API Gateway REST API versus AppSync

13 Mar 2026

Learn how API Gateway REST API differs from AppSync.

	API Gateway REST API	AppSync
Type	REST API	GraphQL
HTTPS/TLS	✅	✅
Backends	✅ Lambda ✅ Public endpoint ✅ Private endpoint ✅ AWS Service APIs	✅ Lambda ✅ Public endpoint ❌ Private endpoint ✅ AWS Service APIs
Costs	💰💰	💰💰💰
Maturity	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Authentication	✅ IAM ✅ API Key ✅ OpenID Connect ✅ SAML ✅ Social ✅ Custom	✅ IAM ✅ API Key ✅ OpenID Connect ✅ SAML ✅ Social ✅ Custom
Tenant-based Throttling	✅	❌
Request Validation	✅	✅
Req./Res. Transformation	✅	✅
Endpoints	✅ Public ✅ Private	✅ Public ❌ Private
WAF	✅	✅

Further reading