> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.akua.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Quotas and limits
> How Akua manages resource limits, provisioning speed, and API usage
Akua uses three types of limits to protect your account, keep costs predictable, and ensure fair access for all users. For a full comparison of what each plan includes, see [plans and pricing →](/pricing).
| Limit type | What it controls | Example |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------ |
| **Resource quotas** | How many resources you can own at once | Max 3 machines per workspace |
| **Concurrency limits** | How many operations can run simultaneously | Max 3 machines launching per cluster |
| **Rate limits** | How many API calls per time window | Cloud provider API calls per minute |
## Resource quotas
Resource quotas cap the total number of resources you can have at any time. When you reach the limit, new creation requests are rejected until you delete an existing resource or increase your limit.
Quotas are enforced **per user**, not per workspace. If you are a member of multiple workspaces, your usage across all of them counts toward a single limit. Creating a new workspace does not give you additional resources.
### Current limits
For the per-plan numbers (managed clusters, machines, CPU, memory, machine lifetime), see the canonical [plan comparison on the pricing page →](/pricing#plan-comparison). This page covers the quota model itself; pricing covers what each tier includes.
### Check your quotas
Use the API to see your current usage and limits.
List and inspect quota usage for your account.
Compare plans and understand resource limits per tier.
The response includes each metric's name, current usage, limit, and remaining capacity. Metric names contain a forward slash (for example, `compute/machines`). URL-encode the slash as `%2F` when using the single-metric endpoint. To include concurrency quotas (which are per-cluster), pass a `cluster_id` query parameter.
The `AKUA_API_TOKEN` environment variable holds your API token. This name is intentional: it is the canonical token variable for Akua API clients and the CLI preview.
## Concurrency limits
Concurrency limits cap how many operations of the same type can be in progress at the same time. Unlike resource quotas (which count what you *own*), concurrency limits count what is currently *launching*.
### Machine provisioning
Akua limits the number of machines that can provision simultaneously for a single cluster. If a cluster already has machines launching, additional requests are queued and retried automatically.
| Plan | Max concurrent provisions per cluster |
| ---- | ------------------------------------- |
| Free | 1 |
| Pro | 3 |
This prevents scenarios where repeated provisioning failures create a wave of requests that consume resources without producing healthy machines. Once a machine finishes launching and becomes ready, its slot opens up for the next machine in the queue.
Concurrency limits apply to both Akua-managed and BYOM machines. They protect your cluster infrastructure regardless of who pays for the compute.
### Failure backoff
If machine provisioning fails repeatedly for a cluster, Akua automatically backs off with increasing wait times between retries. This avoids overloading a provider that is already struggling and reduces unnecessary costs.
The backoff follows an exponential pattern: 30 seconds, then 1 minute, 2 minutes, up to a maximum of 5 minutes between retries. Backoff resets when provisioning succeeds or the instance type offering changes (for example, after a plan upgrade).
## Rate limits
Akua rate-limits cloud provider API calls to stay within provider quotas. This is handled transparently; you do not need to configure anything. If machines take slightly longer to provision during high demand, the rate limiter is spacing requests to avoid provider throttling.
## Bring your own cloud key (BYOM)
Machines provisioned with your own cloud provider API key ([BYOM](/compute/overview#bring-your-own-cloud-key)) are **not subject to resource quotas** (machine count, CPU, memory). You pay the provider directly, so Akua does not limit the total number of machines.
Concurrency limits and rate limits **still apply** to BYOM machines. These protect your cluster and cloud provider account from provisioning storms regardless of billing arrangement.
## Increasing your limits
There are three ways to increase your resource limits:
* **Upgrade to Pro**: higher limits for all metrics. See [plans and pricing →](/billing/tiers).
* **Bring your own key**: bypass resource quotas entirely by using your own cloud provider API key.
* **Enterprise overrides**: custom per-workspace or per-user limits set by the Akua team. Contact us if you need limits beyond what Pro offers.
Enterprise customers can request custom quota overrides that take precedence over plan defaults. Overrides can be scoped to a specific workspace or user. Reach out to your account team or email [support@akua.dev](mailto:support@akua.dev).
## Related topics
Compare plans and understand what each tier includes.
How Akua provisions machines and what the two provisioning modes are.
Understand cluster types and how quotas apply to them.
Inspect quota usage programmatically.