How does cache expiration work

What is cache expiration?

The cache expiration defines how long until the cached version of a URL is refreshed/recached automatically. 

The possible cache expiration values depend on your current Prerender subscription. 

• Hobby plan (free plan): 3 days
• Start Up plan: 24 hours to 7 days
• Scale Up plan: 12 hours to 14 days
• Enterprise plan: 6 hours to 30 days

How to change the cache expiration value?

Under the Cache Manager menu on the right side, click on Cache settings and there will be a slider. You can use the slider to select the cache expiration value you want. 

Pulling the slider left will reduce the SEO reactivity of the pages as they won't be recached so often. This will also reduce your Prerender usage during a billing period.
Moving it to the right will improve your pages' SEO reactivity and result in higher Prerender usage.

Consider how often your pages are updated overall, your Prerender plan's available cache expiration range, and your monthly Prerender usage limit.
 
After you select the cache expiration you see fit, click on the Apply Cache Settings button to save the change. 

You can select a higher cache expiration value and use our /recache API endpoint to recache pages when updated. You can include an API call with the URL of the page that was updated in your workflow.
This way, you can lower your Prerender usage while also recaching your pages that change.
You can find more information on our API endpoints here: https://docs.prerender.io/docs/6-api

Related articles: 

- Cache Expiration

- How to change the speed of the render queue