Frequently asked questions

Free options are great for prototyping but tend to have unpredictable uptime, no SLA, slower latency under load, and stale data because nobody's paid to keep it current. REST Countries commits: 99.95%+ uptime with service credits if we miss, <150ms typical response time, with fields like population and current leaders synced every 4 hours against ISO and UN sources, and real human support. The free plan (500 requests /mo) lets you compare side-by-side before paying anything.

Pass your key in the Authorization header as Bearer rc_live_…. You can also pass it as a api-key query parameter, but the header is preferred so the key never lands in server logs or browser history.

Static fields (codes, capitals, languages, borders) are reviewed against ISO and UN sources weekly. Dynamic fields (population, current leaders, calling codes when they change) refresh every 4 hours.

Average response time is ~140ms for warm-cache hits, which are the common case (essentially HTTP roundtrip plus JSON decode time). Business plans can opt into a dedicated EU-region endpoint for lower latency from European clients.

Limits are soft. We send email alerts as you approach your cap, and requests continue during a short grace period after you cross it. If the grace period elapses without an upgrade or monthly reset, requests return HTTP 403 until your cycle resets or you upgrade. Existing API keys do not need to be re-issued.

Personal targets 99.9%, Professional 99.95%, Startup 99.99%, Business 99.995% monthly uptime. If we miss the target on a paid plan, prorated service credits (10% / 25% / 50% depending on the size of the miss) are applied automatically to your next invoice. No support ticket required. The SLA covers the API endpoints only; auxiliary surfaces (marketing site, dashboard, billing pages) are excluded.

Yes, on Business plans. When a tracked field changes (e.g., population updates, a change in leaders, new economic data is published), REST Countries sends a signed POST to the endpoint(s) you've registered with details of what changed and the country it affected. Useful for cache invalidation and audit trails. Set up endpoints from the Webhooks tab in your dashboard.

Yes. Open Plans and click Downgrade to free. You'll keep paid features until the end of the current billing period, then drop to the free plan automatically.

All of those live on Account. Email changes require your current password and a confirmation link sent to the new address; your old address is also notified for security.

Account. The account name may appear on invoices, the billing email receives invoices and billing notifications (it's separate from your log-in email), and the Account ID is shown read-only at the top of the Account details section. Reference it when contacting support.

Billing. From there you can change your plan, switch between monthly and yearly billing, update your card, retry a failed payment, and download receipts for any past invoice.

If your billing address is in a jurisdiction where sales tax, VAT, GST/HST, or an equivalent consumption tax applies to digital services, yes; applicable taxes are added at checkout and itemized on your invoice. Stripe Payments acts as our merchant of record and is responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting those taxes based on your billing address, so the correct rate for your country or region is applied automatically.

Open Account and use the Delete account button in the Danger zone. Deletion permanently revokes every API key and removes all usage history, and can't be undone. Cancel your plan first from Billing if you only want to stop being charged.

Yes: 20% off any paid plan if you're a student, faculty member, accredited educational institution, or registered non-profit using REST Countries for coursework, research, or mission-related work (not for commercial production traffic).

To claim, contact support from your .edu address (or attach proof: enrollment letter, faculty ID, or non-profit registration). We usually reply within one business day and apply the discount as a recurring credit on your next invoice.

Because it's a plain REST API: every country is a resource you fetch over HTTPS with an ordinary GET request, no SDK, login, or session to manage. You send a URL, you get predictable JSON back, and the name simply describes that RESTful approach to country data.

The API is plain REST + JSON, so any HTTP client works. Official thin SDKs for Node, Python, and Go are in early access. Email us to be added to the beta.

AWS, in us-west-2 by default. Business plans can opt into a dedicated EU-region endpoint; your account, keys, and request logs are stored in eu-west-1 instead. Contact support after upgrading and we'll move your account.

No. The API is the only delivery method, which keeps dynamic fields current and ensures customers always read the latest corrections. The Terms allow response caching for up to 3 days for performance, but bulk downloads, mirror services, and offline copies aren't permitted. If your use case depends on a static export, contact support; we occasionally license snapshots for accredited academic research or enterprise integrations.

Not yet. Today the API serves the current value for each dynamic field. Historical timeseries is on the roadmap. Let us know if it's a blocker for you.

Open the API Keys page, click Revoke next to the affected key, then create a replacement. Revocation is immediate.

Contact support with details. We respond within 24 hours and run a coordinated disclosure process.