We are at the stage where we need to select the best real-time communication method for our .NET applications and we can’t read all about everything.. I see the problem, so I made the solution for you, so that you don’t need to go here and there to make your decision..

First Deicide! [Framework]

Do you need bidirectional communication?
├── YES → Consider WebSockets/SignalR
└── NO → Do you control both systems?
    ├── YES → Consider Server-Sent Events/Long Polling
    └── NO → Consider WebHooks/Polling

Again,

Low Complexity, Good Performance → HTTP Polling, WebHooks

*Medium Complexity, Great Performance *→ Server-Sent Events, Long Polling

High Complexity, Excellent Performance** → WebSockets, SignalR**

Max Complexity, Max Performance → Custom protocols, Message Queues

*But the question that actually matters is about the latency tolerance, which is whether it’s a few seconds, sub-second, or a minute. The next thing is about the connection status — is it always connected, event-driven, or batch updates? and other things we can consider is infrastructure control, scalability req., and the development time.. and bla bla bla…*🔻

🔺Now see the Difference…

HTTP Polling

It is something like, your frontend asks the server “baby, anything new?” every X seconds…

Now, let’s talk about when to use this!

— Simple dashboards with non-critical updates   — Legacy system integration  — Low budget/timeline projects  ** —** Infrequent updates (>30 seconds apart)

But you can avoid it if you are working with something like real-time chat, like in your game application, but far more important is that you should not use this with a mobile application, as it drains battery faster….

Two **STARs **for the complexity

WebHooks

Okay so in this, The External system calls YOUR endpoint when something happens…

Use This, When —

Integration with external APIs (Stripe, GitHub, etc.)

  • Microservice communication
  • Event-driven architectures
  • Low to medium frequency events

Avoid when its about internal application communication, high freq. events or when you can’t expose public endpoints or when bidirectional communication needs…

Three **STARs **for the complexity (security and retry logic)

Server-Sent Events (SSE)

Ah! Server keeps a connection open and pushes data when available.

Use it when,

— Live dashboards and real-time analytics  — News feeds and notifications  — Stock prices or sports scores  — One-way data flow from server to client

Avoid when you want Bi-Directional communication or binary data transmission, legacy browser support required, or more than ~1000 concurrent connections per server

Again, Three **STARs **for the complexity

Long Polling

In this, the Client makes a request, and the server waits to respond until there’s data or a timeout.

When to Use,

— When SSE isn’t supported  — Simple real-time features   — Proxy/firewall-friendly environments  — RESTful API consistency is important

Avoid when your application demands high-frequency updates, modern browser-only environments, or complex bidirectional communications or if your application requirement is scalibility….

Four **STARs **for the complexity

WebSockets

Full-duplex communication channel over a single TCP connection…

When to Use,

— Real-time gaming   — Live collaborative editing   — High-frequency trading platforms   — Chat applications with complex features   — IoT device communication

When to Avoid,

— Simple notifications  — One-way communication   — Unreliable network environments   — When simpler solutions work

Five **STARs **for the complexity, actually connection management is bit complex..

SignalR

Well, this is Microsoft’s wrapper around WebSockets with automatic fallbacks… **SOOO…. **complexity bit less.. and this is what i am working on right now…

  1. Similar to WebSockets + framework overhead
  1. Automatic degradation to SSE, Long Polling
  2. Simplified group management and method calling
  3. **<200ms **(slightly higher than raw WebSockets)

When to Use,

— .NET ecosystem applications  — Need WebSocket functionality with fallbacks   — Real-time collaborative features   — Gaming or live applications

I don’t think it is a best fit for Non .Net frontend applications or some simple one-way communication or diverse microservice arc.

3 Stars man! it is moderate and good I think to implement

🔺So, Right Choice?

let’s let’s let’s try to analyze!…

*If your REQUIREMENT is to show order updates and some inventory changes, then ****SSE ****is the best fit because One-way communication, moderate frequency, simple implementation… and yeah if updates are frequent, then *HTTP polling

If your REQUIREMENT is…*** real-time messaging, typing indicators or presence,**** then ****SignalR(if .NET yo) or Websockets, ****because Bi-directional, low latency, complex state management, and that’s the *best fit

If your REQUIREMENT is… like updating a price in sub milliseconds, order execution, then the best choice is Raw WebSockets with custom protocols according to you, and yeah, it will give Maximum performance and minimal overhead

And yeah, there can be a lot of examples like **SSE **is best for Push notifications to users, things, and yeah, if you are building something that requires live collaborative editing, then SignalR or webSockets!

We can definitely explore more. Just let me know if you want another piece of this article!

*Thank you *🖤