Download rate limit

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Docker has enabled download rate limits for pull requests on Docker Hub. Limits are determined based on the account type. For more information, see Docker Hub Pricing.

A user’s limit will be equal to the highest entitlement of their personal account or any organization they belong to. To take advantage of this, you must log into Docker Hub as an authenticated user. For more information, see How do I authenticate pull requests. Unauthenticated (anonymous) users will have the limits enforced via IP.

  • A pull request is defined as up to two GET requests on registry manifest URLs (/v2/*/manifests/*).
  • A normal image pull makes a single manifest request.
  • A pull request for a multi-arch image makes two manifest requests.
  • HEAD requests are not counted.
  • Limits are applied based on the user doing the pull, and not based on the image being pulled or its owner.

Docker will gradually introduce these rate limits, with full effects starting from November 1st, 2020.

How do I authenticate pull requests

The following section contains information on how to log into on Docker Hub to authenticate pull requests.

Docker Desktop

If you are using Docker Desktop, you can log into Docker Hub from the Docker Desktop menu.

Click Sign in / Create Docker ID from the Docker Desktop menu and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the sign-in process.

Docker Engine

If you are using a standalone version of Docker Engine, run the docker login command from a terminal to authenticate with Docker Hub. For information on how to use the command, see docker login.

Docker Swarm

If you are running Docker Swarm, you must use the -- with-registry-auth flag to authenticate with Docker Hub. For more information, see docker service create. If you are using a Docker Compose file to deploy an application stack, see docker stack deploy.

GitHub Actions

If you are using GitHub Actions to build and push Docker images to Docker Hub, see username. If you are using another Action, you must add your username and access token in a similar way for authentication.

Kubernetes

If you are running Kubernetes, follow the instructions in Pull an Image from a Private Registry for information on authentication.

Third-party platforms

If you are using any third-party platforms, follow your provider’s instructions on using registry authentication.

Docker, pull requests, download, limit