Glossary
What is Rate limiting?
Verified 21 September 2026
A limit is only meaningful if it is counted in one place. Where a service counts separately on each machine that answers a request, the published figure becomes a floor that moves with however many machines are running — which is the opposite of what a limit is for. Counted once for the account, the published figure is the figure, in both directions.
Distinguish it from a quota. A rate limit bounds requests per minute; a quota bounds them per billing period. Exceeding the first returns 429 and should be retried with backoff — after the number of seconds the retry-after header names, which is a real wait rather than a token value. Exceeding the second is a billing event.
How unlob handles this: Rate limits and quotas
Common questions
What is Rate limiting?
Rate limiting caps how many requests a client may make per interval, protecting a service from overload and enforcing plan tiers.
How does Rate limiting work in practice?
Distinguish it from a quota. A rate limit bounds requests per minute; a quota bounds them per billing period. Exceeding the first returns 429 and should be retried with backoff — after the number of seconds the `retry-after` header names, which is a real wait rather than a token value. Exceeding the second is a billing event.
See it working
The free tier is 10,000 credits a month with no card — enough to test any of this against your own queries.