Rate Limits

Understand API rate limits and how to handle them gracefully.

Overview

The YourSend API enforces rate limits to ensure fair usage and system stability. Limits are applied per organization on a rolling window and vary by plan. They apply to the send endpoints — /v1/send, /v1/email/send, /v1/sms/send, and /v1/email/bulk.

Send Limits by Plan

Verification Limits

OTP verification (/v1/check) is limited to 30 attempts per 10 minutes per organization, regardless of plan. Each individual code also allows a maximum of 5 attempts before it must be re-sent.

Handling Rate Limits

When you exceed a limit, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests response:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "rate_limited",
    "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Try again later.",
    "status": 429
  }
}

Best practices:

• Back off and retry — Send limits reset on a rolling one-hour window; verification on a 10-minute window. Retry after the window rather than hammering the endpoint.
• Implement exponential backoff — Wait progressively longer between retries on repeated 429s.
• Queue large sends — For blast campaigns, use the dashboard or /v1/email/bulk, which handle batching automatically.
• Upgrade your plan — If you consistently hit limits, a higher plan raises your hourly send ceiling.