Access and limits
Understand API access, download limits, and where to ask for help.
API credits
Each user receives 1,000 API request credits per day. This allowance is per user, not per API key.
Use your API key to authenticate requests. If you run out of credits, see the error reference.
Getting more credits
Contributors receive a higher daily credit allowance. Contribute observations to help improve OpenCellID coverage, and contact us to arrange additional credits.
If you need more credits for another use case, tell us about your project and expected request volume. Commercial plans are also available.
Dataset downloads
We generate exports daily by 02:00 GMT. They include towers observed in the last 18 months. You can download each file twice per day from our download page.
Handling limits
Use the error codes to distinguish invalid input, access restrictions and request limits. Avoid immediate repeated requests after a limit or temporary service error.
For bulk analysis, use dataset downloads instead of repeatedly querying individual cells.