Laravel Quota: Usage Budgets for Calendar Periods | Mohamed Said [ ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MH.png) Mohamed Said Laravel Backend Engineer ](https://www.msaied.com) [ Home ](https://www.msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://www.msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://www.msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://www.msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://www.msaied.com#contact-section) [ ](https://github.com/EG-Mohamed) [ Home ](https://www.msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://www.msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://www.msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://www.msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://www.msaied.com#contact-section) [ home ](https://www.msaied.com) [ articles ](https://www.msaied.com/articles) Laravel Quota: Enforce Usage Budgets for Calendar Periods in Laravel On this page 1. [ What Is Laravel Quota? ](#what-is-laravel-quota) 2. [ Key Features ](#key-features) 3. [ The Fluent API ](#the-fluent-api) 4. [ Quotas on Eloquent Models ](#quotas-on-eloquent-models) 5. [ Route Middleware ](#route-middleware) 6. [ Storage Backends ](#storage-backends) 7. [ Installation ](#installation) 8. [ Real Takeaways ](#real-takeaways) ![Laravel Quota: Enforce Usage Budgets for Calendar Periods in Laravel](https://cdn.msaied.com/424/b6dac94325ccc99dff6556fefb82969d.png) [ Laravel ](https://www.msaied.com/articles?category=laravel) [ Composer Pacakge ](https://www.msaied.com/articles?category=composer-pacakge) #Laravel #Packages #Rate Limiting #Usage Quota #API Laravel Quota: Enforce Usage Budgets for Calendar Periods in Laravel ====================================================================== 14 Jul 2026 4 min read ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MJ.jpg) Mohamed Said Table of contents 1. [ 01 What Is Laravel Quota? ](#what-is-laravel-quota) 2. [ 02 Key Features ](#key-features) 3. [ 03 The Fluent API ](#the-fluent-api) 4. [ 04 Quotas on Eloquent Models ](#quotas-on-eloquent-models) 5. [ 05 Route Middleware ](#route-middleware) 6. [ 06 Storage Backends ](#storage-backends) 7. [ 07 Installation ](#installation) 8. [ 08 Real Takeaways ](#real-takeaways) What Is Laravel Quota? ---------------------- [Laravel Quota](https://github.com/zaber-dev/laravel-quota) (`zaber-dev/laravel-quota`) is a package for tracking and enforcing **cumulative usage limits** that reset on calendar boundaries. Think 50 PDF exports per month, 1,000 API queries per day, or a pool of AI credits per billing cycle. It solves a different problem than Laravel's built-in `RateLimiter`. Instead of throttling bursts in a sliding window, it counts consumption against a named budget that resets at a predictable calendar boundary—and it can persist that count in the database rather than only in the cache. Key Features ------------ - Calendar-aligned periods: `perMinute()`, `perHour()`, `perDay()`, `perWeek()`, `perMonth()`, `perYear()`, or a custom `period($start, $end)` - A `HasQuotas` Eloquent trait to attach quotas directly to any model - Route middleware (`quota:exports,50,month`) that only consumes the budget on a successful 2xx/3xx response - Switchable **cache** or **database** backends, configurable per call - Atomic consumption via `block()` to prevent double-spend under concurrency - Hard enforcement via `enforce()`, which throws an HTTP 429 when the budget is exhausted The Fluent API -------------- A quota is a named counter scoped to an owner, with a limit and a period: ```php use ZaberDev\Quota\Facades\Quota; $builder = Quota::for('api_queries', $user) ->limit(1000) ->perDay(); $builder->used(); $builder->remaining(); $builder->isExceeded(); $builder->hasCapacity(10); $info = $builder->consume(5); ``` To fail hard instead of branching on the result, call `enforce()`: ```php Quota::for('api_queries', $user)->limit(1000)->perDay()->enforce(); ``` For work where a double-spend matters, `block()` wraps the callback in a lock: ```php Quota::for('pdf_generation', $user) ->limit(50) ->perMonth() ->block(function () use ($pdfService) { $pdfService->generate(); }, amount: 1, lockSeconds: 30); ``` Quotas on Eloquent Models ------------------------- Add the `HasQuotas` trait to any model and the same builder is available directly on the instance: ```php use ZaberDev\Quota\HasQuotas; class User extends Authenticatable { use HasQuotas; } $user->quota('pdf_exports')->limit(25)->perMonth()->consume(); $user->quota('pdf_exports')->limit(25)->perMonth()->remaining(); ``` With the database backend, quota records are polymorphic, so you can query them like any other relation: ```php $activeQuotas = $user->quotas() ->where('period_end', '>', now()) ->get(); ``` Route Middleware ---------------- Apply quota enforcement directly to routes with the `quota` middleware: ```php Route::post('/exports/generate', [ExportController::class, 'store']) ->middleware('quota:exports,50,month'); Route::post('/api/v1/query', [ApiController::class, 'query']) ->middleware('quota:api_query,1000,day,database'); ``` Capacity is checked before the route runs, but the quota is only consumed when the response is 2xx or 3xx. A request that errors or fails validation costs the user nothing. Storage Backends ---------------- The default driver is `cache` (Redis, Memcached, or any configured store). Switch to `database` when the count is tied to billing and must survive a cache flush: ```php Quota::for('api_ping', $ip)->using('cache')->limit(5000)->perDay()->consume(); Quota::for('monthly_exports', $user)->using('database')->limit(50)->perMonth()->consume(); ``` Expired database rows can be pruned on a schedule: ```php Schedule::command('model:prune', ['--model' => Quota::class])->daily(); ``` Installation ------------ Requires PHP 8.2 and supports Laravel 11, 12, and 13: ```bash composer require zaber-dev/laravel-quota php artisan vendor:publish --provider="ZaberDev\Quota\QuotaServiceProvider" php artisan migrate ``` Real Takeaways -------------- - Laravel Quota is a **calendar-reset** budget system, not a sliding-window rate limiter. - The `enforce()` method returns an HTTP 429 automatically—no manual branching needed. - Use `block()` for atomic consumption when concurrent requests could both pass the capacity check. - The **database backend** is the right choice for billing-critical counters that can't be lost on a cache flush. - Route middleware only charges the budget on successful responses, protecting users from being penalized for server errors. - Custom backends can be registered via `Quota::extend()` in a service provider. --- *Source: [Laravel Quota: Usage Budgets for Calendar Periods — Laravel News](https://laravel-news.com/laravel-quota-usage-budgets-for-calendar-periods)* Found this useful? [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-quota-enforce-usage-budgets-for-calendar-periods-in-laravel&text=Laravel+Quota%3A+Enforce+Usage+Budgets+for+Calendar+Periods+in+Laravel) [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-quota-enforce-usage-budgets-for-calendar-periods-in-laravel) Frequently Asked Questions ---------------------------- 3 questions Q01 How is Laravel Quota different from Laravel's built-in RateLimiter? Laravel's RateLimiter throttles bursts of traffic using a sliding time window and is typically backed by cache only. Laravel Quota counts cumulative consumption against a named budget that resets on a fixed calendar boundary (e.g., the start of a month), and it can persist counts in the database so they survive cache flushes—making it suitable for billing-tied limits. Q02 Does the route middleware charge the quota if the request fails? No. The middleware checks capacity before the route runs but only consumes the quota when the response returns a 2xx or 3xx status code. Requests that result in a 4xx or 5xx response do not count against the user's budget. Q03 When should I use the database backend instead of the cache backend? Use the database backend when the quota count is tied to billing or any business-critical limit that must not be lost if the cache is flushed or expires. The cache backend is fine for soft limits where occasional resets are acceptable. 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