EngineeringMarch 13, 2026· 13 min read
Rate Limiting Strategies for High-Traffic APIs: A Comparative Analysis
Token bucket, leaky bucket, fixed window, sliding window — each rate-limiting algorithm has tradeoffs. We benchmarked all four under 100k req/s load with Redis and compared accuracy, fairness, and latency overhead.
Choosing the Right Algorithm
The right rate-limiting strategy depends on your traffic patterns. A fixed window is simple but vulnerable to burst traffic at window boundaries, while a sliding window log is fairer but computationally expensive.
About the Author
J
James OkaforCo-founder & CTO
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