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: The Guardian
providerId: guardian
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - News
  - Media
description: The Guardian Content API enforces rate limits per developer API key. The free developer tier allows up to 12 requests per second and 5,000 requests per day. Commercial keys have higher or negotiated limits. Exceeding limits results in API errors and temporary blocking.
sources:
  - https://open-platform.theguardian.com/access/
  - https://groups.google.com/g/guardian-api-talk/c/X-v_2f_xwfI
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
  - name: Requests per second (developer tier)
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 12
    timeFrame: second
    plan: guardian-developer-free
  - name: Requests per day (developer tier)
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 5000
    timeFrame: day
    plan: guardian-developer-free
  - name: Requests per second (commercial tier)
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: second
    plan: guardian-commercial
    description: Higher limits negotiated with the Guardian Open Platform team.
  - name: Requests per day (commercial tier)
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: day
    plan: guardian-commercial
    description: Higher limits negotiated with the Guardian Open Platform team.
policies:
  - name: API key required
    description: All requests must include a valid api-key query parameter. Requests without a key are rejected.
  - name: Daily limit reset
    description: Daily request quotas reset at midnight UTC.
  - name: Non-commercial restriction
    description: The free developer key is restricted to non-commercial use. Commercial projects must obtain a commercial API key.
  - name: Student and research projects
    description: Non-profit, academic, and student projects qualify for the free developer tier with standard limits.