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: Wordnik
providerId: wordnik
created: '2026-05-29'
modified: '2026-05-29'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - Dictionary
  - Language Data
  - Quota
description: >-
  Wordnik enforces request rate limits per API key (issued per Wordnik account),
  with both per-minute and per-hour ceilings. The hourly ceiling is the tier
  ceiling sold on the pricing page; the per-minute ceiling is a burst safeguard.
  Quotas may fluctuate as the system reconciles usage periodically, but Wordnik
  guarantees a key will never receive fewer calls than its plan permits.
  Remaining quota and absolute limits are reported on every response via
  X-RateLimit headers; consumers should inspect these and back off rather than
  retrying immediately.
sources:
  - https://developer.wordnik.com/gettingstarted
  - https://developer.wordnik.com/pricing
headers:
  remainingHour: x-ratelimit-remaining-hour
  remainingMinute: x-ratelimit-remaining-minute
  limitMinute: x-ratelimit-limit-minute
  limitHour: x-ratelimit-limit-hour
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  invalidKey: 401
  forbidden: 403
limits:
  - name: Basic (free) — hourly ceiling
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 100
    timeFrame: hour
    notes: Free tier for nonprofit / research use; commercial users get a free trial here.
  - name: Hobby — hourly ceiling
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 1000
    timeFrame: hour
    notes: $10/mo subscription tier.
  - name: Pro — hourly ceiling
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 20000
    timeFrame: hour
    notes: $59/mo subscription tier.
  - name: Enterprise — hourly ceiling
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 45000
    timeFrame: hour
    notes: $149/mo subscription tier.
  - name: Per-minute burst ceiling
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 'see x-ratelimit-limit-minute response header'
    notes: Wordnik enforces a per-minute restriction as well as the per-hour ceiling. The exact number is returned per-key in the response headers and is not advertised on the pricing page.
policies:
  - name: Inspect response headers
    description: >-
      Every response includes x-ratelimit-remaining-hour, x-ratelimit-remaining-minute,
      x-ratelimit-limit-minute, and x-ratelimit-limit-hour. Consumers should track
      remaining quota per minute and per hour and throttle locally before Wordnik returns
      a 429.
  - name: Reconciliation behavior
    description: >-
      Wordnik documents that the "remaining" value may fluctuate as the system reconciles
      limits periodically, but a key will never receive fewer calls than its plan permits.
      Treat the headers as advisory, not exact.
  - name: Backoff on 429
    description: >-
      When the API returns 429, wait until the next minute boundary (for per-minute throttling)
      or the next hour boundary (for per-hour throttling) before retrying. Use an exponential
      backoff with jitter to avoid synchronized retry storms.
  - name: One key per account
    description: >-
      API keys are issued per Wordnik account. Sharing keys across applications or users splits
      the quota; high-volume consumers should plan for one key per workload.
  - name: Tier upgrades
    description: >-
      To raise the published hourly ceiling, upgrade to a higher subscription tier via
      developer.wordnik.com/pricing. Higher-than-Enterprise volumes require contacting
      apiteam@wordnik.com.