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Slots control how many scrapers lobstr.io can run in parallel at the same time. Every plan includes a fixed number of slots, and you can see your current usage on the dashboard home page.
Slot counter on the lobstr.io home page

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What is a slot?

A slot is a parallel scraper instance. Each Squid has a slots setting that determines how many scrapers it launches simultaneously to process its tasks — and each of those scrapers counts as one slot against your plan’s total. Open your Squids list and you’ll see the per-Squid slot count next to each entry:
List of Squids with their slot counts
Why do some Squids have more than one slot? Because the slots setting has been raised in their Settings to boost speed — each additional slot adds another scraper working through the task list in parallel.
Slots setting inside a Squid's Settings panel
To change a Squid’s slot count: open the Squid → Settings → adjust the slots value → Save & Exit. Higher slots = faster runs, at the cost of more of your plan’s total capacity being used at once.

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How your total slot count is computed

Your total is the sum of the slots setting across all your active Squids. For example, with 5 active Squids:
Total slot computation across multiple Squids

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Limits on the slots setting

There are two caps on how high you can set a Squid’s slots value:
  • 20 per run — regardless of your plan’s total, a single Squid can’t exceed 20 parallel instances in one run. Even on the Team plan (50 slots), each individual Squid is still capped at 20.
  • Number of synced accounts — for Squids that require account sync (Sales Nav, Leboncoin, Twitter/X, Facebook), the slots value is also capped by the number of accounts you have synced for that platform. One scraper instance uses one account’s session, so you can’t run 10 instances with only 5 linked accounts.
Plan slot allowances:
  • Free — 1 slot
  • Starter — 2 slots
  • Pro — 10 slots
  • Team — 50 slots
To unlock higher slots on account-synced Squids, sync more accounts for that platform. Each additional synced account raises the ceiling.

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When you hit your plan’s slot limit

Because your total is the sum of slots across every active Squid, you can run out of capacity in two ways: raising one Squid’s slots too high, or simply having too many Squids active at once. When you’re at your limit, lobstr.io won’t let you claim more capacity than your plan includes — raising a Squid’s slots past what’s left over is refused when you save. On the free plan, with a single slot, that means one active Squid at a time. You have three ways out:
  • Free up slots — deactivate a Squid you’re not using (see below). This is instant.
  • Stagger schedules — if two Squids don’t actually need to run simultaneously, offset their schedules so they take turns using the same capacity.
  • Upgrade — see Manage subscription.
The same ceiling applies at launch time, not just in settings. If a run starts when your active Squids already account for every slot you have, it stops with the slots_limit_exceeded stop reason instead of running.

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Freeing up slots

If you’re approaching your plan’s total and need capacity for another Squid, deactivate any Squid you’re not currently using. Deactivating a Squid releases its slots immediately.
Slot counter showing 10 of 10 in use
1

Open your Squids dashboard

Go to your Squids list.
2

Select the Squid to deactivate

Click the Squid you want to pause.
3

Set it to Inactive

Click Change Status to → Inactive. Your total slot count drops by that Squid’s slots value immediately.
Deactivating a Squid and watching the slot count drop
You can reactivate the Squid at any time — its slots are re-added to your total.
If you regularly need more concurrent capacity than your plan allows, upgrading is the most direct fix. Alternatively, stagger your Squid schedules so they don’t all fire at the same moment.
  • Runs — how concurrency works inside a single run
  • Account Sync — synced accounts are what let you raise slots on account-gated Squids
  • Account Bans & Limits — why slot capacity matters for account-based scraping