generated: '2026-08-14'
method: searched
source: https://whoapi.com/api-documentation/
docs:
- https://whoapi.com/api-documentation/
- https://whoapi.com/faq/
- https://whoapi.com/whois-api-pricing/
note: >-
  WhoAPI enforces two distinct limits and signals BOTH in-band, inside an HTTP
  200 body, via the numeric `status` field. There are NO rate-limit response
  headers — no X-RateLimit-*, no RateLimit-*, no Retry-After — and no 429 status
  code, so an agent cannot read remaining quota or a retry delay from the
  response envelope. It must parse `status` and branch on 16 / 17 / 18 / 36.
  This is the runtime-signal gap for this provider: the numbers are published on
  the pricing pages, but the API returns none of them at request time.
limit_count: 4
signalling:
  http_status_on_exhaustion: 200
  status_code_field: status
  description_field: status_desc
  headers: []
  retry_after_header: false
  rate_limit_headers: false
  quota_headers: false
  proactive_notice: >-
    WhoAPI emails the account holder ahead of time when the remaining request
    balance approaches zero (source https://whoapi.com/faq/).
limits:
- id: ip-burst-block
  scope: per-ip
  window: 1 minute
  limit: null
  burst: null
  action: block
  block_duration: 1 minute
  signal: {status: 16, status_desc: 'Too many tries, your IP has been blocked for a minute.'}
  http_status: 200
  note: >-
    A per-IP burst throttle. The threshold is NOT published — only the effect
    (a one-minute IP block) and the status code that reports it.
- id: plan-query-limit
  scope: per-account
  window: month
  limit: plan-dependent
  action: reject
  signal: {status: 17, status_desc: Query limit exceeded.}
  http_status: 200
  note: Monthly request allowance for the subscribed API; see plans/whoapi-plans-pricing.yml.
- id: high-usage-limit
  scope: per-account
  window: unspecified
  limit: plan-dependent
  action: reject
  signal: {status: 18, status_desc: Query high usage limit exceeded.}
  http_status: 200
  note: A secondary high-usage ceiling applied above the plan allowance; threshold not published.
- id: monthly-quota-exhausted
  scope: per-account
  window: month
  limit: plan-dependent
  action: reject
  signal: {status: 36, status_desc: 'You run out of monthly requests. Query limit exceeded.'}
  http_status: 200
  billing: not-charged
  note: >-
    Confirmed on the FAQ — once the monthly allowance is spent the account is
    neither charged nor served. Related account-state codes 33/34/35 report the
    free-tier equivalents.
plan_quotas:
  source: plans/whoapi-plans-pricing.yml
  unit: requests/month
  range: {min: 10000, max: 5000000}
  free_tier: {requests: 10000, recurring: false}
related:
  errors: errors/whoapi-error-codes.yml
  conventions: conventions/whoapi-conventions.yml
  plans: plans/whoapi-plans-pricing.yml