I've come to the conclusion that whatever the question is, gRPC isn't the answer unless you are working on Google backend.
The performance benefit they mention comes at the cost of (un)debugability of the binary protocol, and the fact that the interface definition language requires client code generation just further deepens the existing moats between teams because of diverging tooling and explicit boundaries drawn up by said contract.
IMO gRPC mostly ends up used as a band-aid for poor cross-team collaboration, and long-term worsens the symptoms instead of fixing the core issue. The fact that it's PITA to use is secondary, but significant too.
The performance benefit they mention comes at the cost of (un)debugability of the binary protocol, and the fact that the interface definition language requires client code generation just further deepens the existing moats between teams because of diverging tooling and explicit boundaries drawn up by said contract.
IMO gRPC mostly ends up used as a band-aid for poor cross-team collaboration, and long-term worsens the symptoms instead of fixing the core issue. The fact that it's PITA to use is secondary, but significant too.