Fair-usage policy
helodata is built on shared infrastructure — gateways, IP pools, support staff. Fair-usage protects everyone on the platform from outliers, and protects you from accidentally over-running resources.
The short version
Run a normal business workload — you're fine.
Run a workload that disproportionately strains any shared resource — we'll reach out.
Run a workload that demonstrably damages the service for others — we'll throttle or suspend, and you'll get notified first.
We've never silently suspended a customer for fair-usage. Communication first, action second.
Specific guardrails
Per-IP request rate (gateway products)
We track requests per second per exit IP behind the scenes. A single sub-user firing 500 RPS through one sticky session is using one exit IP much harder than designed. We:
Surface this in your dashboard's Statistics → Concurrency panel
Email you when one IP exceeds 100 RPS sustained for >10 minutes
Throttle that IP at 200 RPS to prevent ISP-level retaliation against our pool
Spread your traffic across more sessions to avoid this.
Restricted target categories
Detailed in Restricted targets. Trial accounts have an extra strict list; paid accounts can request exceptions for legitimate use cases.
ISP IP replacement
Free replacement up to 14 days from purchase, then 10% of batch per period. Replacing every IP every week defeats the "static" in ISP and forces us to over-provision the pool. Stay within the allowance or upgrade the batch quantity.
Webhook delivery
If we send a webhook to your endpoint and it fails:
3 retries over 24 hours
If still failing, the webhook is disabled and we email you
Repeated re-enable + fail loops indicate your endpoint isn't really there — we'll pause until you confirm
API polling
Polling our API is fine, but polling the same endpoint every second when you could subscribe to a webhook or use If-None-Match is wasteful. We rate-limit and may further throttle endpoints with cheaper alternatives.
Bulk operations
Don't:
Create 10,000 sub-users in a loop (use one or a handful, with proper labels)
Place 100 separate ISP orders for 50 IPs each (place one for 5,000 IPs)
Replace IPs in a tight loop hoping for better ones (cool-off and ask support)
Do:
Open a ticket if you have a legitimate need for unusual scale — we can usually accommodate with prior notice
Service SLA (Pro+ plans)
Our service SLA, where applicable:
API: 99.9% monthly uptime
Gateway: 99.9% monthly uptime
Status page: real-time at status.helodata.com
SLA breaches result in service credits applied to the next invoice — see your plan's terms.
What triggers a fair-usage review
A combination of:
Per-IP RPS sustained > 100 for >10 minutes
Error rate from your traffic > 30% for >30 minutes (could indicate target rejection or abuse)
Abuse reports from target sites referencing your sub-user
ISP IP replacement requests > 20% of a batch in one week
When triggered:
Email to the account owner with details
3 business days to respond
Joint review: is this a legitimate workload pattern we can accommodate?
Outcome: adjustment to limits, plan upgrade recommendation, restriction, or all-clear
What's not fair-usage
Things that aren't governed by fair-usage:
High overall traffic, if it's within your plan and within per-IP norms
Many sub-users, if each is for a real purpose
Aggressive (but legal) scraping of allowed targets
Geographic diversity across many countries
We don't punish scale — we punish patterns that damage the platform.
How to stay clear
Read the Choose a product guide and match the product to your pattern
Spread traffic across multiple sessions rather than hammering one IP
Use the Statistics dashboards to spot your own outliers before we do
Open a ticket when in doubt — we're happy to consult
Contact
Questions about fair-usage? abuse@helodata.com (for abuse reports) or support@helodata.com (for everything else).
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