What are the rate limits and request quotas for an exercise API?
WorkoutDB limits usage by monthly request quota, not a tight per-second burst: 5,000 requests/month on the free tier, 100,000 on Pro, and 1,000,000 on Scale. Exceeding your quota returns a 429.
Staying within quota
Because exercise content is effectively static, the most effective strategy is caching. Cache search results and detail responses by their stable slug/id, and bootstrap your filter UI from a single GET /v1/meta call instead of repeated lookups. Most apps serve thousands of users on the free or Pro tier this way.
If you do hit your limit you get an HTTP 429; back off and retry, or upgrade for a higher ceiling. The plan changes your monthly allowance and video resolutions, not which exercises or features you can access.
- Free: 5,000 requests/month. Pro: 100,000. Scale: 1,000,000.
- Over-quota requests return 429 — handle with backoff or upgrade.
- Cache aggressively; exercise data changes rarely.
- Use GET /v1/meta once to populate filters instead of polling.
Related questions
- What happens when I exceed my quota?
- The API returns HTTP 429. Implement a simple backoff, or upgrade to a higher plan for a larger monthly allowance.
- How can I reduce my request count?
- Cache responses by their stable slug or id and load filter values from a single GET /v1/meta call. Since the catalog is near-static, cached data stays valid for a long time.
Build it on WorkoutDB
~873 exercises with demo video, ranked search, and four languages — over a clean REST API. Start free: 5,000 requests/month, no credit card.