diff --git a/backend/routers/channels.py b/backend/routers/channels.py
index 41b1e53..38ce5d0 100644
--- a/backend/routers/channels.py
+++ b/backend/routers/channels.py
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ def _fetch_popular_task(channel_id: int, youtube_channel_id: str):
     if not video_ids:
         return
 
-    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=8) as pool:
+    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as pool:
         futures = {pool.submit(ytdlp.fetch_video_metadata, vid): vid for vid in video_ids}
         results = {}
         for future in as_completed(futures):
diff --git a/backend/services/discovery.py b/backend/services/discovery.py
index 88828fb..02e20b5 100644
--- a/backend/services/discovery.py
+++ b/backend/services/discovery.py
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ def _search_and_store(
         except Exception:
             return []
 
-    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=8) as pool:
+    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as pool:
         futures = {pool.submit(_do_search, q): q for q in queries}
         for fut in as_completed(futures):
             for video in fut.result():
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ def update_graph_signal(db: Session, user_id: int):
             return []
 
     featured_map: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
-    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=8) as pool:
+    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as pool:
         futures = {pool.submit(_fetch, row["youtube_channel_id"]): row for row in sample}
         for fut in as_completed(futures):
             row = futures[fut]