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: Mathpix
providerId: mathpix
created: '2026-05-25'
modified: '2026-05-25'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - OCR
  - Rate Limiting
  - Quotas
description: Documented rate-limit posture for the Mathpix Convert API. Mathpix publishes per-account
  concurrency limits and recommends polling cadence (one second per five images for v3/batch).
  Quotas and per-tier rates beyond the headline image price are negotiated per account.
sources:
  - https://docs.mathpix.com
  - https://docs.mathpix.com/reference/post-v3-batch
  - https://docs.mathpix.com/guides/authentication
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
algorithm: token-bucket
spendLimits:
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    creditPurchase: 'topup'
    monthlyCap: 'account default'
  - tier: Enterprise / SCS
    creditPurchase: 'contract'
    monthlyCap: 'contractual'
limits:
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    api: v3/text (Image OCR)
    concurrency: account-default
    notes: Per-account concurrency limit. Contact support to raise the cap for sustained throughput.
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    api: v3/pdf (Document OCR)
    concurrency: account-default
    notes: Asynchronous queue; document size and page count influence end-to-end processing time.
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    api: v3/converter
    concurrency: account-default
    notes: Body capped at 10 MB JSON; conversion job runs in background once submitted.
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    api: v3/batch
    pollGuidance: 1 second per 5 images
    notes: Mathpix recommends waiting approximately one second per five images before polling
      v3/batch/{batch_id}.
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    api: v3/strokes
    bodyLimit: 512 KB
    notes: Request body capped at 512 KB JSON for digital-ink payloads.
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    api: v3/app-tokens
    rate: free
    notes: Token issuance is free. Tokens last 30 seconds to 12 hours; default 5 minutes.
  - tier: Enterprise / SCS
    api: All endpoints
    concurrency: contractual
    notes: Dedicated infrastructure with custom concurrency, throughput, and SLA terms.
notes:
  - Mathpix returns 401 for missing or invalid app_id / app_key headers, and 429 when an account
    exceeds its concurrency or burst capacity.
  - Use OCR Usage API (GET /v3/ocr-usage) with group_by=usage_type and timespan=hour to monitor
    consumption against your account budget.
  - For real-time client-side capture, mint an app_token via POST /v3/app-tokens and apply the
    token's expiration as the effective client-side rate window.