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Rate Limits

Elfa applies request-rate limits and credit limits by access model. Use this page when sizing an integration, configuring retry behavior, or deciding between API key and x402 access.

API Key Limits​

PlanRequests per minuteMonthly credits
Free60 RPM1,000
Grow120 RPM120,000
PAYG60 RPMPrepaid balance
EnterpriseCustomCustom

API key limits apply per key. Subscription credits reset monthly. PAYG keys have no monthly allocation. They draw down a prepaid credit balance at $0.0145 per credit; accounts already on PAYG before the price change keep $0.009 until 28 September 2026, 16:00 UTC (29 September, 00:00 SGT). See Pricing for plan costs and top-up details.

API v3​

v3 has a per-minute limit per key, set by the plan and shared with your /v2 requests. /v3/key-status returns it as credits.requestsPerMinute, and responses carry it in headers:

RateLimit-Limit: 60
RateLimit-Remaining: 59
RateLimit-Reset: 42

Over it, you get 429 ERR_RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED: wait RateLimit-Reset seconds. The limits per plan are in API Key Limits.

x402​

x402 endpoints use server-side request limiting. Unlike API-key plans, x402 has one baseline and no tiered subscription limits. Each request carries payment headers and is charged in USDC per call or per credit consumed by the endpoint.

x402
Limit1,000 requests
Window60 seconds
Scope keyClient IP address
Applies toDocumented /x402/v2 data, chat, and auto endpoints
Response on exceed429 Too Many Requests

Chat flows also include abuse protections (temporary/permanent blocking logic) that are separate from the RPM limiter. These are behavior-based and not published as fixed RPM quotas.

Avoid large traffic bursts from a single egress IP: the limit is counted per client IP. For payment details, see x402 Payments.

Handling Limits​

When an integration receives an HTTP 429 rate-limit response:

  1. Honor Retry-After when present; otherwise start with a short delay and increase exponentially, with jitter.
  2. Reuse cached responses when freshness requirements allow it.
  3. Avoid parallel duplicate calls for the same symbol, account, or time window.
  4. Track credit usage and request rate per API key, wallet, or agent identity.
  5. Monitor 429 frequency and tune concurrency.