TikTok API rate limits, per endpoint
Last checked · sources listed at the foot of this page
TikTok rate-limits each endpoint separately, against a one-minute sliding window. The Direct Post endpoint allows 6 requests per minute per user access token, Query Creator Info allows 20, Get Post Status allows 30, and the user and video read endpoints (/v2/user/info/, /v2/video/query/, /v2/video/list/) allow 600 each. Going over returns HTTP 429 with the error code rate_limit_exceeded.
What is the rate limit for each TikTok API endpoint?
The limits are set and enforced per endpoint, not as one shared budget. Exhausting Direct Post does not slow down Get Post Status, and vice versa.
| Endpoint | Limit | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Post (/v2/post/publish/video/init/) | 6 requests / minute per user access token | The binding limit for anyone publishing to several accounts. It is per token, so per connected account — ten accounts do not share six requests, they each have six. |
| Query Creator Info | 20 requests / minute per user access token | Called before every post, because the posting UI must show the creator’s real privacy options. It is why a publish flow costs at least two calls, not one. |
| Get Post Status | 30 requests / minute per user access token | Polling. Thirty per minute sounds generous until you poll ten accounts every two seconds — that is 300. |
| /v2/user/info/ | 600 requests / minute | Profile reads. |
| /v2/video/query/ | 600 requests / minute | Metrics for specific videos. |
| /v2/video/list/ | 600 requests / minute | Paginated listing of a creator’s videos. |
How is the window calculated, and what happens when you exceed it?
The calculation uses a one-minute sliding window, not a fixed clock minute. A burst of six posts at 10:00:59 does not reset at 10:01:00 — it keeps counting until 10:01:59.
Over the threshold, the API answers HTTP 429 with the error code rate_limit_exceeded. TikTok states that limits can be raised on request through their support page, reviewed case by case.
The practical consequence for a multi-account publisher: a retry on a 429 must back off, not repeat. An immediate retry extends the window it is trying to escape.
Why does publishing to ten accounts not take ten times longer?
Because every limit above is scoped to a user access token, and one token is one connected account. Ten accounts are ten independent buckets of six posts per minute.
What does serialise is your own infrastructure: one video file uploaded ten times is ten transfers. The limit that bites first is almost never TikTok’s, it is bandwidth.
Frequently asked
- Are TikTok API rate limits per app or per user?
- The Content Posting endpoints are documented per user access token — so per connected account. TikTok does not publish a separate app-wide ceiling for these endpoints, and states that limits are set and enforced separately for each API.
- What error does TikTok return when a rate limit is exceeded?
- HTTP status 429, with the error code rate_limit_exceeded in the response body.
- Can TikTok API rate limits be increased?
- Yes. TikTok’s documentation states that higher limits can be requested through their support page, and that each request is reviewed.
- How many TikTok videos can I post per minute through the API?
- Six per connected account, since the Direct Post endpoint allows 6 requests per minute per user access token. Across ten connected accounts that is sixty, because each account carries its own limit.
Sources
- TikTok for Developers — Rate Limits on API Requests — read on .
- TikTok for Developers — Content Posting API, Direct Post — read on .
- TikTok for Developers — Query Creator Info — read on .
These figures come from another company’s documentation, which can change without notice and which nothing here verifies automatically. That is why every source carries the date it was read. Sources on this page are re-read every quarter.