When should I use leaky bucket instead of token bucket?
Leaky bucket (a queue that drains at a fixed rate) smooths output perfectly but adds latency and memory overhead. Use it for jobs that can queue (e.g., image resizing). Token bucket is better for synchronous APIs where excess traffic must be rejected immediately—it absorbs small bursts while respecting the limit.
Answered in
Token Buckets: Bounding Rate Limits at the EdgeFixed-window counters leak at boundaries. Token buckets refill steadily, absorb bursts, and bound the sustained rate strictly—the algorithm Stripe uses.
Read the full analysisOther questions this article answers
More system design & architecture questions
- What does CodeDeploy RESTART actually deploy?
- Does CodeDeploy RESTART work with ECS or Lambda?
- Does RESTART remove an application from load-balancer traffic while it restarts?
- Does Elastic Beanstalk's Active Directory join require a domain password?
- Can an Elastic Beanstalk environment be healthy if the domain join fails?
- Will enabling Active Directory replace running instances?
- What is different about AWS Lambda Web Functions?
- Does Lambda Web Functions automatically cost less than ordinary Lambda?
Every answer on Crashtech is written by the editor of the article it comes from — never auto-summarised. Browse all answers or the System Design & Architecture beat.