Webhooks vs Polling: Choosing the Right Data-Sync Strategy for Modern Apps

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Modern applications need to detect external changes — such as completed payments — and two primary methods exist for this: polling and webhooks. Polling repeatedly queries an API at intervals, which is simple but wastes resources and introduces latency. Webhooks invert this model by having the external service push an event notification to the application the moment something changes, enabling real-time, event-driven architecture. However, webhooks introduce their own complexity, including duplicate event handling, security validation, idempotency, and reliable queue management in production environments. Experts recommend a hybrid approach — using webhooks for real-time updates while retaining scheduled polling as a reconciliation layer to catch missed or delayed events.

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