Every gRPC handler in your Node.js service has the same auth check, the same log statement, the same error-to-status-code mapping. Here is the interceptor pattern that removes all of it and adds composable middleware to your gRPC stack in under 200 lines.
gRPC is faster, smaller, strongly typed, and has worse browser support and harder debugging. The decision is workload-specific. Here is the honest comparison: where gRPC genuinely wins, where REST stays the right choice, and the connect-rpc middle ground that resolves most of the trade-offs.