Glossary

Rate limiting

Rate limiting

Rate limiting is the practice of controlling how many requests a client can make to a server within a certain timeframe. In the email world, it most often applies to email APIs or SMTP connections, where it prevents users (or bad actors) from flooding systems with traffic. 

It’s like the bouncer at a club: only a set number of people can enter at once, and everyone else has to wait their turn. 

Why it matters:

  • Email APIs may cap their number of messages you can send per second/minute/hour. 
  • Inbox providers (like Gmail or Yahoo) also apply their own rate limits to protect users from spammy senders. Send too many messages, too fast, and you might get throttled. 

Rate limiting protects: 

  • Your infrastructure – from overload or abuse (think DDoS attacks) 
  • Your recipients – from spam or accidental floods 
  • Your sender reputation – by helping you stay within safe sending patterns. 

Note: Mailgun applies rate limits to ensure consistent performance and protect shared infrastructure. 

Warming up an IP? You’ll be working with rate limits to slowly scale your sending volume. 

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