CommCare Form Submission Rate Limiting



Please note that rate limiting applies only to the following CommCare environments (www.commcarehq.org and india.commcarehq.org).

What is rate limiting?

Rate Limiting is a dynamic component that enables optimal availability, scalability, and reliability in your application. Rate limiting controls the amount of data, for instance, the number of form submissions transferred to our server during a specific time.

When do rate limits apply?

Rate limits only apply when the entire CommCare platform is under high load. Your project will never experience rate limiting of form submissions during off-peak hours (as determined by real-time load patterns). CommCare applies rate limits on all project spaces when the system is under high load.

What happens when we implement rate limits?

When you submit a form from a CommCare Mobile App, and you have exceeded the rate limit, all form submissions are saved locally until the rate limit expires. All locally saved forms will be auto-synced to the server when the rate limit expires.

When you submit a form from a CommCare Web App, and you have exceeded the rate limit, you are prevented from proceeding until the rate limit expires.



You will never lose a form submission due to rate limiting. Instead, you may experience a delay between the submission and when it is synced to the CommCare server.



Submissions that count toward form submission rate limits include:

  • Form submissions via CommCare mobile and Web apps

  • Form submissions via CommCare HQ APIs

  • Case importer

  • Automatic updates or closing of cases via the Automatically Update Cases feature

  • Case data or Form data edits

What are the rate limit thresholds for my project space?

Rate limits are allocated on a per-user basis.

We determine the rate limit thresholds for your organization's project space by the number of mobile workers included in your subscription plan.



Standard rate limit thresholds

  • The standard rate limit per minute is 0.14 form submissions per mobile worker.

  • The standard rate limit per hour is 6 form submissions per mobile worker.

  • The standard rate limit per day is 46 form submissions per mobile worker.

  • The standard rate limit per week is 230 form submissions per mobile worker.



In the table below, you will see the calculated rate limit thresholds for each subscription plan.

(number of mobile workers) * (standard form submissions per minute or hour or day etc.)



MOBILE WORKERS INCLUDED IN THE SUBSCRIPTION

TIME PERIOD

RATE LIMIT THRESHOLD

MOBILE WORKERS INCLUDED IN THE SUBSCRIPTION

TIME PERIOD

RATE LIMIT THRESHOLD

Standard plan

125 mobile workers

Form submissions per minute

17

Form submissions per hour

750

Form submissions per day

5,750

Form submissions per week

28,750

Pro plan

250 mobile workers

Form submissions per minute

35

Form submissions per hour

1,500

Form submissions per day

11,500

Form submissions per week

57,500

Advanced plan

500 mobile workers

Form submissions per minute

70

Form submissions per hour

3,000

Form submissions per day

23,000

Form submissions per week

115,000

Enterprise Plan

1000 mobile workers

Form submissions per minute

140

Form submissions per hour

6,000

Form submissions per day

46,000

Form submissions per week

230,000



Limits are combined across all project spaces with the total number of mobile workers included in an Enterprise subscription that includes multiple project spaces.

Project spaces in an Enterprise account will not be rate limited unless both the project space and the Enterprise account are over their respective limits.

If you have any questions, please contact us. We will further explain our rate limiting policy and work with you to ensure your project isn't impacted by the rate limiting thresholds.

If you're already a Dimagi partner, please get in touch with your account manager for more information. 

Technically Feasible Form Submissions

We advise you to adhere to the rate limits as outlined above.

The standard rate limit threshold ratio is determined on the assumption that the CommCare user works roughly 8.5 hours a day, 5 days a week.