Introducing faster polling times

Today, we're excited to announce that we've increased Zap polling speeds on several of our plans. This means that Zaps that use a polling trigger will check for new data more frequently. Woohoo!

Many of our users told us that faster polling time would make Zapier a more valuable tool for them, and we're excited to roll these changes out. Here's everything you need to know about our new polling intervals.

What is a polling interval?

Zapier offers two kinds of triggers: instant triggers and polling triggers.

When using an instant trigger, your trigger app will instantly let Zapier know whenever there's new data. Zaps with instant triggers are labelled Instant on your dashboard and in the App Directory.

The majority of triggers, however, are polling triggers. Polling triggers will look for new data in the trigger app at specified intervals. When using a polling trigger, Zapier will check for new data from your trigger as often as every minute or as infrequently as every 15 minutes in order to start your workflow, depending on your subscription plan. The polling interval (also called the polling speed or polling time) is how often the trigger looks for new data.

For example, imagine that you use Zapier to stay on top of new leads that come in via Facebook ads and move them into your email marketing app. Using a polling trigger with a 15-minute polling interval, Zapier will check Facebook Lead Ads for new leads on a schedule, every 15 minutes, and run the Zap if there are any new leads. With a one-minute polling interval, however, Zapier would check Facebook Lead Ads for new data a lot more often—once every minute.

Need more info? Read more about the difference between instant triggers and polling triggers.

How do I know if my trigger is a polling trigger?

Currently, all instant triggers are marked as with an "Instant" badge. All unmarked triggers are polling triggers.

Some apps offer only polling triggers, others offer only instant triggers, and yet others offer both. Major apps like G Suite, Mailchimp, Unbounce, Pipedrive, and more all use polling triggers.

Okay, so what's changing?

First things first: Free and Standard plans are not changing. These plans will still have a 15 minute polling time.

On our new Professional, Team, and Company plans, however, we've made polling speeds quite a bit faster. Here's how the new polling times compare to the old:

To take advantage of these new polling speeds, you'll need to switch to the new version of your current plan or upgrade to a higher plan tier. If you choose to stay on a legacy plan, you'll keep your current polling speed of every five minutes.

How do faster polling times help me?

Faster polling intervals mean that any Zap that uses a polling trigger will run more frequently—a huge plus if you're trying to streamline time-sensitive, business-critical processes.

When it comes to reaching out to potential customers, for example, the window of opportunity for turning them into an actual new customer is often very small. You have to get in touch with them quickly, before they lose interest in your product or business.

Lots of businesses use Zapier to automate the process of reaching out to new leads that come in through ads or online forms. With a faster polling interval, Zapier can check your trigger app much more often for new interested leads—and move them into an email campaign, send them a personalized SMS, or store them in your CRM so you can give them a call. That's a huge win for businesses that rely on timely outreach.

New polling times, same Zapier

We made all of these changes in response to feedback from the most important people: you, our users. If you have any questions about what these changes mean for you—or suggestions about improving Zapier in the future—feel free to drop us a line at contact@zapier.com.

Ready to take advantage of our faster polling times? Upgrade now.