BigCommerce API rate limits — when do they actually bite?

BC publishes per-plan rate limits on Storefront, Catalog, Cart, and Checkout APIs. Rough numbers (subject to change):

• Storefront API: ~200 req/sec on Standard, 450 on Pro, custom on Enterprise
• Catalog (V3) API: ~150 req/sec sustained
• Cart / Checkout APIs: lower, with stricter burst limits

When they bite:

• Catalog sync from ERP. If NetSuite pushes 8k SKU updates an hour during inventory recon, you’ll throttle. Workaround: batch + queue + retry.
• PIM-driven content updates. Same problem.
• Headless storefronts. Each PDP load makes ~5–10 Storefront API calls; high-traffic homepage = limit-bound.
• 3rd-party app stack on Pro+. Loyalty + reviews + search + abandoned-cart all eat the same per-store budget.

Magento self-hosted has no API limits beyond your own infrastructure — bottleneck moves to MySQL, app server, cache. You control the dial. Different problem space, but the dial is yours.