Updated Oct 2026

Yelp API Review Limit: Why You Only Get 3 Reviews (and What You Can Do About It)

The Yelp API reviews endpoint returns up to 3 review excerpts per business on the Enhanced plan and up to 7 on the Premium plan. The Base plan returns none. You never get the full review text or the full list of reviews: Yelp gives you short excerpts with a link back to Yelp. That’s by design, not a bug, so pagination won’t get you more. If you need every review of your own business, the options are a Premium plan, a direct deal with Yelp, or the owner tools in Yelp for Business.

For the whole API (search, business details, keys, pricing), see our Yelp API guide.

What the Yelp API returns, plan by plan

Yelp now calls the product the Yelp Places API (formerly Yelp Fusion). Plans, as listed on Yelp’s Places API pricing page:

The trial includes 5,000 free calls, and Yelp bills a minimum of 1,000 calls a day once you pay. Yelp’s FAQ adds that excerpts show the first 160 characters of a review.

Why the Yelp API review limit exists

The reviews endpoint reference describes it as returning up to three review excerpts for a business, and it requires the Enhanced or Premium plan. Yelp’s API is built for displaying Yelp content inside other apps, with attribution and a link back to Yelp. It’s not an export tool. When you create an app you accept Yelp’s API Terms of Use and Display Requirements, and those rules shape what you can show.

A detail that confuses developers: the reference lists a limit parameter (0–50, default 20) and an offset (0–1000). These don’t lift the excerpt cap, which is set by your plan.

How to get reviews from the Yelp API, step by step

Step 1 — Choose a plan with review access

Base has no review excerpts. Choose Enhanced or Premium on the Places API pricing page and start the 30-day trial.

Step 2 — Create an app and get your Yelp API key

Fill out the create app form, accept the API Terms of Use and Display Requirements, and submit. Your API key is issued as soon as the app exists. You manage it on the Manage App page (yelp.com/developers/v3/manage_app), where you can also refresh a leaked key and see your daily limits.

Step 3 — Find the business ID or alias

Use the 22-character Yelp business ID or the alias in the business URL (the part after /biz/). You can also get the ID from /v3/businesses/search or /v3/businesses/search/phone.

Step 4 — Call the reviews endpoint

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YELP_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.yelp.com/v3/businesses/BUSINESS_ID_OR_ALIAS/reviews?locale=en_US"

// Node 18+
const res = await fetch(
  `https://api.yelp.com/v3/businesses/${encodeURIComponent(bizId)}/reviews?locale=en_US`,
  { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.YELP_API_KEY}` } }
);
if (res.status === 429) console.warn(await res.json()); // ACCESS_LIMIT_REACHED or TOO_MANY_REQUESTS_PER_SECOND
const { reviews = [] } = await res.json();

# Python 3
import os, requests
r = requests.get(
    f"https://api.yelp.com/v3/businesses/{biz_id}/reviews",
    params={"locale": "en_US"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['YELP_API_KEY']}"},
)
r.raise_for_status()
reviews = r.json().get("reviews", [])

Each review has id, url, text (the excerpt), rating, time_created and user. The response also lists possible_languages, the locales in which the business has at least one review.

Step 5 — Display with attribution

Show the excerpt, the rating and a link to the full review on Yelp (the url field). Check the Display Requirements you accepted for logo and link rules.

Legitimate ways to work with more of your Yelp reviews

If you’re tempted to build your own scraper, read why scraping is the wrong fix first: the maintenance cost alone usually decides it.

Common Yelp API errors

Every response carries RateLimit-DailyLimit, RateLimit-Remaining and RateLimit-ResetTime headers. Yelp’s rate limiting page also recommends caching Yelp data for up to 24 hours while you develop.

FAQ

How many reviews does the Yelp API return?

Up to 3 review excerpts per business on the Enhanced plan and up to 7 on the Premium plan. The Base plan has no access to review excerpts.

Can I get the full text of Yelp reviews through the API?

No. The API returns excerpts, not full reviews, and links to the full review on Yelp.

How much does the Yelp API cost?

Yelp lists the Base plan at $229/month, Enhanced at $299/month and Premium at $643/month, each with a 30-day trial.

Can I reply to Yelp reviews through the API?

Not with the public Places API. Owners reply from Yelp for Business.

Is Yelp Fusion the same as the Yelp Places API?

Yes. Yelp Places API is the current name; the docs still use “fusion” in some URLs.

curl "https://api.prismareviews.com/v1/reviews?platform=yelp&location_id=loc_123" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PRISMA_API_KEY"