Webhooks vs. API

Webhook isn't the only way to share data; it isn't even the most popular of them all. APIs have been widely used for quite some time; in fact, it is the primary method used by apps to enable data sharing over the web?

Does the recent increase in webhook popularity mean that it is going to replace API? I don't see that happening anytime soon simply because webhooks and API have some differences in the way they work.

The main difference between webhooks and API is in the way they receive data. API makes use of a system called "polling" for getting data while webhooks use the "push" system. For API, your app makes periodic requests to the server to check if there has been any new data sent to it.

While webhook allows the provider to push the data to the receiving application the moment an event occurs. This accounts for the reason some people refer to webhook as "Reverse API".

APIs pull data from the server in order to stay up to date while data is pushed to the receiving app using webhooks.

Webhooks tend to spend fewer resources because apps do not need to constantly poll the server for updates. Even with this advantage that webhook users enjoy, you still find that most sites make use of API, while those sites that allow for webhooks integration also have API access.