name: ConvertAPI Rate Limits
description: ConvertAPI enforces rate limits based on subscription tier and server resource availability. Business and Enterprise customers have no hard concurrent request limits. All other tiers are subject to throttling during periods of high server utilization, returning HTTP 503. The recommended retry strategy uses progressive back-off with three attempts at 5, 10, and 15 second intervals. Conversion quota exhaustion returns HTTP 403.
url: https://docs.convertapi.com/docs/throttle-and-fallback
limits:
  - name: Free Trial Conversion Quota
    description: Total one-time conversions available on the free trial plan before purchase is required.
    limit: 250
    unit: conversions
    period: lifetime
    scope: account
  - name: Concurrent Requests (Developer/Startup/Growth)
    description: Simultaneous API calls are subject to throttling during heavy server resource utilization for non-Business accounts. Throttling returns HTTP 503 and is resolved by retrying with progressive delays.
    limit: variable
    unit: concurrent conversions
    period: real-time
    scope: account
    notes: Not a fixed numeric cap; throttled based on server resource availability. Retry after 5s, 10s, 15s.
  - name: Concurrent Requests (Business/Enterprise)
    description: Business and Enterprise plan customers have no hard limits on simultaneous API calls.
    limit: unlimited
    unit: concurrent conversions
    period: real-time
    scope: account
  - name: Conversion Quota
    description: Monthly conversion allocation varies by subscription plan. Exceeding the quota returns HTTP 403 Forbidden. Overage charges apply rather than hard blocking on paid plans.
    limit: plan-dependent
    unit: conversions
    period: per month
    scope: account
response_codes:
  - code: 200
    meaning: Conversion completed successfully
  - code: 401
    meaning: Invalid or missing API credentials
  - code: 403
    meaning: No conversions remaining — upgrade plan or purchase more conversions
  - code: 415
    meaning: Unsupported file format
  - code: 503
    meaning: Request rejected due to rate limits — retry after a few seconds
retry_strategy:
  description: Progressive back-off retry recommended for 503 responses
  attempts:
    - attempt: 1
      wait_seconds: 5
    - attempt: 2
      wait_seconds: 10
    - attempt: 3
      wait_seconds: 15