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: Novu
providerId: novu
created: '2026-05-25'
modified: '2026-05-25'
tags:
  - Novu
  - Notifications
  - Rate Limiting
  - Quotas
  - Throttling
  - Multi Channel
description: >-
  Rate-limit policy for the Novu REST API. Per-tier requests-per-second envelopes are published
  on the Novu pricing page; every response carries IETF draft RateLimit-* headers plus the
  upstream RateLimit-Policy header documenting the active window. Mutating operations honor
  the Idempotency-Key header.
headers:
  limit: RateLimit-Limit
  remaining: RateLimit-Remaining
  reset: RateLimit-Reset
  policy: RateLimit-Policy
  retryAfter: Retry-After
  idempotencyKey: Idempotency-Key
  idempotencyReplay: Idempotency-Replay
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  paymentRequired: 402
  serviceUnavailable: 503
limits:
  - tier: free
    name: Free Tier
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 60
    burst: 120
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - https://api.novu.co
      - https://eu.api.novu.co
    monthlyQuota:
      metric: workflow_runs
      limit: 10000
      timeFrame: month
    description: Free tier per-API-key envelope. 10K workflow runs per month, no overage path.
  - tier: pro
    name: Pro Tier
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 240
    burst: 480
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - https://api.novu.co
      - https://eu.api.novu.co
    monthlyQuota:
      metric: workflow_runs
      limit: 30000
      timeFrame: month
    overage:
      unit: per_1k_runs
      price: '1.20'
      currency: USD
    description: Pro tier per-API-key envelope. Overage charged at $1.20 per 1K workflow runs.
  - tier: team
    name: Team Tier
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 600
    burst: 1200
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - https://api.novu.co
      - https://eu.api.novu.co
    monthlyQuota:
      metric: workflow_runs
      limit: 250000
      timeFrame: month
    overage:
      unit: per_1k_runs
      price: '1.20'
      currency: USD
    description: Team tier per-API-key envelope. Overage charged at $1.20 per 1K workflow runs.
  - tier: enterprise
    name: Enterprise Tier
    scope: organization
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 0
    timeFrame: second
    applies:
      - https://api.novu.co
      - https://eu.api.novu.co
    monthlyQuota:
      metric: workflow_runs
      limit: 10000000
      timeFrame: month
    description: Custom-negotiated envelope. Starting at 10M monthly workflow runs.

recoveryStrategies:
  - name: Honor Retry-After
    description: When you receive a 429, wait at least the number of seconds indicated by Retry-After before retrying.
  - name: Exponential Backoff with Jitter
    description: When Retry-After is absent, back off exponentially up to 60 seconds with full jitter to avoid synchronized retries.
  - name: Use Bulk Trigger
    description: Submit batches via /v1/events/trigger/bulk to amortize per-call overhead within a single request envelope.
  - name: Use Topics for Fan-out
    description: Use /v1/topics + /v1/events/trigger with a topic recipient to fan out to many subscribers with a single request.
  - name: Honor Idempotency-Key
    description: Re-send the same Idempotency-Key on retries; Novu returns the original response and sets Idempotency-Replay=true.

notes:
  - Rate limits are enforced per API key, per environment.
  - The 429 response body uses the standard ErrorDto schema and includes a machine-readable reason.
  - All mutating operations accept and respond with Idempotency-Key headers.
  - Tier upgrades / downgrades take effect on the next billing window.

references:
  - name: Novu Pricing Page
    url: https://novu.co/pricing
  - name: Novu API Reference
    url: https://docs.novu.co/api-reference/overview