diff --git a/backend/Cargo.lock b/backend/Cargo.lock
index f082725..ec020d8 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.lock
+++ b/backend/Cargo.lock
@@ -1558,7 +1558,7 @@ checksum = "c41e0c4fef86961ac6d6f8a82609f55f31b05e4fce149ac5710e439df7619ba4"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "mangalord"
-version = "0.90.7"
+version = "0.90.8"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "argon2",
diff --git a/backend/Cargo.toml b/backend/Cargo.toml
index 2633197..8979566 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "mangalord"
-version = "0.90.7"
+version = "0.90.8"
 edition = "2021"
 default-run = "mangalord"
 
diff --git a/backend/src/crawler/rate_limit.rs b/backend/src/crawler/rate_limit.rs
index 7c187b7..602f6f8 100644
--- a/backend/src/crawler/rate_limit.rs
+++ b/backend/src/crawler/rate_limit.rs
@@ -44,6 +44,25 @@ impl RateLimiter {
     }
 }
 
+/// Once the per-host map grows past this many entries, the next `wait_for`
+/// sweeps out hosts idle longer than [`IDLE_EVICT_AFTER`]. A long crawl that
+/// touches thousands of distinct CDN shards would otherwise retain one bucket
+/// per host for the daemon's whole lifetime. Far above any single source's
+/// real host count, so the sweep is rare.
+const MAX_TRACKED_HOSTS: usize = 1024;
+
+/// A host bucket untouched for at least this long is evicted on the next
+/// over-cap sweep. Generous: a host still being crawled is touched every
+/// `interval`, so only genuinely-finished hosts age out.
+const IDLE_EVICT_AFTER: Duration = Duration::from_secs(3600);
+
+/// A host's bucket plus when it was last used, so idle entries can be evicted.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct HostEntry {
+    limiter: Arc<Mutex<RateLimiter>>,
+    last_used: Instant,
+}
+
 /// Per-host rate limiter map. The outer `Mutex<HashMap>` is held only
 /// during the entry-or-insert + Arc clone; the per-host `Mutex<RateLimiter>`
 /// is held during the actual `wait().await`. So N workers calling
@@ -54,7 +73,7 @@ impl RateLimiter {
 pub struct HostRateLimiters {
     default_interval: Duration,
     overrides: HashMap<String, Duration>,
-    map: Mutex<HashMap<String, Arc<Mutex<RateLimiter>>>>,
+    map: Mutex<HashMap<String, HostEntry>>,
 }
 
 impl HostRateLimiters {
@@ -82,20 +101,37 @@ impl HostRateLimiters {
             .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("no host in url: {url}"))?;
         let limiter = {
             let mut map = self.map.lock().await;
-            map.entry(host.clone())
-                .or_insert_with(|| {
-                    let interval = self
-                        .overrides
-                        .get(&host)
-                        .copied()
-                        .unwrap_or(self.default_interval);
-                    Arc::new(Mutex::new(RateLimiter::new(interval)))
-                })
-                .clone()
+            let now = Instant::now();
+            // Bound the map: when it grows past the soft cap, drop hosts that
+            // have been idle past the TTL. Only fires over-cap, so the common
+            // path is a plain lookup. A host still being crawled is touched
+            // every `interval` and so never ages out.
+            if map.len() >= MAX_TRACKED_HOSTS {
+                map.retain(|_, e| now.duration_since(e.last_used) < IDLE_EVICT_AFTER);
+            }
+            let entry = map.entry(host.clone()).or_insert_with(|| {
+                let interval = self
+                    .overrides
+                    .get(&host)
+                    .copied()
+                    .unwrap_or(self.default_interval);
+                HostEntry {
+                    limiter: Arc::new(Mutex::new(RateLimiter::new(interval))),
+                    last_used: now,
+                }
+            });
+            entry.last_used = now;
+            entry.limiter.clone()
         };
         limiter.lock().await.wait().await;
         Ok(())
     }
+
+    /// Number of host buckets currently tracked. Test/observability hook.
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    pub(crate) async fn tracked_hosts(&self) -> usize {
+        self.map.lock().await.len()
+    }
 }
 
 // `host_of` was duplicated across session/rate_limit/pipeline; the
@@ -165,6 +201,46 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test(start_paused = true)]
+    async fn host_rate_limiters_evict_idle_hosts_over_cap() {
+        // Fill the map to the soft cap with distinct hosts (first call to a
+        // fresh host never sleeps, so this is fast even under real time).
+        let rl = HostRateLimiters::new(Duration::from_millis(1));
+        for i in 0..MAX_TRACKED_HOSTS {
+            rl.wait_for(&format!("https://host{i}.example/x")).await.unwrap();
+        }
+        assert_eq!(rl.tracked_hosts().await, MAX_TRACKED_HOSTS);
+
+        // Let every tracked host age past the idle TTL, then touch one new
+        // host: the over-cap sweep should evict all the idle ones, leaving
+        // only the freshly-inserted entry.
+        tokio::time::sleep(IDLE_EVICT_AFTER + Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
+        rl.wait_for("https://newcomer.example/y").await.unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            rl.tracked_hosts().await,
+            1,
+            "idle hosts should be swept once the map is over the cap"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test(start_paused = true)]
+    async fn host_rate_limiters_keep_recently_used_hosts() {
+        // A host touched within the TTL must survive a sweep so active crawls
+        // aren't reset. Fill to the cap, then re-touch one host right before
+        // adding a newcomer that triggers the sweep.
+        let rl = HostRateLimiters::new(Duration::from_millis(1));
+        for i in 0..MAX_TRACKED_HOSTS {
+            rl.wait_for(&format!("https://host{i}.example/x")).await.unwrap();
+        }
+        tokio::time::sleep(IDLE_EVICT_AFTER + Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
+        // Re-touch host0 so it's recent again.
+        rl.wait_for("https://host0.example/x").await.unwrap();
+        // Newcomer triggers the sweep (map is at cap+1 conceptually).
+        rl.wait_for("https://newcomer.example/y").await.unwrap();
+        // host0 (recent) + newcomer survive; the rest aged out.
+        assert_eq!(rl.tracked_hosts().await, 2);
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test(start_paused = true)]
     async fn host_rate_limiters_honor_overrides() {
         let rl = HostRateLimiters::new(Duration::from_millis(1000))
diff --git a/frontend/package.json b/frontend/package.json
index 6aa9dca..00d1ce6 100644
--- a/frontend/package.json
+++ b/frontend/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "mangalord-frontend",
-  "version": "0.90.7",
+  "version": "0.90.8",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {