---
title: "Rate limits"
source_url: https://dev.digicert.com/certcentral-apis/services-api/rate-limits.html
---

DigiCert APIs enforce a rate limit of **1000 requests per 3 minutes**, along with a short-term rate limit of **100 requests per 5 seconds** to protect against burst requests and prevent abuse.

**Items to note:**

- Rate limits are based on the authenticated user's API key and are subject to change without notice.
- Rate limits use a rolling time window, which means there's no specific interval at which rate limits reset. If you spread your requests properly, waiting a few seconds or minutes will restore API access.

## What happens if requests exceed rate limits?

The 3-minute and short-term 5-second rate limits use a rolling time window. When you send a request, the service checks how many requests have occurred in the preceding 5 seconds and then checks the preceding 3 minutes. If the number of requests exceeds either rate limit, API access is temporarily blocked, and all requests return a 429 HTTP status code with this JSON response:

```json
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "request_limit_exceeded",
      "message": "Service unavailable, please limit request volume"
    }
  ]
}
```