GraphQL API calls are associated with credits. Number of credits consumed depends on the intensity of the API call. 
Additionally, Zoho CRM REST APIs have Concurrency and Sub-concurrency limits. Concurrency limits the number of API calls that can be active at one time instance. It varies across different editions of Zoho CRM. For a few APIs that are more resource-intensive, there is an additional limit called sub-concurrency, The APIs that will fall under the sub-concurrency limit are
  • Get Records with cvid or sort_by parameters
  • Convert Lead
  • Insert, Update, or Upsert records (when the record count is greater than 10)
  • Send Mail
  • Search records API invoked from function
  • Query API
  • Composite API
Sub-concurrency limit across different editions is 10. 
 In GraphQL APIs, we have different concepts called Complexity, and Depth. Query Complexity refers to the workload imposed on servers by a specific query. This complexity increases with the number of fields requested and the depth of the query structure. Query Depth refers to the nesting level of a field that is being queried. In Zoho CRM GraphQL APIs it is limited to seven.

Suitable scenarios for GraphQL APIs and REST APIs

Let’s explore a scenario - the case of Zylker Manufacturing, an industrial equipment manufacturer. Their sales team uses Zoho CRM to enhance their sales operations and manage customer relationships effectively. Meanwhile, their sales support team relies on a legacy system to oversee their activities. 
The support team needs to retrieve comprehensive information about one account and its associated contacts to track all support tickets related to that account. They also need associated deals of the account for contextual information.
With GraphQL APIs they can use a single API call to fetch all required information to create a unified view. The below query fetches specific data related to Accounts and their Contacts and Deals, as well as metadata about the fields in the Accounts , Contacts and Deals modules.

{
    Records {
        Accounts(where: { Account_Name: { like: "%King%" } }) {
            _data {
                Account_Name {
                    value
                }
                Contacts__r {
                    _data {
                        Email {
                            value
                        }
                        Full_Name {
                            value
                        }
                    }
                }
                Deals__r {
                    _data {
                        Expected_Revenue {
                            value
                        }
                        Deal_Name {
                            value
                        }
                        Stage {
                            value
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    account_meta: Meta {
        Modules(filter: { api_name: "Accounts" }) {
            _data {
                plural_label
                id
                api_name
                module_name
                description
                singular_label
                fields(filter: { api_names: "Account_Name" }) {
                    _data {
                        id
                        api_name
                        display_label
                        json_type
                        data_type
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    contact_meta: Meta {
        Modules(filter: { api_name: "Contacts" }) {
            _data {
                plural_label
                id
                api_name
                module_name
                description
                singular_label
                fields(filter: { api_names: ["Email", "Full_Name"] }) {
                    _data {
                        id
                        api_name
                        display_label
                        json_type
                        data_type
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    deals_meta: Meta {
        Modules(filter: { api_name: "Deals" }) {
            _data {
                plural_label
                id
                api_name
                module_name
                description
                singular_label
                fields(filter: { api_names: ["Expected_Revenue", "Deal_Name", "Stage"] }) {
                    _data {
                        id
                        api_name
                        display_label
                        json_type
                        data_type
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}


Using REST APIs in this scenario will require multiple API calls to the following APIs
  • Query API
  • Related Records API
  • Modules meta API, and 
  • Fields meta API.
We had explored another scenario involving Zylker Manufacturing in detail in an earlier Kaizen post where their sales support team needed the below details from Zoho CRM
  • details of the contact, such as email, phone, and Account details
  • details of the ongoing deals of the contact, including potential revenue and stages. 

GraphQL APIs are beneficial in these cases as they can fetch the required data in a single data query.  

Conversely, in simpler use cases, REST APIs may be more suitable. Let’s examine a second scenario involving an inventory management system. Zenith Products needs to manage its product catalog. The inventory management system requires the ability to:
  • Fetch Details of a Single Product
  • Fetch Details of Multiple Products
  • Update Product Information
 Each product can be accessed via a unique URL (endpoint), allowing for straightforward requests. For example:
  • To fetch a single product: GET /crm/{version}/products/{product_id}
  • To fetch multiple products: GET /crm/{version}/products
  • To update a product: PUT /crm/{version}/products/{product_id}
In such cases, REST APIs are preferred due to their simplicity.

Note
Currently, Zoho CRM GraphQL APIs only support queries. Queries allow you to fetch data from the server.

You can choose to use Zoho CRM REST APIs or GraphQL APIs depending on the specific need of your application. REST APIs are suitable for straightforward data retrieval needs whereas GraphQL is useful in situations involving complex queries and need precise data control.
We hope you found this post useful. Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming Kaizen posts!

Info
More enhancements in the COQL API are now live in Zoho CRM API Version 7. Check out the V7 Changelog for detailed information on these updates.

Cheers!
Mable

    • Recent Topics

    • Create online meetings for Booking Pages with Zoho Meetings and Zoom

      Greetings, We hope you're all doing well. We're excited to share some recent enhancements to Bigin's Booking Pages. As you know, Booking Pages let you create public pages to share your availability so that your customers can easily book time slots with

    • Filters in audit logs

      Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin. We'll go over each one in detail. Previously, there were no filters available to narrow down data in audit logs. Now, we've introduced

    • Enhanced help options in Bigin

      Greetings, We're excited to introduce a new enhancement to Bigin's Help section: a comprehensive Help Options panel that brings together all your support resources in a single, well-organized space. Previously, the Need Help? menu provided only a limited

    • Zoho FSM API Developer Needed

      Hi, I’m looking for a developer with experience using Zoho FSM APIs. Scope: Connect WordPress website booking form to Zoho FSM Check availability (date, time, region) Create Work Orders + Service Appointments automatically Notify both customer and scheduler

    • Revenue Management: #4 What if there are uncertainties in project or service delivery?

      Our previous post taught us how Zoho Billing makes life easy for businesses with its automated revenue recognition rule. However, certain businesses have more challenges that an automated system cannot handle, and there are certain situations where automated

    • This mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com

      Bom dia, estou tentando colocar o número 11 94287-6695 e esta com erro "This mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com" pode me ajudar, por favor?

    • Items Serial Tracking Issue

      We enabled Zoho Items inventory tracking then disabled it after some time now we want to enable it again When I check the missing serial number reports I see one item But I cant see any option to Add the serial numbers Where and how to add the serial

    • Composite Services and Account Tracking

      I am looking to garner support/request the ability to make composite services. A quick search in the forums brings up multiple requests for this feature. I fail to see why an item is mandatory while services are optional. I also would like to see the

    • Zoho Payroll integration with Zoho Books - unable to match multiple bank feeds to one wage payment

      For one employee's wage, I make two partial payments. Those bank feed transactions come into Zoho Books via bank integration. I make one pay-run for the month in Zoho Payroll and that comes into Zoho Books via the Zoho integration. Zoho Books doesn't let me match multiple bank feed transactions against a single wage item. Please fix urgently. I can't complete my books because of this.

    • Add Checkbox Selection & Bulk Actions to Delivery Challans Module

      Hi Zoho Team, I’ve noticed that in the Sales Orders module, there are checkboxes beside each entry that allow users to select multiple records for bulk actions such as print, email, or delete. However, in the Delivery Challans module, this option appears

    • Can't be able to check-in in laptop

      even after giving location access still i can't be able to check-in in laptop.

    • Compensation Cess on Coal ₹400 per tonne. ?????

      The compensation cess rate varies by the type of product. And the cess is calculated based on the value of the product without GST. Coal, for example, comes with a cess of ₹400 per tonne. That means that if you sell 2 tonnes of coal that have a value

    • 7 month over zoho book purchase but still not immpliments Golive

      7 month over zoho book purchase but still not immpliments Golive one problems zoho team short out then other problems come still very poor mangments and immliments team . struggling with the templates in ZOHO Books. Especially with the placement of some

    • Average Costing / Weighted Average Costing

      Hello fellow maadirs. I understand Zoho Books uses FIFO method of dealing with inventory costing, but do you guys have any plans to introduce average costing? We indians need average costing. It's part of our culture. Please. I beg thee. Thanks.

    • SMS to customers from within Bigin

      Hi All, Is there anyone else crying out for Bigin SMS capability to send an SMS to customers directly from the Bigin interface? We have inbuilt telephony already with call recordings which works well. What's lacking is the ability to send and receive

    • How to update/remove file in zoho creator widgets using javascript API

      Hi Team, I have developed a widget which allows inserting and updating records I have file upload field with multiple file upload. Now while doing insert form record, I am using uploadFile API to upload files for that record. I am using updateRecord API

    • Parent & Member Accounts (batch updating / inheritance)

      Hello, I find the Parent Account functionality very useful for creating custom views and reports, but was wondering if I can also carry out batch editing on all members (aka children) of a Parent Account at the same time. Alternatively, can I set members to automatically inherit the values of the parent? For example: We have a chain of supermarkets that buy our products. These supermarkets are all members of a Parent Account in our CRM. We release a new product and all of the member stores wish to

    • Edit Legend of Chart

      I would like to edit the legend of the chart. Every time I enable the legend, I get a very unhelpful (1), and when I try to type to change to what I would desire, nothing happens, which is very frustrating. I've gone through your online tutorials and nowhere can I find a legend settings button. This seems a simple fix, where can edit the legend? Thanks.

    • Extended timeouts for APIs beyond 40secs for to accomodate LLMs

      A 40 second max response time for API calls is fine when connecting to most services, however is unsuitable when dealing with LLMs (ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini) where the response timing is very uncertain. Is there any way to increase this? It would be great

    • Deletion of Zoho Account

      To whom it may concern, Good day, My account has been created incorrectly in Zoho and I am not able to join my Company's Zoho account - attached screenshot for your kind reference Alphatronmarine - Portal Kindly advise procedure to delete this current

    • Workflow for deposit to bank account

      Hello, Is it possible to make a workflow when a deposit is made to your bank account which is coupled to Zoho books? I want Zoho to sent an email each time a deposit is made to our bank account via a workflow. Regards, Steven

    • Marking Retainer invoice paid through Deluge

      Hey Everyone, We have a scenario where we are collecting deposit payments on our website. Now, in zoho books, we need to create a retainer invoice and mark it as paid automatically using deluge just like we can mark normal invoices as paid. I have tried

    • Create a new record in custom module vi custom button

      I have zoho books premium plan . I have 2 custom modules in zoho books. 1. Goods Receipt 2. Delivery Order, I need to select multiple records from Goods Receipt and create a new Delivery order from these multiple records. (like multilple sales order into

    • Profile date settings

      At present I have "EEE, MMMM dd, yyyy" but this takes an exessive amount of column space, we should be able to input our own format. I would like to use "EEE, MMM dd, yy" - a much shorter version of the above but with the same abbreviated info, requiring

    • Delivery Method Field in Sales Order Module

      In Books and in Sales orders, the "Delivery Method" field seems to allow for anything to be entered and it seems to store those entries for future use.  When you chose to convert a sales order to a purchase order, the related field is now called "Shipment

    • Editing / Removing stages for pipeline

      Hello, I'm trying to create a new pipeline. I created a new stage and made an error when entering the probability. How can I edit fields in stages that I created? Can I delete these stages from "Add Stages" list?

    • Dynamically Filter User Lookup in CRM Subform

      We have a subform called Pricing Calculator in the Zoho CRM Opportunity module and need some assistance. Current Setup: First column: Picklist (Level) Second column: User Lookup field When a Level is selected, we want the User lookup to display only users

    • change time zone

      can't seem to figure out how to change the time zone of the project

    • Bigin iOS app update: Built-in telephony and RingCentral support

      Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce Built-In Telephony and RingCentral support in the latest iOS version(v1.11.13) of the Bigin mobile app. Once the integration is completed on the Bigin desktop site(bigin.zoho.com), you can choose the Built-In

    • Add Image or Update Image API - for Items Module

      I am trying to add new Items to Zoho Inventory from Zoho Creator. I achieved this using Zoho Inventory Create Item API, but how to add or update the item image from Zoho Creator to Zoho Inventory Item Module?

    • Introducing Booking Pages—a topping for your Calendar Scheduling needs!

      Greetings, We're here with a new topping for Bigin! Let's dive into the details. What does this topping do? Scheduling appointments with customers is one of the most common challenges small businesses face on a daily basis, as it often involves frequent

    • Debugging `try` blocks : Tip

      I find it annoying that if one line inside a `try` block has an error, the Deluge arser points the beginning of the block to the location of the error. BUT, if you temporarily comment out the initial `try {`  The parser goes through the whole block and

    • [Product Update] TimeSheets module is now renamed as Time Logs in Zoho Projects.

      Dear Zoho Analytics customers, As part of the ongoing enhancements in Zoho Projects, the Timesheets module has been renamed to Time Logs. However, the module name will continue to be displayed as Timesheets in Zoho Analytics until the relevant APIs are

    • Use approval workflow comments in record scripts

      Greetings, i'm running an approval workflow for my records, during approval/rejection there is a step where comments are entered. i want to add there comments to the record and to use them in various deluge scripts like sending emails and so on.  how

    • ZOHO Store

      Not able to make a payment We are using Zoho One, and we are from India. The payment currency, which shows for us, is in USD. But the system says we can choose Country/Region India if it shows INR only. Attaching screenshots for more info.

    • Support Migration into Aliases in Zoho Mail

      Hello Zoho Mail Team, How are you? We are in the process of migrating some of our users from Google Workspace (Gmail and Google Drive) to Zoho. During this process, we noticed that Zoho Mail currently only supports migration into a primary mailbox and

    • API for Z Workdrive Flow Make-Integromat ?

      We are zoho workdrive fans Also we would like to have an api to work with Zoho Flow or with Make better known by its old name INTEGROMAT Is it planned and when? 3 months -6 months or more?

    • Apps Pane no longer visible

      I have read all the info and help and nothing works, I do not have a "show apps" anywhere and I can no longer see my Apps pane in the left hand side of mail, please advise how to get this back

    • Canvas View - Print

      What is the best way to accomplish a print to PDF of the canvas view?

    • 5名限定 課題解決型ワークショップイベント Zoho ワークアウト開催のお知らせ(8/21)

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。Zoho ユーザーコミュニティチームの藤澤です。 8月開催のZoho ワークアウトについてお知らせします。 今回はZoomにてオンライン開催します。 ▷▷参加登録はこちら：https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/eVOEnBsSQ2uvX4WN5Z5DeQ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは？ Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目的とした「Zoho

    • Next Page