Asana's standard API rate limit is set per authorisation token in one-minute windows: 150 requests a minute for Free domains and 1,500 for higher-tier domains (as of Nov 2026). Search is capped at 60 a minute, with concurrency and computational-load limits on top. Hit any of them and you'll get a 429 with a Retry-After header.
You got a 429. Which limit did you hit?
If your script or integration has started failing with 429 Too Many Requests, you've hit one of several limiters. Every one of them returns the same 429 with a generic message, so the response won't tell you which. You work it out from your own request pattern. The table below is the checklist I'd run through.
| Limit | Cap | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Standard requests per minute | 150 | Free domains, per token (as of Nov 2026) |
| Standard requests per minute | 1,500 | Higher-tier domains, per token |
| Search API | 60 requests per minute | All |
| Concurrent GET requests | 50 | All |
| Concurrent POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE | 15 | All |
| Duplication, instantiation and export jobs | 5 concurrent per user | All |
Reads and writes are limited independently, so a burst of 15 parallel updates can be throttled while your reads carry on happily. There's also a computational-load limit, based on how much of the object graph a request traverses, deducted from a per-minute quota. The developer docs say most developers aren't affected by it, but a very broad query is the kind of request that would be.
Matching the symptom to the limiter
- Failing after a steady run of calls: you've probably used up the per-minute standard allowance for that token.
- Only search calls failing: the separate 60-a-minute search cap.
- Failing when you fire lots of calls in parallel: the concurrent limits, 50 for reads and 15 for writes.
- Project duplication or export calls failing: the 5-job concurrent allowance per user.
Limits are allocated per authorisation token, and different tokens have independent limits. So a second integration on its own token won't eat into the first one's allowance.
Honouring the Retry-After header on a 429
Every 429 comes with a standard Retry-After header telling you how many seconds to wait. Read it and honour it. Asana's official client libraries already do this: they respect rate-limited responses and wait before retrying, up to a configurable maximum number of retries. If you're writing raw HTTP calls, build the same behaviour yourself, and spread work out rather than sending it in bursts.
Why retrying early makes things worse
The Asana Developer Docs page on rate limits explains the trap. Requests rejected by the limiter still count against your quota, so ignoring Retry-After and hammering the API leads to fewer requests being accepted in later windows. A tight retry loop doesn't just fail; it digs the hole deeper.
The second surprise is that clicks count. Duplicating a project, running a CSV import or instantiating a template in the web app all use the same 5-job concurrent allowance as your script. So your integration can be rate limited by something a colleague did in the browser. If your nightly export fails at random, check whether someone was importing at the same time.
If you're automating projects at scale, my guide to building Asana workflows covers what's worth automating in the first place, and this explainer on APIs versus webhooks helps you avoid polling for changes when you don't need to.
How Trello and ClickUp set their limits
Trello limits each API key to 300 requests per 10 seconds and each token to 100 requests per 10-second interval, plus 100 requests per 900 seconds on its /1/members/ endpoint.
ClickUp limits requests per token per minute by Workspace plan: 100 on Free Forever, Unlimited and Business, 1,000 on Business Plus and 10,000 on Enterprise.
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My advice for anyone building on the API
Use an official client library so Retry-After is handled for you, give each integration its own token, and keep writes to a handful in parallel. Cache search results rather than searching on every run, and schedule heavy exports for when nobody's doing imports in the app. If you're on a Free domain and regularly near 150 a minute, that's a sign to batch work differently, not to retry harder.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the Asana API rate limit?
150 requests a minute on Free domains and 1,500 on higher-tier domains, per token.
What happens when I exceed it?
You get a 429 with a Retry-After header telling you how many seconds to wait.
Is there a separate limit for search?
Yes, 60 requests per minute.
Do web-app actions count?
Yes for duplication, import, export and template jobs: 5 concurrent per user, including ones started in the web app.
Do different tokens share a limit?
No. Limits are per authorisation token and independent.
