diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index de2f7fc..c402ba9 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.30.0
 	github.com/puzpuzpuz/xsync/v3 v3.0.2
 	github.com/rs/cors v1.7.0
-	github.com/sebest/xff v0.0.0-20210106013422-671bd2870b3a
 )
 
 require (
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index c1a2a14..c4dbf4c 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -113,8 +113,6 @@ github.com/mailru/easyjson v0.7.7/go.mod h1:xzfreul335JAWq5oZzymOObrkdz5UnU4kGfJ
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.6/go.mod h1:NyWgC/yNuGj7Q9rpYnZvas74GogHl5/Z4A/KQRfk6bU=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.18 h1:JL0eqdCOq6DJVNPSvArO/bIV9/P7fbGrV00LZHc+5aI=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.18/go.mod h1:2eHXhiwb8IkHr+BDWZGa96P6+rkvnG63S2DGjv9HUNg=
-github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.28.1 h1:XQi/lBsigBXHRm7IDBJE7SR9citCh9srgf8sA5iVW3A=
-github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.28.1/go.mod h1:OQ8sNLFJnsj17BdqZiLSmjJBIFTfDqckEYC3utS4qoY=
 github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.30.0 h1:rN085pe4IxmSBVht8LChZbWLggonjA8hPIk8l4/+Hjk=
 github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.30.0/go.mod h1:tiKJY6fWYSujbTQb201Y+IQ3l4szqYVt+fsTnsm7FCk=
 github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 h1:FEBLx1zS214owpjy7qsBeixbURkuhQAwrK5UwLGTwt4=
@@ -128,8 +126,6 @@ github.com/rs/cors v1.7.0 h1:+88SsELBHx5r+hZ8TCkggzSstaWNbDvThkVK8H6f9ik=
 github.com/rs/cors v1.7.0/go.mod h1:gFx+x8UowdsKA9AchylcLynDq+nNFfI8FkUZdN/jGCU=
 github.com/savsgio/gotils v0.0.0-20230208104028-c358bd845dee h1:8Iv5m6xEo1NR1AvpV+7XmhI4r39LGNzwUL4YpMuL5vk=
 github.com/savsgio/gotils v0.0.0-20230208104028-c358bd845dee/go.mod h1:qwtSXrKuJh/zsFQ12yEE89xfCrGKK63Rr7ctU/uCo4g=
-github.com/sebest/xff v0.0.0-20210106013422-671bd2870b3a h1:iLcLb5Fwwz7g/DLK89F+uQBDeAhHhwdzB5fSlVdhGcM=
-github.com/sebest/xff v0.0.0-20210106013422-671bd2870b3a/go.mod h1:wozgYq9WEBQBaIJe4YZ0qTSFAMxmcwBhQH0fO0R34Z0=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.4.0/go.mod h1:YvHI0jy2hoMjB+UWwv71VJQ9isScKT/TqJzVSSt89Yw=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.5.0/go.mod h1:Yh+to48EsGEfYuaHDzXPcE3xhTkx73EhmCGUpEOglKo=
diff --git a/handlers.go b/handlers.go
index 3659033..42ba130 100644
--- a/handlers.go
+++ b/handlers.go
@@ -34,6 +34,13 @@ func (rl *Relay) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 }
 
 func (rl *Relay) HandleWebsocket(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	for _, reject := range rl.RejectConnection {
+		if reject(r) {
+			w.WriteHeader(418) // I'm a teapot
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
 	conn, err := rl.upgrader.Upgrade(w, r, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		rl.Log.Printf("failed to upgrade websocket: %v\n", err)
diff --git a/helpers.go b/helpers.go
index a58066d..05c0fea 100644
--- a/helpers.go
+++ b/helpers.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package khatru
 
 import (
+	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -34,3 +35,43 @@ func getServiceBaseURL(r *http.Request) string {
 	}
 	return proto + "://" + host
 }
+
+var privateMasks = func() []net.IPNet {
+	privateCIDRs := []string{
+		"127.0.0.0/8",
+		"10.0.0.0/8",
+		"172.16.0.0/12",
+		"192.168.0.0/16",
+		"fc00::/7",
+	}
+	masks := make([]net.IPNet, len(privateCIDRs))
+	for i, cidr := range privateCIDRs {
+		_, netw, err := net.ParseCIDR(cidr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+		masks[i] = *netw
+	}
+	return masks
+}()
+
+func isPrivate(ip net.IP) bool {
+	for _, mask := range privateMasks {
+		if mask.Contains(ip) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func GetIPFromRequest(r *http.Request) string {
+	if xffh := r.Header.Get("X-Forwarded-For"); xffh != "" {
+		for _, v := range strings.Split(xffh, ",") {
+			if ip := net.ParseIP(strings.TrimSpace(v)); ip != nil && ip.IsGlobalUnicast() && !isPrivate(ip) {
+				return ip.String()
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	ip, _, _ := net.SplitHostPort(r.RemoteAddr)
+	return ip
+}
diff --git a/policies/helpers.go b/policies/helpers.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3bfe70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/policies/helpers.go
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package policies
+
+import (
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/puzpuzpuz/xsync/v3"
+)
+
+func startRateLimitSystem[K comparable](
+	tokensPerInterval int,
+	interval time.Duration,
+	maxTokens int,
+) func(key K) (ratelimited bool) {
+	negativeBuckets := xsync.NewMapOf[K, *atomic.Int32]()
+	maxTokensInt32 := int32(maxTokens)
+
+	go func() {
+		for {
+			time.Sleep(interval)
+			negativeBuckets.Range(func(key K, bucket *atomic.Int32) bool {
+				newv := bucket.Add(int32(-tokensPerInterval))
+				if newv <= 0 {
+					negativeBuckets.Delete(key)
+				}
+				return true
+			})
+		}
+	}()
+
+	return func(key K) bool {
+		nb, _ := negativeBuckets.LoadOrStore(key, &atomic.Int32{})
+
+		if nb.Load() < maxTokensInt32 {
+			nb.Add(1)
+			// rate limit not reached yet
+			return false
+		}
+
+		// rate limit reached
+		return true
+	}
+}
diff --git a/policies/ratelimits.go b/policies/ratelimits.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a78e7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/policies/ratelimits.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package policies
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/khatru"
+	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
+)
+
+func EventIPRateLimiter(tokensPerInterval int, interval time.Duration, maxTokens int) func(ctx context.Context, _ *nostr.Event) (reject bool, msg string) {
+	rl := startRateLimitSystem[string](tokensPerInterval, interval, maxTokens)
+
+	return func(ctx context.Context, _ *nostr.Event) (reject bool, msg string) {
+		return rl(khatru.GetIP(ctx)), "rate-limited: slow down, please"
+	}
+}
+
+func EventPubKeyRateLimiter(tokensPerInterval int, interval time.Duration, maxTokens int) func(ctx context.Context, _ *nostr.Event) (reject bool, msg string) {
+	rl := startRateLimitSystem[string](tokensPerInterval, interval, maxTokens)
+
+	return func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) (reject bool, msg string) {
+		return rl(evt.PubKey), "rate-limited: slow down, please"
+	}
+}
+
+func ConnectionRateLimiter(tokensPerInterval int, interval time.Duration, maxTokens int) func(r *http.Request) bool {
+	rl := startRateLimitSystem[string](tokensPerInterval, interval, maxTokens)
+
+	return func(r *http.Request) bool {
+		return rl(khatru.GetIPFromRequest(r))
+	}
+}
+
+func FilterIPRateLimiter(tokensPerInterval int, interval time.Duration, maxTokens int) func(ctx context.Context, _ nostr.Filter) (reject bool, msg string) {
+	rl := startRateLimitSystem[string](tokensPerInterval, interval, maxTokens)
+
+	return func(ctx context.Context, _ nostr.Filter) (reject bool, msg string) {
+		return rl(khatru.GetIP(ctx)), "rate-limited: there is a bug in the client, no one should be making so many requests"
+	}
+}
diff --git a/policies/sane_defaults.go b/policies/sane_defaults.go
index 4fd1f2c..6b775ac 100644
--- a/policies/sane_defaults.go
+++ b/policies/sane_defaults.go
@@ -1,14 +1,24 @@
 package policies
 
-import "github.com/fiatjaf/khatru"
+import (
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/khatru"
+)
 
 func ApplySaneDefaults(relay *khatru.Relay) {
 	relay.RejectEvent = append(relay.RejectEvent,
 		RejectEventsWithBase64Media,
+		EventIPRateLimiter(2, time.Minute*3, 5),
 	)
 
 	relay.RejectFilter = append(relay.RejectFilter,
 		NoEmptyFilters,
 		NoComplexFilters,
+		FilterIPRateLimiter(20, time.Minute, 100),
+	)
+
+	relay.RejectConnection = append(relay.RejectConnection,
+		ConnectionRateLimiter(1, time.Minute*5, 3),
 	)
 }
diff --git a/relay.go b/relay.go
index 4be8219..2ba192e 100644
--- a/relay.go
+++ b/relay.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ type Relay struct {
 	RejectEvent               []func(ctx context.Context, event *nostr.Event) (reject bool, msg string)
 	RejectFilter              []func(ctx context.Context, filter nostr.Filter) (reject bool, msg string)
 	RejectCountFilter         []func(ctx context.Context, filter nostr.Filter) (reject bool, msg string)
+	RejectConnection          []func(r *http.Request) bool
 	OverwriteDeletionOutcome  []func(ctx context.Context, target *nostr.Event, deletion *nostr.Event) (acceptDeletion bool, msg string)
 	OverwriteResponseEvent    []func(ctx context.Context, event *nostr.Event)
 	OverwriteFilter           []func(ctx context.Context, filter *nostr.Filter)
diff --git a/utils.go b/utils.go
index ae150dd..3e3620d 100644
--- a/utils.go
+++ b/utils.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
-	"github.com/sebest/xff"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -31,7 +30,7 @@ func GetAuthed(ctx context.Context) string {
 }
 
 func GetIP(ctx context.Context) string {
-	return xff.GetRemoteAddr(GetConnection(ctx).Request)
+	return GetIPFromRequest(GetConnection(ctx).Request)
 }
 
 func GetSubscriptionID(ctx context.Context) string {