reference

Sites with Frequent Rate Limits in Holehe: Complete 28-Site Reference

August 24, 2026 megadose/holehe ↗

Holehe flags 28 specific services—including Instagram, Spotify, eBay, and Yahoo—as frequently rate-limited by setting the static boolean frequent_rate_limit=True in their module source files, indicating these platforms commonly return HTTP 429 responses during email reconnaissance scans.

Holehe, the open-source email enumeration framework maintained by megadose/holehe, tracks aggressive throttling behavior across supported platforms. When investigating which sites are known to have frequent rate limits in Holehe, the framework relies on hard-coded flags in individual service modules rather than dynamic detection. This allows users to anticipate potential blocks before executing requests.

How Holehe Flags Rate-Limited Services

Inside each service module, the variable frequent_rate_limit is defined as a boolean constant. When set to True, this value propagates through holehe/core.py into the final result dictionary returned by the scan() function.

In holehe/core.py, the orchestration logic aggregates results from all modules, merging the static frequent_rate_limit flag with dynamic response data. This creates a distinction between known risk (the flag) and actual throttling (the live response).

Complete List of Rate-Limited Sites

The following 28 modules contain frequent_rate_limit = True in their source code, organized by category as implemented in the repository:

Social Media

Shopping & Food Delivery

Music & Audio

Forums & Communities

Programming & Productivity

Other Categories

Interpreting Rate Limit Data in Results

When querying these services, Holehe returns a dictionary containing both the static warning and the dynamic status:

{
  "name": "instagram",
  "domain": "instagram.com",
  "method": "register",
  "frequent_rate_limit": true,
  "rateLimit": true,
  "exists": false,
  "emailrecovery": null,
  "phoneNumber": null,
  "others": null
}
  • frequent_rate_limit: Static boolean hard-coded in the module source (e.g., holehe/modules/social_media/instagram.py), indicating the service is known to throttle aggressively
  • rateLimit: Dynamic boolean reflecting whether the current request returned HTTP 429 or similar throttling response

Detecting and Filtering Rate-Limited Sites

Command Line Usage

Run Holehe from the terminal to see rate limit flags in the JSON output:

holehe -e user@example.com

For Instagram and other flagged services, the output explicitly shows "frequent_rate_limit": true, signaling that you may need to implement retry logic with exponential back-off.

Programmatic Access

Access the flag programmatically using the scan function from holehe.core:

import asyncio
from holehe.core import scan

async def check(email):
    results = await scan(email)
    for r in results:
        if r["frequent_rate_limit"]:
            print(f"{r['name']} is known to be rate‑limited")
        if r["rateLimit"]:
            print(f"{r['name']} responded with a 429 right now")
            
asyncio.run(check("test@example.com"))

Filtering for Rate-Limited Services Only

To isolate services requiring special handling:

rate_limited = [r for r in results if r["frequent_rate_limit"]]
print("Services that may need retries:", [r["name"] for r in rate_limited])

Summary

  • 28 services in megadose/holehe are tagged with frequent_rate_limit=True, including major platforms like Instagram, Spotify, eBay, and Yahoo
  • The flag is static and defined in individual module files (e.g., holehe/modules/social_media/instagram.py)
  • Results distinguish between the static warning (frequent_rate_limit) and dynamic throttling status (rateLimit)
  • Both CLI and programmatic APIs expose this data to help users implement appropriate retry strategies
  • The scan() function in holehe/core.py orchestrates the propagation of these flags into final result objects

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Holehe determine which sites have frequent rate limits?

Holehe uses a static declaration in each service module. Developers set frequent_rate_limit = True in the module's source code (visible in files like holehe/modules/shopping/ebay.py) based on observed behavior of the platform's anti-bot measures. This flag does not change dynamically; it serves as a permanent warning that the service aggressively enforces rate limiting.

What is the difference between frequent_rate_limit and rateLimit in results?

The frequent_rate_limit field is a hard-coded warning indicating the service is known to throttle requests, while rateLimit is a dynamic response indicator showing whether the current specific request was blocked with HTTP 429. A service can have frequent_rate_limit: true but rateLimit: false if the request succeeded, or both true if the site is currently throttling your IP.

Can I skip rate-limited sites when running Holehe?

The current implementation in holehe/core.py does not provide a built-in filter to exclude modules based on the frequent_rate_limit flag during the initial scan. However, you can post-process results as shown in the filtering example to identify which services returned the flag, then prioritize retries or exclude them from subsequent analysis based on the returned dictionary values.

Which category of sites is most commonly flagged for rate limiting?

According to the megadose/holehe source code, social media platforms and forums contain the highest concentration of rate-limited modules. Six social media sites (including Instagram and Patreon) and four forum platforms (including Demonforums and Blackworldforum) carry the flag, reflecting the aggressive anti-automation measures common in community-driven platforms.

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