Comparing getUpdates and setWebhook Approaches for Telegram Bots

I am planning to create a Telegram bot for a business project and I am weighing my options. My dilemma is whether to build the bot using the getUpdates method—suitable for developing a Windows desktop application deployed on a VPS—or to use the setWebhook method to create a bot using PHP. I would like to know which method performs better in terms of speed and overall efficiency, and I am also interested in understanding the other differences between these two approaches.

In my experience developing Telegram bots for business projects, the setWebhook approach generally offers better performance and efficiency compared to getUpdates. The real-time update notifications provided by webhooks reduce unnecessary resource usage on the server and lower latency, making them more suitable for high-demand applications. Although setting up a webhook may require additional configuration steps, including proper security and certificate management, the benefits in terms of response times and system load are significant. Conversely, getUpdates might be simpler to implement initially but could become inefficient as the demand on the bot increases.

hey, in my experiance webhok seemed more responsive than getupdats when load increases. getupdats can suffice for testing but might lag in prod. choose based on your scalability needs, imho.

Based on my personal experience, I have seen that while getUpdates can work well during the initial development stages, setWebhook tends to be the superior option in a production environment. I developed a bot for a project that demanded quick response times and low latency; using webhooks, the performance was significantly improved compared to polling the server continuously with getUpdates. Even though webhooks require a bit more initial setup, including security configurations, the overall reliability and scalability they offer in high-traffic scenarios are well worth the effort.