Comparing Free Tier API Limits Across Providers
Compare free tier API rate limits from major cloud providers and SaaS platforms. Plan your development and prototyping within free tier boundaries.
Cost Planning
Detailed Explanation
Free Tier API Limits Comparison
Most API providers offer free tiers for development and small projects. Understanding these limits helps you choose the right provider and avoid unexpected charges.
Free Tier Comparison
| Service | Free Tier Limit | Unit | Equiv. Per Second |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub API | 5,000 | per hour | 1.39/s |
| Twitter/X API | 1,500 | per month | 0.00058/s |
| Google Maps | 200/day (Geocoding) | per day | 0.0023/s |
| OpenAI | 500 | RPD (GPT-4o) | 0.006/s |
| Vercel | 100,000 | per day (serverless) | 1.16/s |
| Cloudflare Workers | 100,000 | per day | 1.16/s |
| PlanetScale | 1 billion | row reads/mo | ~385/s |
| Supabase | 500 MB | database | N/A |
| Firebase | 50,000 | reads/day | 0.58/s |
| Algolia | 10,000 | search req/mo | 0.004/s |
Strategies for Staying Within Free Tiers
- Implement aggressive caching: Cache API responses in memory, Redis, or browser storage
- Use conditional requests: Send
If-Modified-SinceorIf-None-Matchheaders to avoid counting unchanged data against your limit - Batch operations: Group multiple operations into single API calls where supported
- Schedule non-urgent work: Spread background tasks evenly across the day
- Monitor usage proactively: Set up alerts at 50%, 75%, and 90% of your free tier limit
When to Upgrade
Calculate your cost per avoided request to determine if caching or upgrading is more economical:
Cost of cache infrastructure < (Excess requests x Per-request cost)
→ Keep caching
Otherwise
→ Upgrade to paid tier
Use Case
You are building a side project that combines GitHub API data, OpenAI text generation, and Google Maps geocoding. You need to design the application to stay entirely within free tier limits while serving approximately 100 daily active users.