DEV Community

Paramanantham Harrison
Paramanantham Harrison

Posted on

Scaling APIs without breaking them using Rate Limiting

APIs handle millions of requests daily, but without rate limiting, they crash, slow down, and get abused.

In today’s episode, we discuss how to build scalable rate limiting systems, from basic throttling to Redis-powered distributed solutions.

APIs don’t break because of traffic. They break because they aren’t designed to handle traffic well. That’s where rate limiting comes in. Think about it—if every user could send unlimited requests, the whole system would crash. But how do you set the right limits without blocking real users? We’ll break it down in today’s episode, from simple request caps to Redis-based distributed rate limiting. Let’s dive in!

🚀 Want to become a backend expert? Start now 👉 https://backendChallenges.com

Top comments (0)

The Most Contextual AI Development Assistant

Pieces.app image

Our centralized storage agent works on-device, unifying various developer tools to proactively capture and enrich useful materials, streamline collaboration, and solve complex problems through a contextual understanding of your unique workflow.

👥 Ideal for solo developers, teams, and cross-company projects

Learn more