name: Protomaps Rate Limits
description: Rate limits and usage policies for the Protomaps hosted tile API.
url: https://protomaps.com/api
created: 2026-06-13
modified: 2026-06-13

limits:

  - name: Monthly Tile Request Soft Cap
    description: Soft cap on tile requests per month for all hosted API accounts. Applies to all tiers (free and commercial).
    type: soft
    quota: 1000000
    unit: requests
    period: month
    enforcement: soft
    notes: Not a hard cutoff; behavior above this threshold is not explicitly published. Users exceeding the cap are encouraged to self-host.

  - name: Maximum Zoom Level
    description: The hosted API serves tiles up to zoom level 15. No tiles are served beyond this zoom.
    type: hard
    quota: 15
    unit: zoom-level
    period: per-request
    enforcement: hard

  - name: CORS Restrictions
    description: Browser requests must include a valid Origin header that matches the allowlist configured for the API key. Localhost requests with a valid API key are exempt.
    type: policy
    enforcement: hard

  - name: API Key Required
    description: All requests to api.protomaps.com require a valid API key passed as a query parameter.
    type: policy
    enforcement: hard
    parameter: key
    example: "https://api.protomaps.com/tiles/v4/{z}/{x}/{y}.mvt?key=MY_KEY"

  - name: Usage History Window
    description: Usage data is available across all keys for the last 90 days via the account dashboard.
    type: observability
    period: 90-days

policies:
  - Non-commercial use: free, no sponsorship required
  - Commercial use: requires active GitHub Sponsorship at $14/month or higher
  - Users exceeding limits should consider self-hosting via PMTiles on cloud storage
  - FAQ available at https://protomaps.com/api for details on overage handling