---
title: "How to Increase Your API Rate Limits on WhoisFreaks"
slug: "/resources/tutorial/how-to-increase-your-api-rate-limits-on-whoisfreaks"
description: "Increase your API rate limit without upgrading plans. Add requests per minute from the billing dashboard and see the exact add-on price first."
---

# How to Increase Your API Rate Limits on WhoisFreaks

Written By [Qasim](https://pk.linkedin.com/in/qasimleoo), WhoisFreaks Team Published: September 25, 2026, Last Updated: September 25, 2026

If your integration returns 429 Too Many Requests while you still have API credits left, you have hit your API rate limit, not your quota. You can raise your requests per minute from the billing dashboard with a rate-limit add-on, without upgrading your plan. This guide covers the flow, the pricing formula, and how to cancel.

> _Not sure which limit you hit?_ [_Read how API rate limiting works_](https://whoisfreaks.com/documentation/api-rate-limiting) _first._

## Prerequisites

#### Before you start, you need:

*   An active paid API subscription. The free 500 credits cannot carry an add-on. See [how to buy API credits or start a subscription](https://whoisfreaks.com/resources/tutorial/how-to-buy-api-credits-or-start-a-subscription-on-whoisfreaks).
*   A card on file, billed through Stripe or Paddle. The add-on is added to your existing subscription, so you are never asked to re-enter card details.

## API Rate Limits vs API Credits

| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 429 Too Many Requests, credits remaining | Requests sent faster than your per-minute allowance | Rate-limit add-on (this guide) |
| Requests refused, credits at zero | Query quota spent for the period | Buy credits or [change plan](https://whoisfreaks.com/resources/tutorial/how-to-upgrade-or-downgrade-an-api-subscription-in-whoisfreaks) |

A throttled request returns 429 and does not consume a credit. If you would rather absorb 429s in code than pay for headroom, see [handling API rate limits and errors](https://whoisfreaks.com/resources/tutorial/how-to-handle-whois-api-rate-limits-and-errors).

## Step 1: Open Your API Subscription

Sign in to the [WhoisFreaks dashboard](https://whoisfreaks.com/login), go to Billing > Your Subscriptions, and select the API Subscriptions tab.

Beside your plan card is a `Rate limits` card, labelled **_API plan limits & add-ons_**. Everything below happens there.

## Step 2: Find Which Rate Limit to Increase

Rate limits are enforced per endpoint category, not globally, so 429s on historical queries are unrelated to your live lookup volume. Click Show rate limit Map in the dialog to see this in the dashboard:

| Category | Endpoints |
| --- | --- |
| Live | WHOIS, DNS, ASN, IP WHOIS, IP Geolocation, IP Security, Domain Availability, Domain Reputation lookups |
| DB  | WHOIS and DNS historical and reverse, Subdomains, Domain Typos |
| Bulk | WHOIS bulk, DNS bulk, Domain Availability bulk, IP Geolocation bulk, IP Security bulk |

Read `x-ratelimit-allowed-requests` off a real response to confirm the category ceiling you are hitting:

```
curl -s -D - -o /dev/null "https://api.whoisfreaks.com/v2.0/whois/live?apiKey=YOUR_API_KEY&domainName=whoisfreaks.com"
```

## Step 3: Enter Your New Requests Per Minute

Click **Increase rate limits** on the card. Three fields open, each pre-filled with your plan's limit.

Enter the **total** requests per minute you want, not the amount to add. On the 5,000-credit plan (20 live rpm), type 100 to get 100, and the dashboard derives the increment of 80.

*   You can only increase. A lower value snaps back with _"You cannot decrease limits, only increase them."_
*   At least one category must go up, or you get _"At least one value must be increased."_
*   Whole numbers only.

## Step 4: Get the Rate Limit Add-On Price

Click **Get price**. Nothing is charged yet. **Confirm** stays disabled until you price the change, so you always see the number first.

You get an **Estimated total** plus one of three invoice messages:

| Message | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| "You will be charged $X immediately..." | $X is the difference between this add-on and the priciest add-on you have had here |
| "You will be invoiced $5.00 immediately..." | That difference fell under $5.00. Immediate add-on invoices have a $5.00 floor |
| "You won't be charged anything immediately." | You are at or below an add-on already paid for, so nothing new is due today |

The **Estimated total** is the **recurring** amount added to every invoice, monthly or yearly to match your plan. It is not prorated, and it already reflects any coupon on your subscription.

## Step 5: Confirm

Click **Confirm**. The add-on is created on your subscription, the immediate invoice is charged if there is one, and your API key's limits are rewritten and pushed to the API gateway.

**New limits apply immediately.** No key rotation, no waiting for the next billing cycle. Your next response already reports the new `x-ratelimit-allowed-requests`.

If the charge fails, the add-on is rolled back, and nothing is applied. Failures surface as a generic _"There was an error. Please contact support."_ toast.

The card then shows **Rate limit add-on active** with your price and a per-category breakdown:

```
Live: 20  +80  = 100
DB:   3   +0   = 3
Bulk: 8   +0   = 8
```

## Rate Limit Add-On Pricing Formula

An add-on is priced as a proportion of the plan you are already on, not from a per-request price list.

### Step A

Convert limits into capacity units:

| Category | Units per 1 rpm |
| --- | --- |
| Live | 1   |
| Bulk | 4   |
| DB (historical, reverse, subdomains, typos) | 6   |

### Step B

Apply the formula:

```
add-on price = 0.35 × plan rate × (units added / plan units)
```

Worked example, 5,000-credit plan at $10/month (Live 20, Bulk 8, Hist/Rev 3), raising Live to 100:

```
plan units  = (20 × 1) + (8 × 4) + (3 × 6) = 70
units added = 80 live × 1                  = 80

price = 0.35 × $10.00 × (80 / 70)
      = $4.00...  ->  $4.01 per month
```

Cents always round _up_, which is why an apparently exact $4.00 bills as $4.01.

| Change on the 5,000-credit plan | Add-on price |
| --- | --- |
| Live 20 -> 100 | $4.01 / month |
| Bulk 8 -> 18 | $2.00 / month |
| Historical/Reverse 3 -> 8 | $1.51 / month |

Three things follow from the formula:

*   **DB capacity costs 6x live capacity:** Raise only the category you are actually throttled in.
*   **The same increase costs more on a bigger plan;** Live +80 is $4.01/month on the $10 plan and $37.57/month on the $550 plan.
*   **Yearly plans keep their discount:** Live 20 > 100 on the $100/year plan is $40.01 per year, about $3.33 a month.

**Get price** stays authoritative, because it also applies your coupon. Use the formula to budget.

## Update or Cancel Your Rate Limit Add-On

Only _one add-on runs per subscription_, so raising limits again replaces it rather than stacking.

**To update:** click Get new price. The fields reset to your plan limits, not your current effective limits, so enter totals measured from the plan baseline. Price it, then click Update limits. You are charged only the difference.

**To cancel:** click Cancel add-on, then Confirm cancel. The line item comes off your next invoice straight away, but your raised limits stay until your subscription renews, since you have already paid for the period. At renewal your API key reverts to plan limits.

Cancelling the subscription itself clears every add-on and your per-key limits. See [how to manage your subscription](https://whoisfreaks.com/resources/tutorial/how-to-manage-your-subscription-on-whoisfreaks).

## Summary

| Step | Action |
| --- | --- |
| 1   | Billing -> Your Subscriptions -> API Subscriptions |
| 2   | Identify the throttled category from x-ratelimit-allowed-requests |
| 3   | Click Increase rate limits and enter new per-minute totals |
| 4   | Click Get price and read both amounts |
| 5   | Click Confirm. Limits apply immediately |

Add-ons suit a plan whose credits fit but whose pace does not. Short on both? [Changing plan](https://whoisfreaks.com/resources/tutorial/how-to-upgrade-or-downgrade-an-api-subscription-in-whoisfreaks) raises credits and limits together. For sustained high throughput, [contact the team](https://whoisfreaks.com/contact) about Enterprise limits.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Do I need to upgrade my plan to increase my API rate limit?

No. A rate-limit add-on raises your requests per minute on your existing plan. Upgrade instead only if you also need more credits.

### How soon does the new API rate limit apply?

Immediately. Your API key is updated and pushed to the API gateway as soon as the charge clears, with no key rotation or redeploy.

### How is the rate-limit add-on price calculated?

0.35 × plan rate × (units added / plan units), where 1 live rpm is 1 unit, 1 bulk rpm is 4 units, and 1 DB rpm is 6 units. Cents round up.

### Why do DB requests cost more than live requests?

Historical, reverse, subdomain and typo queries scan far more data per call, so one DB request per minute is weighted as six live requests.

### Can I have more than one add-on?

No. One add-on runs per subscription. Use Get new price to replace it with a larger one and pay only the difference.

### Does an add-on give me more API credits?

No. Credits are your quota for the period; the rate limit is your pace. An add-on lets you spend credits faster, not have more.

### What happens if I cancel my add-on mid-cycle?

It comes off your next invoice right away, but your raised limits stay active until the subscription renews, then revert to plan limits.

### Why was I charged $5.00 when the estimate was lower?

Immediate add-on invoices have a $5.00 minimum. Your recurring amount is unaffected and stays at the estimated total shown.

TIP

The add-on price is not a flat fee. It is 35% of your plan rate scaled by the capacity you add, with each category weighted by what it costs to serve, which is why the dashboard requires Get price before Confirm becomes clickable. Price the exact numbers you intend to buy.

The immediate charge is measured against the highest-priced add-on you have ever had on that subscription, not the one currently running. Buying large, cancelling, then buying smaller costs nothing extra today, so testing add-on sizes does not charge you repeatedly.