Home » Tips & Tricks » How to fix Character AI rate exceeded

How to fix Character AI rate exceeded

Have you run into the 'rate exceeded' error message?

Updated: May 16, 2023 2:22 pm
How to fix Character AI rate exceeded

WePC is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more

Sometimes you can be chatting away with a popular bot on Character AI and suddenly you’re cut off. Not by the AI itself, but an error message. So, let’s show you how to fix Character AI rate exceeded.

This annoying ‘rate exceeded’ error message prevents you from using the website and puts your AI chatting out of business for while. If you’re wondering why this happens and if there are any solutions to the problem, you’re in the right place. You don’t need to worry too much, your AI character hasn’t been deleted – but the service will be unavailable for the time being.

Character AI is a fantastic tool for creating your own characters and building a unique personality. There are many user-created bots already on the platform – from original creations to famous faces (from both fact and fiction). So, let’s get straight into how to fix this error.

How to fix the Character AI rate exceeded error message

As we’ll explain below, the Character AI rate exceeded error usually occurs due to server issues, among other overbearing activity. Server issues can strike any platform, including other popular AI chatbot options such as ChatGPT or Google Bard.

With that in mind, it may still be possible to alleviate the problem. If you want to jump straight to the solution, read immediately below!

Since this error is related to the server, there is no much you can do on your end other than wait. One thing you can try though is to refresh the page or attempt to log out and back in to see if it’s just you being locked out for a short amount of time.

Remember that Character AI is a cloud-service platform which is (at the time of writing) still within it’s beta phase. As the website gets more popular, the team is bound to run into more server issues. These will likely be upgraded over time to keep Character AI as stable as possible.

We advise that you wait for the problem to resolve itself or be fixed before you return to the platform, as trying to use it even more may cause further outages.

Character AI Emergency Mode

If the problem is persisting, the development team of Character AI will perform maintenance to get the site back up and running. In some cases in the past, this takes longer than expected. For this, there is a temporary solution in place – Emergency Mode.

One dev explained how this worked in a Discord message, and it was implemented late in 2022. Emergency Mode allows you to talk to bots as usual, but the messages won’t be saved. If you’re familiar with the platform, this is like using a guest account.

character AI emergency mode discord message
How ‘Emergency Mode’ works (image source: Discord)

What causes Character AI rate exceeded error?

So, what exactly causes the Character AI rate exceeded error? We briefly mentioned it before, but now we can go into a little more detail.

If you want a quick breakdown, here are the 3 main reasons why you may see the Character AI rate exceeded error:

  • Character AI is down
  • Server is receiving too many requests from a single user
  • The website has ongoing maintenance

Server issues

One of the most common reasons is that the server is simply down. This could be because the platform is being overwhelmed by a massive increase of users, or a number of other reason that cause general outage.

Too many requests

This error can also occur when the chatbot is receiving too many messages or requests, overloading the system and therefore running into server issues. Multiple user requests in quick succession (from the same user) can trigger the rate exceeded error. If you are overloading the system with requests, you may be locked out for short period of time – so you’ll see the rate exceeded error.

Character AI maintenance

Finally, the Character AI team may just be performing some maintenance. If so, the whole website is likely to be down until maintenance is finished. Check Character AI’s social media to see if they have any announced, as this is likely the case. The website may also go into the aforementioned Emergency Mode.

Character AI rate exceeded FAQs

Is Character AI down right now?

Character AI has been experiencing outages from time to time due to an increase in the platform’s popularity. If Character AI is down, this will usually be reported online. You may also see the ‘rate exceeded’ error.

When does Character AI go down?

Character AI only purposely goes down when the team is performing planned maintenance. This will usually be announced ahead of time. The platform may also go down due to server issues.

In both cases, the website may be put into ‘Emergency Mode’, which allows you to continue chatting, but your messages won’t be saved.

How to fix Character AI rate exceeded : Final word

That’s our comprehensive guide on how to fix Character AI rate exceeded error. We have plenty of other how to guides and tips and tricks if you’re struggling with any other kind of hardware or software out there.

Character AI continues to develop over time, and we’re exciting to see where this project leads us in the near future. It’s certainly getting more popular, which is probably why you may see the rate exceeded error.


As a Junior Staff Writer, Jack is involved in writing and maintaining a bunch of hardware guides & reviews. With an interest in PC gaming, he now focuses on writing about monitors, headsets, and more.

Trusted Source

WePC’s mission is to be the most trusted site in tech. Our editorial content is 100% independent and we put every product we review through a rigorous testing process before telling you exactly what we think. We won’t recommend anything we wouldn’t use ourselves. Read more