# Webhook

> An automated, real-time HTTP request that one application sends to another to deliver a data payload the moment a specific event occurs.

A webhook is an automated HTTP request that one application sends to another the moment a specific event happens, delivering a data payload in real time — no polling required. It is the mechanism independent systems use to notify each other of events as they occur. In AnyTrack, webhooks carry conversion data in **both** directions: into AnyTrack and out of it.

## What a webhook means for each marketer

- **Affiliate marketer:** Usually meets webhooks as the [Postback URL](/glossary/postback-url) — the network's webhook-style callback reporting a conversion keyed on the Click ID.
- **eCommerce marketer:** Store events (e.g. Shopify order webhooks) arrive via an [incoming webhook](/glossary/incoming-webhook); conversions can be pushed to a BI tool or warehouse via an [outgoing webhook](/glossary/outgoing-webhook).
- **Lead-gen marketer:** CRM and checkout events flow in via incoming webhooks; attribution flows back out to the CRM via outgoing webhooks.
- **Business owner:** The automation glue — Zapier or Make webhooks moving conversion data between AnyTrack and the rest of your stack, in either direction.

## Webhook vs Conversion API vs Postback URL

- [Conversion API](/glossary/conversion-api) — both are server-to-server HTTP, but a webhook is an event-triggered push to *any* endpoint you choose; the Conversion API is AnyTrack's specific outbound delivery to *ad platforms* with hashed identifiers.
- [Postback URL](/glossary/postback-url) — a specialized, affiliate-network webhook keyed on the Click ID and formatted as query parameters, not the generic JSON-payload mechanism.

## How AnyTrack uses webhooks

AnyTrack uses webhooks in two directions:

- **[Incoming webhooks](/glossary/incoming-webhook)** bring event and conversion data *into* AnyTrack from external apps — Shopify, Stripe, a CRM, or any system that can POST to a URL. Because they are an inbound channel, the integration webhooks that bring conversions in (such as the Shopify webhooks) are included on **all plans, Free included**.
- **[Outgoing webhooks](/glossary/outgoing-webhook)** push each conversion *out* of AnyTrack — with its full attribution data — to any endpoint you choose (CRM, BI tool, data warehouse, Zapier, or Make). The **Webhooks (Outgoing)** feature is plan-gated: available on the **Personal** and **Advance** plans only.

A [Postback URL](/glossary/postback-url) is a specialized, affiliate-network variant of an incoming webhook — keyed on the Click ID and formatted as query parameters.