What is the difference between an event and a webhook?

What is the difference between an event and a webhook?

• A. An event captures the change in state of a Stripe resource.
• B. A webhook is merely a log entry.
• C. An event captures the change in state of a Stripe resource; a webhook is the notification mechanism.
• D. A webhook triggers an event automatically.

Answer: (C)

Events are Stripe’s records of changes to resources. Whenever something happens to a Stripe object—like a customer is created, a subscription renews, or a payment succeeds—Stripe creates an event that captures that change, including its type, when it happened, and the relevant data about the resource at that moment. These events form Stripe’s historical log of activity. Webhooks, on the other hand, are the notification mechanism. You configure a webhook endpoint, and Stripe sends an HTTP POST containing the event data to that URL whenever a new event occurs. Webhooks deliver the event to your system in real time; they are not where the change is stored and they don’t cause changes themselves. Because delivery can fail or be retried, you should verify the signature on incoming webhooks and design your endpoint to be idempotent. So the difference comes down to function: an event is the data about what happened to a Stripe resource, while a webhook is the channel through which that event is delivered to your application.

Events are Stripe’s records of changes to resources. Whenever something happens to a Stripe object—like a customer is created, a subscription renews, or a payment succeeds—Stripe creates an event that captures that change, including its type, when it happened, and the relevant data about the resource at that moment. These events form Stripe’s historical log of activity.

Webhooks, on the other hand, are the notification mechanism. You configure a webhook endpoint, and Stripe sends an HTTP POST containing the event data to that URL whenever a new event occurs. Webhooks deliver the event to your system in real time; they are not where the change is stored and they don’t cause changes themselves. Because delivery can fail or be retried, you should verify the signature on incoming webhooks and design your endpoint to be idempotent.

So the difference comes down to function: an event is the data about what happened to a Stripe resource, while a webhook is the channel through which that event is delivered to your application.