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When should I apply for a higher rate limit?
When should I apply for a higher rate limit?

Find out when to apply for production rate limits and beyond

Luke Chesser avatar
Written by Luke Chesser
Updated over a week ago

Every app that meets our API terms can sign up and use the Unsplash API for free, with a default rate limit of 50 requests/hour, referred to as a Demo status. This rate limit is perfect for:

  • educational purposes, like learning to use an external API, adding dynamic elements to a demo UI, etc.

  • small personal projects that aren't intended for the public

  • testing out the API

If your application is going to be consumed by the public or used for internal purposes at a large company, you should apply for Production status. To be eligible, your application must:

If approved by our team, the rate limit will be increased to 5,000 requests/hour. If your application is especially popular, we can increase the rate limits further, but we do so on an as needed basis.

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