Salesforce API Limits: Complete Guide

Quick Summary:

Salesforce enforces a rolling 24-hour API call limit based on your edition and license count. Understanding and monitoring this limit is essential for any org with active integrations.

What Are Salesforce API Limits?

Every Salesforce org has a maximum number of API calls it can make within a rolling 24-hour period, determined by edition and licensed user count. Once exceeded, further API calls are rejected until usage falls back under the limit -- a real operational risk for any org with meaningful integration traffic.

⚠️ Before You Start

If you're building or scaling an integration, calculate expected API call volume against your org's actual limit before going live. A well-designed integration that works fine in testing can hit real limits once genuine production volume kicks in.

How to Monitor Usage

  1. Check Setup → Company Information for a real-time snapshot of API Requests, Last 24 Hours against your limit.

  2. Review the API response headers on individual calls, which include current usage information.

  3. Set up monitoring or alerting for approaching limits if you have consistently high API traffic.

A Real-World Example

An integration syncing individual records via REST API in a tight loop starts approaching the org's daily limit as data volume grows. Switching the bulk portion of that sync to Bulk API 2.0, while keeping only genuinely real-time updates on REST API, brings usage comfortably back under the limit without losing the real-time behavior where it actually matters.

💡 Pro Tip

Reserve REST API for genuinely real-time, low-volume operations, and route anything bulk or batch-oriented through Bulk API instead -- this single architectural decision is usually the biggest lever for staying comfortably within API limits as integration volume grows.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I check my org\'s current API usage?

Setup → Company Information shows API Requests, Last 24 Hours, giving a real-time view of consumption against your limit.

What counts as a single API call?

Generally, each REST or SOAP API request counts as one call; Bulk API and Streaming API have different counting models better suited to high-volume operations.

Do Bulk API calls count the same as REST API calls?

No, Bulk API is designed to be more efficient at scale and doesn't count per-record against your standard API limit the same way individual REST calls would.

What happens if I exceed my daily API limit?

Further API calls are rejected until the rolling 24-hour window resets, which can disrupt any integration relying on continuous API access.

How is the API limit determined for my org?

Based on your Salesforce edition and the number of licenses purchased -- higher-tier editions and more user licenses generally come with higher API limits.

Can I purchase additional API calls if I exceed my limit regularly?

Yes, additional API call capacity can be purchased from Salesforce if your legitimate integration needs consistently exceed your included limit.

Does API limit reset at a fixed time each day?

It's a rolling 24-hour window based on when calls were made, not a fixed daily reset time like midnight.

Do sandbox orgs have the same API limits as production?

Sandbox API limits are typically lower than production, scaled to the sandbox type -- worth checking before assuming production-level testing volume will work identically in a sandbox.

Can I get alerted before hitting my API limit?

Yes, Salesforce can send warning emails as usage approaches the limit, and monitoring tools can track consumption trends proactively.

Which integration pattern uses the fewest API calls for large data volumes?

Bulk API, specifically 2.0, is the most API-call-efficient approach for genuinely large data operations, compared to making many individual REST API calls.