generated: '2026-08-13'
method: searched
source: https://dev.bitly.com/docs/getting-started/rate-limits
docs: https://dev.bitly.com/docs/getting-started/rate-limits
supplementary_source:
- https://bitly.com/pages/pricing
- https://dev.bitly.com/docs/getting-started/troubleshooting-tips/
- openapi/_original/bitly-v4-openapi.json
limit_count: 7
summary: >-
  Bitly rate-limits on three independent axes: concurrent connections per IP, a rolling
  hourly/per-minute platform limit, and a monthly API-request quota that comes from the billing
  plan. The monthly quota is the one that actually bites integrators, and it is published on the
  pricing page rather than the rate-limit page.
headers:
  published: partial
  note: >-
    This is the notable gap. Bitly documents NO X-RateLimit-*/RateLimit-* budget headers and no
    Retry-After. The only rate-limit-related response header declared anywhere in Bitly's own
    OpenAPI is X-Ratelimit-Reason, and only on 403 responses — a human-readable explanation, not
    a remaining-quota counter. An agent therefore cannot see how close it is to a limit from
    response headers; it must poll GET /v4/user/platform_limits or
    GET /v4/organizations/{organization_guid}/plan_limits.
  observed:
  - name: X-Ratelimit-Reason
    on_status: 403
    type: string
    description: An explanation of the ratelimit received.
    source: openapi/_original/bitly-v4-openapi.json
  absent: [X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, X-RateLimit-Reset, RateLimit, RateLimit-Policy,
    Retry-After]
introspection_endpoints:
- operationId: getPlatformLimits
  path: GET /v4/user/platform_limits
  returns: per-endpoint platform limits and remaining count for the authenticated user
- operationId: getPlanLimits
  path: GET /v4/organizations/{organization_guid}/plan_limits
  returns: monthly plan limits and consumption for the organization
exhaustion:
  status: 429
  error_codes:
  - code: RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED
    meaning: the per-hour or per-minute platform limit was exceeded
  - code: API_USAGE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED
    meaning: the account's monthly API request quota was exhausted
  - code: MONTHLY_BSD_ENCODE_LIMIT_REACHED
    alias: BRANDED_LINK_MONTHLY_LIMIT_EXCEEDED
    meaning: the monthly branded-short-domain encode limit for that custom domain was reached
limits:
- scope: per-ip
  dimension: concurrent connections
  limit: 5
  window: concurrent
  source: https://dev.bitly.com/docs/getting-started/rate-limits
  note: '"API users are limited to a maximum of five concurrent connections from a single IP address."'
- scope: per-account
  dimension: api requests
  window: minute
  limit: null
  formula: one-tenth of the account's hourly limit
  source: https://dev.bitly.com/docs/getting-started/rate-limits
  note: >-
    Bitly's worked example is 1,000 calls/hour corresponding to 100 calls/minute. The absolute
    hourly figure is not published; it is plan-dependent and must be read from
    GET /v4/user/platform_limits.
- scope: per-account
  dimension: api requests
  window: hour
  limit: null
  note: Not published. Plan-dependent; retrievable only from the platform_limits endpoint.
- scope: per-account
  plan: Free
  dimension: api requests
  window: month
  limit: 1000
  reset: first of the month
  source: https://bitly.com/pages/pricing
- scope: per-account
  plan: Core
  dimension: api requests
  window: month
  limit: 5000
  reset: first of the month
  source: https://bitly.com/pages/pricing
- scope: per-account
  plan: Growth
  dimension: api requests
  window: month
  limit: 25000
  reset: first of the month
  source: https://bitly.com/pages/pricing
- scope: per-account
  plan: Premium
  dimension: api requests
  window: month
  limit: 50000
  reset: first of the month
  source: https://bitly.com/pages/pricing
- scope: per-account
  plan: Enterprise
  dimension: api requests
  window: month
  limit: null
  note: Custom, negotiated with an account manager.
  source: https://bitly.com/pages/pricing