Rate limits & credits

Two distinct limits apply: a per-minute rate limit (abuse protection) and your credit balance (pay-as-you-go quota).

Per-minute rate limit

The default limit is 120 requests per minute per API key. Each response includes:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 120
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 118
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1735689600

When the limit is exceeded, you get HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header (seconds).

Credit balance

Each validation consumes 1 credit from your wallet, regardless of outcome.

Insufficient credits

When your balance reaches zero:

HTTP 402 Payment Required
{
  "error": "insufficient_credits",
  "balance": 0,
  "credits_needed": 1,
  "top_up_url": "https://email-validation-api.net/dashboard/billing"
}

Top up your wallet from the billing page or via the Stripe Checkout link.

Pricing summary

• 1 credit = 1 validation
• From $0.0025 to $0.0039 per email, depending on your deposit volume (smooth log-scale)
• Minimum top-up: $29
• 100 free credits at signup
• Credits never expire

See the full pricing table for volume tiers.