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: Deel
providerId: deel-com
created: '2026-05-25'
modified: '2026-05-25'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - HR
  - Payroll
  - Rate Limiting
  - Quotas
description: |
  Deel API rate limits. A single ceiling of 5 requests per second per organization is shared
  across all API tokens belonging to that organization. The same limits apply in sandbox.
  The API does not return rate-limit headers — clients must proactively queue requests.
sources:
  - https://developer.deel.com/api/rate-limits
  - https://developer.deel.com/api/best-practices
  - https://developer.deel.com/api/sandbox
headers:
  limit: null
  remaining: null
  reset: null
  retryAfter: Retry-After
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
algorithm: fixed-window
notes:
  - Limits are shared across all API tokens in an organization.
  - Rate limits apply identically in sandbox and production.
  - Exponential backoff is recommended: 1s, 2s, 4s, with jitter.
  - 429 and 5xx should be retried; 4xx other than 429 should not be retried.
limits:
  - scope: organization
    requests: 5
    period: 1s
    description: Combined ceiling across all API tokens issued to the organization.
recommendations:
  - Implement proactive request queuing — the API does not expose rate-limit headers.
  - Use UUID v4 idempotency keys on POST/PATCH so retries do not duplicate state.
  - Set request timeouts of 10 seconds and use HTTP keep-alive connection pooling.
  - Alert when error rates exceed 5% and when burst rate exceeds 80% of the ceiling.