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: freshdesk
providerId: freshdesk
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Customer Support
  - Helpdesk
  - Rate Limiting
description: Freshdesk enforces per-account API rate limits that scale with the subscription plan.
  Current plans use per-hour limits; legacy plans use per-minute limits with additional
  endpoint-specific caps (Ticket Create / Update / List, Contacts). Additional capacity (1,000-2,000
  calls) can be purchased.
sources:
  - https://developers.freshdesk.com/api/
headers:
  limit: X-RateLimit-Total
  remaining: X-RateLimit-Remaining
  used: X-RateLimit-Used-CurrentRequest
  retryAfter: Retry-After
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
  - name: Blossom (current plan)
    scope: account
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 3000
    timeFrame: hour
  - name: Garden (current plan)
    scope: account
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 3000
    timeFrame: hour
  - name: Estate (current plan)
    scope: account
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 5000
    timeFrame: hour
  - name: Forest (current plan)
    scope: account
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 5000
    timeFrame: hour
  - name: Growth (legacy)
    scope: account
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 200
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: Endpoint-specific caps — Ticket Create 80/min, Update 80/min, List 20/min, Contacts
      20/min.
  - name: Pro (legacy)
    scope: account
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 400
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: Endpoint-specific caps — Ticket Create 160/min, Update 160/min, List 100/min, Contacts
      100/min.
  - name: Enterprise (legacy)
    scope: account
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 700
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: Endpoint-specific caps — Ticket Create 280/min, Update 280/min, List 200/min, Contacts
      200/min.
policies:
  - name: Per-account scoping
    description: Limits are enforced per Freshdesk account, not per API key. Custom apps that
      consume the API count toward the account total.
  - name: Invalid requests count
    description: Invalid requests still count toward the rate limit.
  - name: Retry-After
    description: When the limit is breached, responses return HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header
      indicating wait seconds before retrying.
  - name: Capacity purchase
    description: Additional rate-limit capacity (1,000-2,000 calls) can be purchased and includes
      higher endpoint-specific limits.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com