301 vs 308 Redirects: What Every Developer Should Know

In the world of web development, redirects are one of those things you don’t think about much—until they break something critical. Whether you’re migrating a website, restructuring URLs, or designing APIs, knowing the difference between redirect types can save you from hours of debugging and even lost revenue.

Two status codes often confused are 301 (Moved Permanently) and 308 (Permanent Redirect). On the surface, they seem almost identical. Both signal that a resource has moved permanently. But dig a little deeper, and the difference can have a big impact on how clients, browsers, and crawlers behave.

1. The Basics: What They Do

• 308 (Permanent Redirect)
  Introduced later (RFC 7538, 2015). It serves the same purpose as 301—a permanent move—but it also guarantees that the request method and body won’t change.

301 (Moved Permanently)
The oldest and most widely used permanent redirect. It tells clients and search engines:

“This URL has moved permanently, update your bookmarks and links.”

2. The Core Difference

The key distinction lies in how the redirect handles HTTP methods:

• 301 Redirect
  • By default, browsers often change the method from POST → GET.
  • This means the request body is lost.
  • Works fine for static content, but dangerous for APIs or form submissions.
• 308 Redirect
  • Explicitly preserves the original HTTP method.
  • If a client sends POST, the redirected request will also be a POST—with the same body.
  • This makes it safer for APIs and modern web applications.

👉 In short:

• 301: Safe for links, SEO, and static resources.
• 308: Safe for APIs, forms, and cases where you can’t afford to lose the body.

3. SEO Considerations

Search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) treat 301 and 308 the same way:

• Both pass link equity (“link juice”).
• Both signal a permanent move.
• Both help consolidate duplicate content under the new URL.

So from an SEO perspective, there’s no downside to using 308 over 301. But since 301 is older and universally recognized, it remains the default choice for most websites.

4. Compatibility and Support

• 301
  • Supported since the early days of HTTP.
  • Every client, crawler, and proxy understands it.
• 308
  • Officially standardized in 2015.
  • Fully supported in modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge).
  • Some very old clients or libraries may not recognize it.

Rule of thumb: If you’re working on something that must support legacy clients, stick with 301. If you’re building a modern API or web app, 308 is often the better choice.

5. Real-World Examples

• Website Migration
  Moving example.com/blog → example.com/articles:
  • A 301 redirect is perfect. All requests are GET anyway, so no body is lost.
• API Endpoint Migration
  Changing /v1/users → /v2/users:
  • A 308 redirect is safer. It ensures POST /v1/users with JSON data remains a POST to /v2/users with the same payload.
• Form Submission
  Redirecting after a form submission:
  • Using a 301 could silently drop user input.
  • Using a 308 ensures the data stays intact.

6. Temporary Counterparts (for completeness)

It’s worth mentioning the temporary versions as well:

• 302 (Found)
  Old and sometimes ambiguous—clients may switch to GET.
• 307 (Temporary Redirect)
  The safer modern alternative, which preserves the method and body.

👉 Think of 301/308 as the permanent pair, and 302/307 as the temporary pair—with the same method/body distinction.

7. Best Practices & Considerations

• Use 301 for:
  • SEO redirects
  • Website migrations
  • Static resource restructuring
• Use 308 for:
  • APIs
  • Form submissions
  • Any case where request method and body must be preserved
• Test before deploying —especially for APIs. A silent change from POST → GET could mean data loss, duplicate entries, or broken integrations.
• Watch out for caching. Browsers and proxies cache 301s and 308s aggressively. Once deployed, they’re hard to undo.

8. Finally

The difference between 301 and 308 may seem subtle, but in practice, it’s significant.

• 301 is the battle-tested workhorse for SEO and website moves.
• 308 is the modern, safer choice for APIs and data-sensitive operations.

As developers, we often learn these things the hard way—when a redirect drops a request body or causes an integration to fail. But knowing the distinction ahead of time lets us choose the right tool for the job.

👉 Always remember:

• 301 changes methods (POST → GET).
• 308 preserves the method and body.

That one difference can mean the difference between a seamless migration and a production fire.

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