Rate Limits
ChowAPI uses dual rate limiting: per-minute burst limits and monthly quotas.
Per-minute burst limits
| Tier | Requests/minute |
|---|---|
| Credit Pack (Dev/Builder) | 30 |
| Credit Pack (Scale) | 30 |
| Custom / Enterprise | Custom |
Monthly quotas
| Tier | Monthly calls |
|---|---|
| Credit Pack (Dev) | 5,000 calls ($5) |
| Credit Pack (Builder) | 25,000 calls ($20) |
| Credit Pack (Scale) | 100,000 calls ($50) |
| Custom / Enterprise | Custom volume + pricing |
Response headers
Every response includes rate limit and usage headers:
# Per-minute burst headers
X-RateLimit-Burst-Limit: 30
X-RateLimit-Burst-Remaining: 28
# Monthly usage tracking
X-Usage-Current: 45230
X-Usage-Period: 2026-03
# Daily limit headers (when applicable)
X-RateLimit-Daily-Limit: 2000
X-RateLimit-Daily-Remaining: 1750
# Monthly quota headers (when applicable)
X-RateLimit-Limit: 10000
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 8750
X-RateLimit-Reset: 2026-04-01T00:00:00ZWhen rate limited
You'll receive a 429 response with a clear error:
{
"error": {
"code": "rate_limit/burst_exceeded",
"message": "Too many requests. Limit is 30 requests per minute.",
"suggestion": "Wait a few seconds and retry. Consider upgrading for higher burst limits.",
"docs": "https://chowapi.dev/docs/rate-limits"
}
}