# Throughput (TPS)

> Throughput is the number of messages a gateway or route can accept and deliver per second (TPS); it decides how long a large campaign takes to leave and is shaped by carrier limits and pacing.

Every link in the chain has a ceiling: your API rate limit, the gateway's queue, the route's agreed rate with the operator, the operator's own capacity. A campaign of one million messages at 200 per minute takes about three and a half days; at 50 per second, under six hours. Pacing is often chosen below the maximum on purpose, so that replies and clicks land at a rate your team can handle.

Throughput is not delivery: a fast route that drops messages is worse than a slower one that delivers.

At SMSMeteor: the API accepts 50 requests per second per key and batches of 1,000 messages per API request; campaigns can be paced per minute or spread over hours, and the estimate shows the expected duration before you send.

Related terms: [Throttling and pacing](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/throttling), [Rate limit](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/rate-limit), [Batch endpoint](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/batch-endpoint), [Latency](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/latency)

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Source: https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/throughput (HTML). Generated by SMSMeteor from the same data as the page. Summary of the whole site: https://smsmeteor.com/llms.txt