Rate limits and data retention

API rate limits

<Note> **Rate limits are subject to change.**

Contact Prefect support at [email protected] with questions about rate limits. </Note>

Prefect Cloud applies rate limits at the account level to ensure system stability. When limits are exceeded, endpoints return a 429 response with a Retry-After header.

Rate limits are organized into two buckets:

• API Requests — All calls to the orchestration API, including creating, reading, and updating flows, flow runs, task runs, deployments, work pools, and other resources.
• Logs + Events — All log writes and event submissions, including task run events.

Limits by plan

Plan	API Requests (per minute)	Logs + Events (per minute)
Hobby	625	2,000
Starter	1,250	2,800
Team	2,500	8,000
Pro	5,000	40,000
Enterprise	Custom	Custom

For Enterprise limits, contact Prefect's sales team.

Monitor your usage

View your account's rate limit usage in the Prefect Cloud UI under Account Settings > Rate Limits. The dashboard shows current usage against your limits and highlights the top contributors to request volume, such as specific API keys, workspaces, or API routes.

Reduce request volume

If you're approaching your rate limits, consider the following:

• Reduce flow run volume by batching work into fewer runs or using task runs within a single flow instead of launching many small flows.
• Optimize logging by adjusting log levels or reducing the volume of log output from your flows.
• Use webhooks and automations instead of polling the API for state changes.
• Upgrade your plan if your workload consistently exceeds your current limits.

SDK retry behavior

The Prefect SDK automatically retries rate-limited requests up to 5 times, using the delay specified in the Retry-After header. You can customize this behavior through client settings.

Query limits

Event queries are limited to a 14-day window per request. You can query any 14-day period within your retention period, but each individual query cannot span more than 14 days. If your plan's retention period is shorter than 14 days, the query window is limited to your retention period.

Metadata retention

Prefect Cloud retains flow run, task run, and artifact metadata for a limited time based on your plan. This applies to all workspaces in your account.

Retention periods by plan

• Hobby and Starter: 7 days
• Team: 14 days
• Pro: 30 days
• Enterprise: Custom retention periods

Metadata is retained from creation until the specified period expires. For flow and task runs, retention is calculated from when the run reaches a terminal state. Subflow runs are retained independently from their parent flows.

For custom retention periods, contact Prefect's sales team.