Instagram · Rate Limits
Instagram Rate Limits
Instagram Platform inherits Meta Graph API rate limiting. Two regimes apply - Platform Rate Limits (Graph API requests with app or user access tokens) and Business Use Case (BUC) Rate Limits (Marketing API, Instagram Platform, Pages API requests with system / page tokens). Standard endpoints are sized as "4800 * Number of Impressions" calls per 24-hour rolling window. Messaging and reply endpoints have specific per-second / per-account limits. Throttling decisions are surfaced via X-App-Usage and X-Business-Use-Case-Usage headers and via specific error codes.
6 Limits
Throttle: 429
InstagramMetaSocial MediaRate Limiting
Limits
Platform Rate Limits (app token) app
200 * Number of Users
Calls within one hour = 200 * Number of Users. X-App-Usage tracks call_count, total_cputime, and total_time as percentages; throttling engages when any reaches 100.
Standard endpoints (rolling window) app
4800 * Number of Impressions
24-hour rolling window. Applies to standard Instagram Platform endpoints.
Business Discovery / Hashtag Search app
separate Platform Rate Limits apply per Business Use Case
Conversations API messaging account
2
Live replies account
100
Post / reel replies account
750
Policies
Backoff Strategy
When throttled, stop making calls (continued calls prolong recovery). Honor Retry-After and recheck X-App-Usage / X-Business-Use-Case-Usage before resuming.
Header-Driven Pacing
Read X-App-Usage and X-Business-Use-Case-Usage on every response and pace requests so call_count, total_cputime, and total_time stay below 100.
Filter Aggressively
Use field expansion sparingly and request only needed fields to reduce CPU-time consumption against the limit.
App Review Gating
Higher-throughput access (Advanced Access) requires Meta App Review and Business Verification rather than a paid tier upgrade.