generated: '2026-08-11'
method: searched
source: https://runalphaloops.com/fmcsa-api/docs
description: >-
  Published rate limits for the AlphaLoops FMCSA Carrier Data API and the AlphaLoops MCP server.
  The REST limits and the full response-header set are documented in the "Rate Limits" section of
  the API reference; the MCP limits are published separately on the MCP reference page. THEY DO
  NOT DESCRIBE THE SAME LADDER — see the contradiction block below.

limit_count: 5

# The runtime signal — this is what an agent actually needs, and AlphaLoops publishes it well.
response_headers:
  - name: X-RateLimit-Limit
    meaning: Per-minute request ceiling
    example: '60'
  - name: X-RateLimit-Remaining
    meaning: Requests left in the current minute window
    example: '47'
  - name: X-RateLimit-Reset
    meaning: Unix epoch seconds when the per-minute window resets
    example: '1709325600'
  - name: X-DailyLimit-Limit
    meaning: Per-day request ceiling
    example: '5000'
  - name: X-DailyLimit-Remaining
    meaning: Requests left in the current day window
    example: '4832'
  - name: X-DailyLimit-Reset
    meaning: Unix epoch seconds when the daily window resets
    example: '1709337600'
  - name: Retry-After
    meaning: Seconds to wait before retrying
    type: integer
    declared_in: OpenAPI components.responses.RateLimited.headers
  - name: X-Enrichment-Credits-Remaining
    meaning: Enrichment credits left (contact enrichment is credit-metered, not rate-limited)
    related_status: 402
returned_on_every_response: true
verbatim: 'Rate limit headers are included in every response'
naming_note: >-
  Custom X- prefixed headers rather than the RFC 9239 / draft-ietf-httpapi-ratelimit-headers
  RateLimit-Limit / RateLimit-Remaining / RateLimit-Reset form. Retry-After is standard.
exhausted_status: 429
exhausted_body: '{"error": "...", "message": "..."}'

limits:
  - id: rest-enterprise-per-minute
    surface: REST
    scope: per-key
    window: 1 minute
    limit: 60
    burst: null
    tier: Enterprise
    source: https://runalphaloops.com/fmcsa-api/docs
  - id: rest-enterprise-per-day
    surface: REST
    scope: per-key
    window: 1 day
    limit: 5000
    burst: null
    tier: Enterprise
    source: https://runalphaloops.com/fmcsa-api/docs
    note: 'Verbatim: "Enterprise API access includes 60 requests per minute and 5,000 requests per day. Need more? Additional credits are available for purchase."'
  - id: mcp-free
    surface: MCP
    scope: per-key
    window: 1 month
    limit: 1000
    tier: Free ($0)
    keys: single API key
    source: https://runalphaloops.com/mcp
  - id: mcp-pro
    surface: MCP
    scope: per-account
    window: 1 month
    limit: 100000
    tier: Pro (from $499/mo)
    keys: multiple API keys
    includes: [webhooks, SLA]
    uptime_sla: 99.9%
    source: https://runalphaloops.com/mcp
  - id: mcp-enterprise
    surface: MCP
    scope: per-account
    window: 1 month
    limit: unlimited
    tier: Enterprise (custom)
    source: https://runalphaloops.com/mcp

per_endpoint_limits: none published

# A REAL, RECONCILABLE-ONLY-BY-THE-PROVIDER CONTRADICTION. Three public pages describe three
# different commercial gates on the same underlying data, and a developer cannot tell from the
# outside which one governs.
contradictions:
  - id: api-access-tier
    detail: >-
      The API reference and the OpenAPI description both state API access is "available exclusively
      on the Enterprise plan" (Enterprise is $4,000/month on the pricing page, where "API Access" is
      an Enterprise-only bullet). The MCP page simultaneously advertises a FREE tier with 1,000
      requests/month and a Pro tier "from $499/mo" with 100K requests/month, and its call to action
      is "Get an API key" with "Free tier available."
    sources:
      - {url: 'https://runalphaloops.com/fmcsa-api/docs', claim: 'API access is available exclusively on our Enterprise plan'}
      - {url: 'https://runalphaloops.com/pricing', claim: 'API Access listed only under Enterprise, $4,000/month billed annually'}
      - {url: 'https://runalphaloops.com/mcp', claim: 'Free $0 — 1,000 requests per month. Pro FROM $499/MO — 100K requests per month.'}
      - {url: 'https://runalphaloops.com/openapi.json', claim: 'API access is available exclusively on the Enterprise plan. Contact sales...'}
    unresolved: true
    note: >-
      Both surfaces authenticate with the same AlphaLoops API key (al_ prefix), so this is unlikely
      to be two separate products. Most plausible reading is that the MCP page reflects a newer
      self-serve ladder the REST docs and pricing page have not caught up with — but that is
      inference, and it is not recorded as fact.
  - id: window-units-differ
    detail: >-
      REST limits are published per-minute and per-day; MCP limits are published per-month. No page
      states a per-minute ceiling for MCP or a monthly ceiling for REST, so the two ladders cannot
      be compared without contacting sales.

overage:
  rest: 'Additional credits available for purchase (mechanism and price not published)'
  enrichment_credits: 'Add-on ladder published on the pricing page: 1,000/mo $500 · 2,000/mo $900 · 4,000/mo $1,500 · 8,000/mo $2,400'

evidence:
  - url: https://runalphaloops.com/fmcsa-api/docs
    http_status: 200
  - url: https://runalphaloops.com/mcp
    http_status: 200
  - url: https://runalphaloops.com/pricing
    http_status: 200
  - url: https://runalphaloops.com/openapi.json
    http_status: 200