---
title: "What does the webhooks capacity limit error mean?"
description: "Learn what the webhook capacity limit error means and how to manage CU usage."
---

# What does the webhooks capacity limit error mean?

The **capacity limit error** occurs when you’ve exceeded the total monthly **Compute Units \(CUs\)** allotted to your Alchemy account. Each Alchemy plan has a set CU limit, and once that limit is reached, your services—such as webhooks—may stop operating until the next billing cycle or until you upgrade your plan to gain more CUs.

## Capacity limit example
If you are using many webhook events throughout the month and your CU usage exceeds your account’s limit, you’ll see a **capacity limit error**, such as:

```json
{
  "webhookId": "wh_127lzhz0dfwwimwe",
  "id": "whevt_55i2al4sc2ivp1m8",
  "createdAt": "2022-12-05T23:43:16.379Z",
  "type": "ADDRESS_ACTIVITY",
  "event": {
    "error": "Monthly capacity limit exceeded. Visit https://dashboard.alchemy.com/settings/billing to upgrade your scaling policy for continued service."
  }
}
```

This error indicates that your webhook events have consumed all available CUs, and additional events will not be processed until the next cycle, or unless you upgrade your plan.

## Understanding compute unit \(CU\) consumption for webhooks
Every webhook event you process consumes Compute Units \(CUs\) based on the amount of data transmitted.

- **1 byte of data** transmitted through a webhook consumes **0.04 CUs**.
- A typical webhook event usually involves about **1,000 bytes of data**, which consumes approximately** 40 CUs** per event.

The more data your webhooks process, the more CUs they consume, and reaching your monthly CU limit will trigger the capacity limit error.

## What to do when you hit the capacity limit
If you receive a capacity limit error, there are 3 options:

1. **Wait for the Next Billing Cycle**: Your CUs will reset at the start of the next billing period, and your webhooks will resume operation.
1. **Upgrade Your Plan**: If your app or project requires more CUs, you can upgrade to a higher tier by visiting your [Alchemy Dashboard](https://dashboard.alchemy.com/settings/billing) in the billing section.

<CalloutBlock>
  📘 For more information on CU pricing and webhook usage, refer to the Alchemy
  Docs
</CalloutBlock>