Over two years, @trpc/server went from 4.6% of graphql's npm downloads to 10.2%, growing 8.2 times against graphql's 3.5, while @apollo/client grew 1.8 times. What the trend says about how teams build APIs now, and the cases where GraphQL is still the right call.
@trpc/server monthly downloads as a share of @trpc/server plus graphql. Source: npm registry downloads API.
graphql is a dependency of many tools that aren't GraphQL APIs, which inflates its count.
More teams build one app with one backend in one language, where a typed function call (tRPC, or REST with a generated client) gives most of what GraphQL promised with far less machinery: no schema language, no resolvers, no N+1 to manage. GraphQL keeps growing, but its client libraries grow slowest, which fits it settling into the places it fits best.
Many clients you don't control, each needing different shapes of the same data: public APIs, partner integrations.
Several backend teams behind one graph, where federation lets each own its part.
Mobile apps that ship slowly, where clients asking for exactly what they need avoids versioning endpoints.
Not usually: one web app and one backend owned by the same small team.
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