Limits and fair use
The request limits, the caps on expensive tools, and what happens when you reach one.
Limits are the same for every account. There are no tiers. Paid calls are limited mainly by your credits; the request limits below exist so one runaway script can't slow Pink down for everyone.
Request limits
| Limit | Applies to | Allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Burst | All MCP calls from your account, paid or free | 300 per minute |
| Daily free calls | Calls that cost 0 credits | 20,000 per day |
Paid calls do not count toward the daily free-call cap.
Over a limit, the call is refused with rate_limited and retry_after_ms, the milliseconds to wait before trying again. Through the MCP connector (/api/mcp) it comes back as a failed tool result, so your AI client tells the model to wait instead of dropping the connection. A refused call carries these headers:
| Header | Meaning |
|---|---|
Retry-After | Seconds to wait |
X-RateLimit-Limit | The allowance you hit |
X-RateLimit-Remaining | 0 on a refused call |
X-RateLimit-Reset | Seconds until the window resets |
Wait Retry-After seconds before the next call rather than retrying straight into the limit.
Caps on expensive tools
| Tool | Cap | Over it |
|---|---|---|
research (web, reddit, url) | 10 calls running at once, across all of Pink | concurrency_limit_exceeded with retry_after_ms (about 30,000 ms). Refunded; back off and retry. |
serp_keyword_refresh | 20 refreshes per site per day, resetting at 00:00 UTC | daily_refresh_cap_reached with cap. Refunded. |
add_competitor | 10 tracked competitors per site | bad_input. Stop tracking one first. Nothing is charged. |
serp_landscape, depth: "analyze" | 5 keywords per call | On a topic it takes the top keywords by score; pass keyword_ids to choose, and call again for more |
serp_backlinks, depth: "links" | Up to 1,000 linking pages per call (default 100) | Ask with limit |
Research and analyze calls take 30 to 60 seconds. Wait for them: a call that seems to hang is usually still working, and calling again starts (and bills) another one.
Credits
A call whose price is above the site owner's balance is refused with credits_exhausted before any work runs. Turn on auto-recharge on the Billing page to avoid it.
Fair use
Pink is built for people and their agents working on their own sites. Don't use it to resell keyword, SERP or backlink data in bulk, to probe for other accounts' data, or to generate load for its own sake. If you need more than these limits allow, email us before you build around them.