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Rate limiting behavior explanation

  • January 5, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 81 views
Emre Simtay
We use an Enterprise Full seat token to access Figma files via the REST API (Tier 1 endpoints). Files in our Enterprise workspace work fine, but files in a personal Free plan account hit rate limits. The documentation note mentions file plan affecting limits, but it's unclear how the token owner's seat type and the file's plan interact. Can you clarify?
 
Questions:
  1. To get 20/min for Tier 1, are both required?
  • File is in an Enterprise workspace
  • Token owner has a Full seat in that Enterprise workspace
Or does only the file's plan matter?
  1. How are Free plan files handled?
  • When accessing a file in a Free plan account with an Enterprise Full seat token, what rate limits apply?
  • Are Free plan files always treated as View/Collab limits (6/month) regardless of the token's seat type?
  1. Token owner seat type vs. file plan:
  • When using a token, which determines the rate limit: the token owner's seat type, the file's plan, or both?
  • If both, how do they combine? (e.g., does seat type determine the category and file plan determine the specific limit within that category?)
This will help clarify the behavior.

Best answer by Junko3

Hi ​@Emre Simtay, 

 

Thanks for your question about how rate limits are applied.

 

You may have already seen this, but I wanted to highlight a couple of relevant sections in the Figma Developers Rate Limits docs that clarify how the token owner’s seat type and the file’s plan interact:

Specifically, the documentation states:

 

If you use a personal access token to get the content of a file in a Starter plan, requests to that file are limited to up to 6 per month even if you have a Full seat in a different plan.

 

It also clarifies:

 

Even though you may have a Full seat in an Enterprise, enterprise-level rate limits are only applied to files residing in that plan. If you also have projects in a Starter plan, requests to those files have the Starter plan rate limits applied.

 

Based on this, when you access files in a Free Starter plan, the Starter plan rate limits apply, even if the token owner has an Enterprise Full seat. This behavior matches what you’re experiencing.


For reference, here are some related documents:

I hope this helps.

2 replies

J
Figmate
  • Junko3
  • Figmate
  • Answer
  • January 5, 2026

Hi ​@Emre Simtay, 

 

Thanks for your question about how rate limits are applied.

 

You may have already seen this, but I wanted to highlight a couple of relevant sections in the Figma Developers Rate Limits docs that clarify how the token owner’s seat type and the file’s plan interact:

Specifically, the documentation states:

 

If you use a personal access token to get the content of a file in a Starter plan, requests to that file are limited to up to 6 per month even if you have a Full seat in a different plan.

 

It also clarifies:

 

Even though you may have a Full seat in an Enterprise, enterprise-level rate limits are only applied to files residing in that plan. If you also have projects in a Starter plan, requests to those files have the Starter plan rate limits applied.

 

Based on this, when you access files in a Free Starter plan, the Starter plan rate limits apply, even if the token owner has an Enterprise Full seat. This behavior matches what you’re experiencing.


For reference, here are some related documents:

I hope this helps.

    Emre Simtay
    • Emre Simtay
    • Author
    • New Member
    • January 5, 2026

    Thanks for clarifying how rate limits work with file plans and token seat types. We weren't aware of these notes, which were added after the November 17, 2025 update.

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