Requests Per Second Calculator – API and Web Throughput
Calculate required RPS from daily traffic and peak hour patterns.
About This Calculator
Calculate required RPS from daily traffic and peak hour patterns. Use the calculator above for instant results.
Worked Examples
- Avg: 11.6 RPS | Peak: 34.7 RPS | Very manageable
Answer: ~35 RPS peak
- Avg: 1,157 RPS | Peak: 5,787 RPS | Significant scale
Answer: ~5,800 RPS peak
- Avg: 11,574 RPS | Peak: 115,740 RPS | Web-scale
Answer: ~115,000 RPS peak
Who Uses This Calculator?
Size API gateway and backends.
Capacity planning for services.
Load testing targets.
Understand scale requirements.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Design for peak, not average
Average traffic is 5-20× lower than peak. Never size infrastructure for average — you'll be down during your most important moments.
❌ 80/20 rule for traffic
80% of daily traffic often occurs in 20% of the day. Peak hour can be 5× the daily average per hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peak hour patterns?
Traffic peaks on weekday mornings (10am-12pm) for B2B. B2C peaks evenings (8-10pm). Plan for 3-10× average depending on business type.
How many servers for X RPS?
Depends on application. Simple API: 10,000+ RPS per server. Database-heavy: 100-500 RPS. Load test to measure your actual capacity.
RPS to concurrent users?
Use Little's Law: Concurrent = RPS × response_time. 100 RPS at 200ms response = 20 concurrent connections.