Web Development • Published August 20, 2026

Handling Binary Data in JSON & REST APIs: Base64 vs Multipart vs Raw Streams

Learn when to encode binary data as Base64 inside JSON vs using multipart/form-data or binary octet streams. Architectural benchmarks and API best practices.

Architectural evaluation of transmitting files and binary payloads in REST APIs: embedding Base64 strings in JSON vs multipart/form-data vs raw binary streaming.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. When should I avoid Base64 in JSON APIs?

Avoid Base64 for multi-megabyte video, audio, or document uploads because JSON parsing must load the entire string into memory, increasing server RAM usage.