API usage shows as 50000 when I barely used it

I created an API key yesterday and started using it for the first time. I barely used it as it is still in testing and did not even launch the feature. Now I get API limit exceeded error and when I check the usage it shows 50000. That is really strange. Do you have a log of when I made the 50000 API calls?

• Sobhan

Hi Sobhan,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. If your usage shows 50,000 calls, it likely means you have reached the daily limit for your plan. This can happen if automated services, integrations, or widgets linked to your API key are making calls in the background. To investigate further, you can:

1. Review your API keys and their usage on the Jotform API page to ensure no unexpected services are using the key.
2. Check your form integrations and widgets that might be triggering API calls without your direct interaction.
3. Monitor your API calls using the API response's limit-left field to track remaining calls during testing.

Unfortunately, we don’t provide a timestamped log of each individual API call. But I've gone ahead and reset your API call limit so you can continue testing. Monitor your usage closely, and let us know if the issue repeats. We'll be happy to escalate this for further investigation.

Give it a try and let us know if you need any help.

Thank you for your quick response. For a brief moment, it said 49999 left and now it again says limit exceeded. I do not have any automations attached to the API. All I do it query the submissions for a form from a webpage and the API call is made only when the webpage is opened. Could you please take a look.

• Sobhan

Hi Sobhan,

Could you confirm if your API Key is used across multiple environments or users? The combined usage could exceed the limit. Also, even if your usage is minimal, other integrations like widgets, reports, or connected apps might be making background API calls.

Once we hear back from you, we'll be able to help you with this.

Its strange - when I use the API key created yesterday, it says limit exceeded. However when I use freshly created API key, it says 49998 left. I am using https://api.jotform.com/docs/#user-usage to check.

I was under the impression that the API usage limit is per account and not per API key?

• Sobhan

The API key is only used from one page of an website and as I mentioned, the page is still in testing ans hasnt been published yet. So I am the only one using that page for now.

• Sobhan

Hi Sobhan,

To clarify your concern about whether the API usage limit is per account or per API key: Jotform's daily API call limit is set per account, not per individual API key. This means that all API keys created under your account share the same daily API call quota. For example, if your plan allows 50,000 API calls per day, this total is shared across all API keys generated in your account. So, if one API key uses some calls, the remaining calls are reduced accordingly for all keys combined.

This explains why a newly created API key shows a high remaining limit (e.g., 49,998 left), while the original key may show limit exceeded if the total account limit has been reached. Since you mentioned that the API calls are only made when the webpage is opened and no automations are attached, it might be worth checking if there are any background processes, integrations, or widgets linked to your account that could be making API calls without your direct interaction.

If you want to monitor your API usage more closely, you can use the API response's limit-left field to track the remaining calls during your testing. Also, reviewing your API keys and their usage on your Account API page might help identify any unexpected activity.

Let me know if you need further assistance or if you want us to investigate this issue more deeply.

Reach out again if you have any other questions.

The old key and new key are from the same account. If the API limits are per account and not per API key, can you please explain why the old key says API-Limit exceeded and the new key says "limit-left": 49984?

• Sobhan

Hi Sobhan,

Although both the old and new API Keys belong to the same account and API limits are enforced per account, not per individual key. The reason you're seeing the error message on the old key while the new one shows "limit-left: 49984" could be due to delayed usage reporting, caching discrepancies, or how recently each key was used.

Sometimes, newly generated keys appear to have more quota simply because the usage hasn’t been attributed to them yet, even though all keys share the same overall daily quota. It’s a reporting inconsistency rather than an actual difference in limits.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

hmmm ok.... can you just check and let me know how many API calls my account has left over right now?

And given there is no reliable way to check the number of calls left on the account, I am not sure what further to discuss.

• Sobhan

Hi Sobhan,

Let me try to reset your API call limit. Please, test again and if you're still experiencing issues with the API call count reach out again to let us investigate deeper.

Reach out again if you have any other questions.

Thank you - now both the API keys are showing 49999. I will keep an eye to see if I run into this issue again.