diff --git a/command/root.go b/command/root.go
index 299a64c..d4e8efd 100644
--- a/command/root.go
+++ b/command/root.go
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ func ExecuteContext(ctx context.Context) error {
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVar(&opts.Retries, "retry", 10, "connection retry attempts for tcp based protocols")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&opts.StartSignal, "start-signal", "s", "", "wait for start signal")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&opts.InsecureTLS, "insecure", false, "disable tls verification")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVar(&opts.RateLimit, "rate-limit", 500*1024, "bytes per second rate limit for UDP output")
 
 	// Webhook output flags.
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&opts.WebhookOptions.ContentType, "webhook-content-type", "application/json", "webhook Content-Type")
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 0fb89b9..fb3c5f9 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,4 +11,5 @@ require (
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.1.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.10.0
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190624142023-c5567b49c5d0
+	golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20190308202827-9d24e82272b4
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5ec7eaf..265ab2a 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -254,6 +254,7 @@ golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.1-0.20180807135948-17ff2d5776d2/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.2/go.mod h1:bEr9sfX3Q8Zfm5fL9x+3itogRgK3+ptLWKqgva+5dAk=
 golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20181108054448-85acf8d2951c/go.mod h1:tRJNPiyCQ0inRvYxbN9jk5I+vvW/OXSQhTDSoE431IQ=
+golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20190308202827-9d24e82272b4 h1:SvFZT6jyqRaOeXpc5h/JSfZenJ2O330aBsf7JfSUXmQ=
 golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20190308202827-9d24e82272b4/go.mod h1:tRJNPiyCQ0inRvYxbN9jk5I+vvW/OXSQhTDSoE431IQ=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20180221164845-07fd8470d635/go.mod h1:n7NCudcB/nEzxVGmLbDWY5pfWTLqBcC2KZ6jyYvM4mQ=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20180917221912-90fa682c2a6e/go.mod h1:n7NCudcB/nEzxVGmLbDWY5pfWTLqBcC2KZ6jyYvM4mQ=
diff --git a/pkg/output/options.go b/pkg/output/options.go
index ce2ee2f..0ed625e 100644
--- a/pkg/output/options.go
+++ b/pkg/output/options.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ type Options struct {
 	Retries     int           // Number of connection retries for tcp based protocols.
 	StartSignal string        // OS signal to wait on before starting.
 	InsecureTLS bool          // Disable TLS verification checks.
+	RateLimit   int           // UDP rate limit in bytes.
 
 	WebhookOptions
 }
diff --git a/pkg/output/udp/udp.go b/pkg/output/udp/udp.go
index d2eeef8..40dee99 100644
--- a/pkg/output/udp/udp.go
+++ b/pkg/output/udp/udp.go
@@ -8,20 +8,29 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"net"
 
+	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
+
 	"github.com/andrewkroh/stream/pkg/output"
 )
 
+const burst = 1024 * 1024
+
 func init() {
 	output.Register("udp", New)
 }
 
 type Output struct {
-	opts *output.Options
-	conn *net.UDPConn
+	opts  *output.Options
+	conn  *net.UDPConn
+	ctx   context.Context
+	limit *rate.Limiter
 }
 
 func New(opts *output.Options) (output.Output, error) {
-	return &Output{opts: opts}, nil
+	return &Output{
+		opts:  opts,
+		limit: rate.NewLimiter(rate.Limit(opts.RateLimit), burst),
+	}, nil
 }
 
 func (o *Output) DialContext(ctx context.Context) error {
@@ -36,6 +45,7 @@ func (o *Output) DialContext(ctx context.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	o.conn = conn
+	o.ctx = ctx
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -44,5 +54,8 @@ func (o *Output) Close() error {
 }
 
 func (o *Output) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
+	if err := o.limit.WaitN(o.ctx, len(b)); err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
 	return o.conn.Write(b)
 }