July 2, 2026

Monolith vs Microservice

#system-design

Monolithic system

  • All units (ex. UI, Business Logic, Data Access Layer) are implemented in a single components or codebase and connect to one database.
  • Easy to deploy, debug, and maintain because there's only one artifact to deploy. No complexities of coordinating deployments. Fewer resources are needed for infrastructure and monitoring
  • This system can scale vertically only
  • Suit to small teams and create rapid prototype
  • Failure in one part can impact the entire system

Microservice application

  • One system divided into small units, communicating over a network
  • Each service connect its own database
  • Multiple deployment processes. Each service is deployed independently. Coordinating is needed.
  • Due to the system is decentralized. If system need to be scale. it can scale horizontally
  • Each service can be develop in parallel by multiple teams, using difference tech stack
  • More resources are needed for infrastructure and monitoring (network, auth, logging, tracing)
  • Need large teams to develop and maintain
  • Fault isolation; Failure in one service don't affect others

Resource