diff --git a/src/helper/Site_Letsencrypt.php b/src/helper/Site_Letsencrypt.php
index cd1b591c..de533a92 100644
--- a/src/helper/Site_Letsencrypt.php
+++ b/src/helper/Site_Letsencrypt.php
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 use AcmePhp\Core\Exception\AcmeCoreServerException;
 use AcmePhp\Core\Exception\Protocol\ChallengeNotSupportedException;
 use AcmePhp\Core\Exception\Protocol\CertificateRevocationException;
+use AcmePhp\Core\Exception\Server\RateLimitedServerException;
 use AcmePhp\Core\Protocol\AuthorizationChallenge;
 use AcmePhp\Core\Protocol\ResourcesDirectory;
 use AcmePhp\Core\Protocol\RevocationReason;
@@ -209,7 +210,12 @@ public function authorize( Array $domains, $wildcard = false, $preferred_challen
 		try {
 			$order = $this->client->requestOrder( $domains );
 		} catch ( \Exception $e ) {
-			\EE::warning( 'Let\'s Encrypt order request failed (' . $e->getMessage() . '). It seems you\'re in local environment or using non-public domain, please check logs. Skipping letsencrypt.' );
+			// A rate limit is a distinct failure from a non-public domain; emit a clear, actionable message for it.
+			if ( $this->is_rate_limit_exception( $e ) ) {
+				\EE::warning( 'Let\'s Encrypt rate limit hit for: ' . implode( ', ', $domains ) . ' (' . $e->getMessage() . '). Please wait before retrying. Ref: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/rate-limits/' );
+			} else {
+				\EE::warning( 'Let\'s Encrypt order request failed (' . $e->getMessage() . '). It seems you\'re in local environment or using non-public domain, please check logs. Skipping letsencrypt.' );
+			}
 			\EE::log( 'You can fix the issue and re-run: ee site ssl-verify ' . $domains[0] );
 
 			return false;
@@ -280,6 +286,11 @@ public function revokeAuthorizationChallenges( array $domains ) {
 					\EE::debug( 'Domain Authorization Challenge for ' . $domain . ' revoked successfully' );
 				} catch ( CertificateRevocationException | AcmeCliException $e ) {
 					\EE::debug( $e->getMessage() );
+				} catch ( RateLimitedServerException $e ) {
+					// Revoking uses new-order too; stop here and let authorize() report the rate limit.
+					\EE::debug( $e->getMessage() );
+
+					return;
 				}
 			} else {
 				\EE::debug( 'Domain Authorization Challenge for ' . $domain . ' not found locally' );
@@ -686,6 +697,22 @@ public function isRenewalNecessary( $domain ) {
 		return true;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Whether the given exception is a Let's Encrypt `rateLimited` ACME error.
+	 *
+	 * @param \Throwable $e
+	 *
+	 * @return bool
+	 */
+	private function is_rate_limit_exception( $e ) {
+		if ( $e instanceof RateLimitedServerException ) {
+			return true;
+		}
+
+		// No bare "too many" match: it also hits unrelated errors like "Too many open files".
+		return false !== stripos( $e->getMessage(), 'ratelimited' );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Renew a given domain certificate.
 	 *
@@ -762,12 +789,20 @@ private function executeRenewal( $domain, array $alternativeNames, $email, $forc
 		} catch ( \Exception $e ) {
 			\EE::warning( 'A critical error occurred during certificate renewal: ' . $e->getMessage() );
 			\EE::debug( print_r( $e, true ) );
+			// A rate limit is not a misconfigured-domain failure; point the user to the LE rate-limit docs.
+			if ( $this->is_rate_limit_exception( $e ) ) {
+				\EE::warning( 'Let\'s Encrypt rate limit hit for: ' . $domain . '. Please wait before retrying. Ref: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/rate-limits/' );
+			}
 			\EE::log( 'You can fix the issue and re-run: ee site ssl-verify ' . $domain );
 
 			return false;
 		} catch ( \Throwable $e ) {
 			\EE::warning( 'A critical error occurred during certificate renewal: ' . $e->getMessage() );
 			\EE::debug( print_r( $e, true ) );
+			// A rate limit is not a misconfigured-domain failure; point the user to the LE rate-limit docs.
+			if ( $this->is_rate_limit_exception( $e ) ) {
+				\EE::warning( 'Let\'s Encrypt rate limit hit for: ' . $domain . '. Please wait before retrying. Ref: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/rate-limits/' );
+			}
 			\EE::log( 'You can fix the issue and re-run: ee site ssl-verify ' . $domain );
 
 			return false;
diff --git a/src/helper/class-ee-site.php b/src/helper/class-ee-site.php
index f4dd033b..f7de1f2a 100644
--- a/src/helper/class-ee-site.php
+++ b/src/helper/class-ee-site.php
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ abstract class EE_Site_Command {
 	 */
 	public $site_meta;
 
+	/**
+	 * @var bool $le_renewal_started Whether this process already started an LE renewal (`ssl-renew --all` renews every site in one process).
+	 */
+	private static $le_renewal_started = false;
+
 	public function __construct() {
 
 		$this->fs = new Filesystem();
@@ -2172,6 +2177,12 @@ private function renew_ssl_cert( $args, $force ) {
 			return 0;
 		}
 
+		// Space out consecutive renewals to smooth LE API load; sites not due returned above, so they don't wait.
+		if ( self::$le_renewal_started ) {
+			sleep( random_int( 1, 5 ) );
+		}
+		self::$le_renewal_started = true;
+
 		$postfix_exists      = \EE_DOCKER::service_exists( 'postfix', $this->site_data['site_fs_path'] );
 		$containers_to_start = $postfix_exists ? [ 'nginx', 'postfix' ] : [ 'nginx' ];
 		$this->www_ssl_wrapper( $containers_to_start, false, $force, true );