Rate limit questions that show where developers need more headroom
Ask the developers who call your API how often they hit a limit, what they do next and how much room they need. Each question below comes with when to ask it and what the answer tells you.
What API rate limit survey questions tell you
API rate limit survey questions ask developers whether they hit your limits, how often, how many calls they make on a busy day, what they do when they get limited and how much headroom would be enough. Logs show which keys got limited. These answers show which jobs broke, what the error message failed to explain and whether a higher limit is worth paying for.
Ask developers by email or link, sent to the technical contacts on each account, once or twice a year or a few weeks after you change the limits. Pick four or five: whether they hit a limit, how often, the busy day volume, the job that needs headroom and what would help most.
Written answers get a theme and a type, so a request for more headroom is filed as an idea and an unclear error as a complaint. Each response gets an owner and a status in the inbox, so an account with a job that keeps failing hears back before it builds a workaround.
- Questions
- 14
- Best asked
- After a change to the limits, or twice a year
- Industry
- SaaS
- Where to find them
- From library in the Usertick survey editor, on every plan
The 14 api rate limits questions, with when to ask each
Grouped by what they tell you. Use them as they are or change the wording.
How often developers hit the limit
Start with whether, how often and when, so every other answer can be read by how much the limits bite.
- 01Yes / No
Have you hit a rate limit with our API?
Asks whether the developer has hit a rate limit. Add logic so developers who say No skip the questions about what they do when limited.
- 02Multiple choice
How often do you hit the limit?
One choice from never to every day. The donut shows the share hitting the limit weekly or daily, the accounts to talk to before they build workarounds.
- 03Number
How many API calls do you make on a busy day?
Calls on a busy day, typed as a number. The median and the middle half show typical volume, a starting point when you set or tier the limits.
- 09Dropdown
When do your calls peak?
When calls peak, from overnight to the end of the month. The share of each answer shows whether a burst allowance or a higher daily limit fits better.
What happens at the limit
These show what developers do when limited and what your error response should tell them.
- 04Multiple choice
What do you do when you get rate limited?
Lets developers pick everything they do when limited, from retrying to giving up. The bars show how many jobs fail quietly and how many end with a support contact.
- 05Stars
How clear is our rate limit error message?
Five stars for the rate limit error message. A low average is a reason to add the limit, the time window and a retry time to the response.
- 06Text
What should our rate limit response tell you?
An open question for what the rate limit response should say. The answers give you the fields developers look for, in their own words.
- 14Ranking
Rank what would help most when you hit a limit
Developers drag five fixes into order, from a clearer error to a queue they can watch. Results shows the average place of each, which tells you what to build first.
Whether the limits fit
Effort, fit, the effect on design and the job that needs room show whether the limits suit real use.
- 10Customer effort
How easy is it to work within the current limits?
A customer effort score for working within the current limits. Read low scores with the job that needs headroom to see what makes the limits hard to live with.
- 11Multiple choice
How do the current limits feel for your use?
One choice from too tight to more than needed. The donut gives a simple read on the current limits to compare after each change.
- 08Big scale
How much do rate limits shape the way you build?
How much the limits shape the way developers build, on a ten-step scale. High scores mean teams design around your limits, a cost they pay before any error appears.
- 07Text
Which job of yours needs more headroom?
An open question for the job that needs more headroom, such as a nightly sync or a bulk import. The answers show which jobs a bulk endpoint could serve.
Headroom and price
End with how much room is enough and whether more is worth paying for, an input for your plans.
- 12Ruler
How many calls a minute would be enough for you?
Calls a minute that would be enough, on a ruler up to a thousand. The median and the middle half show the headroom developers ask for.
- 13Yes / No
Would a higher limit be worth paying for?
Asks whether a higher limit would be worth paying for. The share of Yes helps decide whether higher limits belong on a paid plan.
Tips for asking about api rate limits
Small choices that get honest, useful answers.
- 01
Ask the developers
Send the survey to the technical contacts who own the integration, by email or link. Product admins may never see a rate limit.
- 02
Ask again after a change
When you change the limits, ask again a few weeks later and compare how often developers hit them with the period before.
- 03
Follow up on failing jobs
Give every answer that describes a job that keeps failing an owner in the inbox, and reply before the developer builds a workaround.
- 04
State the current limits
Put your current limits in the survey's intro or question text, so every developer answers about the same numbers.
Add these questions to a survey
From the library to the first answers.
- 1
Open the library
In the Usertick survey editor, choose From library, filter by industry and topic, and add several questions at once.
- 2
Or paste your own list
Paste questions reads up to 10 questions from any text on Free, 100 on Starter and 200 on Pro and above, keeps your wording and picks an answer type for each.
- 3
Choose where it runs
Show the survey on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.
- 4
Read the answers
Results counts every score and choice, and Usertick reads each written answer and files it by topic, on every plan.
Templates and more questions about api rate limits
Full surveys that ask about the same things, and neighboring topics in the library.
Templates
Browse all templatesFrequently asked questions
The developers who call your API. Send it by email or link to the technical contacts on each account, since a survey inside the product may never reach them.
Four or five. Start with whether they hit a limit and how often, add the busy day volume and the job that needs headroom, and end with what would help most.
Yes, when you send by link. Add an account tag to each link, and Usertick keeps it with every answer, ready for workflows, Google Sheets and the API.
A few weeks after you change the limits, and once or twice a year otherwise. Usertick sends by email now or on a date up to 30 days ahead.
Yes. The question library comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.
Yes. Once a question is in your survey, reword it, change its options or its answer type, and add logic to skip it for some answers.
Yes. The library is translated into Usertick's built-in languages, and in any other language it shows in English for you to translate.
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