Rate Limits

Default Rate Limits

Each endpoint has its own per-second limit. These are the defaults for self-serve accounts created through You.com Platform:

Enterprise plans run on custom limits set in your contract. If you’re on an enterprise agreement, those limits apply instead of the defaults above.

Rate Limit Headers

API usage is subject to rate limits based on your subscription tier. Every response includes three headers that describe your current limit:

• X-RateLimit-Limit—total requests allowed in the window
• X-RateLimit-Remaining—requests remaining in the current window
• X-RateLimit-Reset—Unix timestamp when the window resets

Read these headers to throttle client-side before you hit the limit, rather than waiting for a 429.

The 429 Response

When you exceed the limit, the API returns 429 Too Many Requests. Honor the Retry-After header when present—it tells you exactly how long to wait before the next request.

Exponential Backoff

For retries, use exponential backoff with a cap so a sustained burst does not lock you out for a long time. This example retries up to five times, doubling the wait between attempts up to a 60-second ceiling:

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import time
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from youdotcom import You, errors
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def exponential_backoff(attempt):
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    return min(2 ** attempt, 60)  # Max 60 seconds
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with You() as you:
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    for attempt in range(5):
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        try:
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            response = you.search(query="test")
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            break
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        except errors.YouError as e:
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            if e.status_code == 429 and attempt < 4:
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                wait_time = exponential_backoff(attempt)
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                time.sleep(wait_time)
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            else:
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                raise

Raising Your Limits

Higher limits come with a custom plan. Book a meeting with our team to set yours, or email [email protected].