What should I use instead of polling APIs for near real-time sync?

For near real-time sync, the best alternatives to polling are usually:

1. Webhooks

   • The API provider pushes an event to your server when something changes.
   • Best when you control the receiving endpoint and want simple event-driven updates.
   • Common for payments, SCM, CRM, CI/CD, etc.

2. WebSockets

   • Keeps a persistent two-way connection open.
   • Best for truly interactive, low-latency updates where both sides may send messages.
   • Often used in chat, dashboards, collaboration apps, live status feeds.

3. Server-Sent Events (SSE)

   • A server pushes updates over a long-lived HTTP connection.
   • Simpler than WebSockets if you only need server-to-client streaming.
   • Good for live notifications, progress updates, and dashboards.

4. Message queues / event streams

   • Systems like Kafka, RabbitMQ, AWS SNS/SQS, Google Pub/Sub, etc.
   • Best for backend-to-backend sync at scale, decoupling producers and consumers.
   • Usually paired with webhooks or consumers for delivery.

5. Change Data Capture (CDC)

   • Captures changes directly from a database transaction log and streams them out.
   • Best when syncing from a source database to downstream systems with minimal latency.
   • Tools include Debezium, Kafka Connect, etc.

Which to choose?

• External system notifies you of changes → webhooks
• Browser/app needs live updates → WebSockets or SSE
• Backend integration at scale → event streams / message queues
• Syncing database changes → CDC

Common practical pattern

Use webhooks + retry + idempotency + periodic reconciliation:

• webhook for real-time updates
• retries for reliability
• idempotency to avoid duplicates
• a low-frequency backup sync to catch missed events

If you tell me your use case (browser app, backend sync, third-party API, database replication, etc.), I can recommend the best option.