specification: API Commons Rate Limits
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/RateLimits
provider: Arbiscan
providerId: arbiscan
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
tags:
  - Blockchain
  - Cryptocurrency
  - Arbitrum
  - Layer 2
  - EVM
  - Web3
  - Rate Limiting
  - Quotas
  - Throttling
description: >-
  Machine-readable rate limit definitions for the Arbiscan API surface. Arbiscan operates as part of
  the Etherscan unified V2 platform targeting Arbitrum One (chainid 42161). Rate limits are enforced
  per API key across all tiers from free community access through enterprise dedicated infrastructure.
headers:
  limit: X-RateLimit-Limit
  remaining: X-RateLimit-Remaining
  reset: X-RateLimit-Reset
  retryAfter: Retry-After
  policy: RateLimit-Policy
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  serviceUnavailable: 503
limits:
  - tier: free
    name: Free Tier Rate Limit
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 3
    burst: 5
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: free
    name: Free Tier Daily Quota
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 100000
    timeFrame: day
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: lite
    name: Lite Tier Rate Limit
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 5
    burst: 10
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: lite
    name: Lite Tier Daily Quota
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 100000
    timeFrame: day
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: standard
    name: Standard Tier Rate Limit
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 10
    burst: 20
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: standard
    name: Standard Tier Daily Quota
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 200000
    timeFrame: day
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: advanced
    name: Advanced Tier Rate Limit
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 20
    burst: 40
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: advanced
    name: Advanced Tier Daily Quota
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 500000
    timeFrame: day
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: professional
    name: Professional Tier Rate Limit
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 30
    burst: 60
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: professional
    name: Professional Tier Daily Quota
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 1000000
    timeFrame: day
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: pro-plus
    name: Pro Plus Tier Rate Limit
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 30
    burst: 60
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: pro-plus
    name: Pro Plus Tier Daily Quota
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 1500000
    timeFrame: day
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: enterprise
    name: Enterprise Negotiated Rate Limit
    scope: contract
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: -1
    burst: -1
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
  - tier: enterprise
    name: Enterprise Daily Quota
    scope: contract
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: day
    applies:
      - Arbiscan API
policies:
  - name: Backoff Strategy
    description: >-
      Clients should implement exponential backoff with jitter, honoring the Retry-After header
      when present. The Arbiscan API returns HTTP 429 when rate limits are exceeded.
  - name: Burst Handling
    description: >-
      Short bursts above the steady-state per-second limit are tolerated up to the documented burst
      ceiling before throttling engages.
  - name: Quota Reset
    description: >-
      Daily quotas reset at midnight UTC. Per-second windows reset on a rolling basis.
  - name: Fair Use
    description: >-
      Even on uncapped enterprise tiers, sustained usage that materially impacts shared infrastructure
      may be subject to fair-use throttling or require dedicated infrastructure upgrades.
  - name: Chain Scope
    description: >-
      Rate limits apply globally across all chains accessed via the unified Etherscan V2 API key.
      Calls to Arbitrum One (chainid 42161) count toward the same quota as calls to other chains
      under the same API key.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com