Confusing error Sending frequency limit reached

  • Resolved willemb2

    (@willemb2)


    3 days, 17 hours ago

    Searching for clues to a possible problem I went to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=mailpoet-logs. In 14 years with MailPoet and its predecessor I had never been there. Take that as a compliment!
    But to my dismay I saw lots of errors like this:

    [2025-05-03T08:58:11.459548+00:00] cron.ERROR: Sending frequency limit has been reached. {"error":"[object] (Exception(code: 0): Sending frequency limit has been reached. at /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/mailpoet/lib/Mailer/MailerLog.php:113)","worker":"SendingQueue"} {"free_plugin_version":"5.12.0","premium_plugin_version":"premium not installed"}

    This appeared 28 times only for today. We sent a newsletter to 218 addresses this morning. ‘Sending frequency limit has been reached’? My speed setting is 15 per 5 minutes, so 180 per hour. Our host allows 250 per hour on the SMTP out. Plesk allows me access to the mail log, and guess what: all 218 addresses appear there as ‘delivered’. And no complaints came in while the newsletter contains information all club members need tomorrow.

    So my questions are:

    • What is triggering this error?
    • Do I need to worry?

    BTW I found the clue to the other problem I was researching. I added a new address to a new list and got ‘Subscriber successfully added’ but didn’t appear on the list. It appeared that this address had been subscribed to another list a few moths ago and was still in the subscriber trash. IMHO MailPoet has a weird relation to trash. Please make it auto-empty in 14 days or so.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Plugin Support Gui A. a11n

    (@guicmazeredo)

    2 days, 23 hours ago

    Hi there,

    Thanks for reaching out!

    The sending frequency limit error you are seeing tipically indicates a restriction set by your sending service. Based on your description, I understand that you are sending with your host, right?

    Usually, sending with hosts is not the most reliable method and we advise against using it. You can read more about it here: Why you shouldn’t send with your host

    Is there any reason why you are not sending with the MailPoet Sending Service?

    BTW I found the clue to the other problem I was researching. I added a new address to a new list and got ‘Subscriber successfully added’ but didn’t appear on the list. It appeared that this address had been subscribed to another list a few moths ago and was still in the subscriber trash. IMHO MailPoet has a weird relation to trash. Please make it auto-empty in 14 days or so.

    Indeed, if a subscriber is in the trash, when they are added to a list they won’t show unless you restore them from the trash. Or you can permanently delete them and add them again.

    Currently, MailPoet doesn’t auto-delete any addresses, so you need to manually empty the trash from time to time.

    Changing the trash behavior is not on our roadmap now, but you’re welcome to add it as a suggestion here https://feedback.mailpoet.com

    Our team will take it into account when discussing new features and improvements for the plugin 🙂

    Thank you!

    Thread Starter willemb2

    (@willemb2)

    2 days, 21 hours ago

    Is there any reason why you are not sending with the MailPoet Sending Service?

    Yes, money. This is a very low-budget volunteers organization. And we prefer to rely on local services.
    As I wrote, the limit is 250 per hour and we never come even close to that. I have a lot of experience arranging SPF, DKIM, DMARC etc. to be perfect and we hardly ever have delivery issues. The hosts IP(-range) never appears on blacklists. At the same hosting provider I’m sending newsletters using TNP on 4 other sites at 220 per hour, also no issues. And no errors in the log.

    The error is a ‘false positive’ IMHO, I was just wandering if it’s a MailPoet issue or something like queuing on the server that makes MailPoet believe there is an error. What is this "worker":"SendingQueue"?

    Plugin Support Ojoma a11n

    (@geraltrivia)

    2 days, 8 hours ago

    Hello again @willemb2 ,

    Based on everything you’ve shared, including your SMTP setup and your host’s limits, it does sound like your actual sending volume is well within safe boundaries. In this case, the log entries are likely related to how MailPoet interprets queue processing and delivery timing when using an external sending method like your host’s SMTP.

    The “worker: SendingQueue” entry refers to the part of MailPoet that manages how emails are lined up and sent out. It monitors the delivery rate and applies pacing rules to stay within defined limits. If the plugin encounters even a slight delay or misalignment (for example, from server-side queueing or slow SMTP response), it may log a warning even if the emails are ultimately delivered successfully, which seems to be the case for you, as confirmed in your Plesk logs.

    So in short:

    • No, you do not need to worry in this case
    • The log messages are informative but not critical

    I hope this is helpful.

    Of course, feel free to reach out to us if you need any more help or have other questions and we’d be happy to help.

    Thread Starter willemb2

    (@willemb2)

    2 days, 5 hours ago

    OK, thanks for clarifying, @geraltrivia

    Plugin Support Ojoma a11n

    (@geraltrivia)

    2 days, 4 hours ago

    Hello again,

    You’re welcome @willemb2 .

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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