diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index aeeeeab..fccc401 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -25,14 +25,14 @@ BugReports: https://github.com/ropensci/opencage/issues
 Depends: 
     R (>= 3.4.0)
 Imports: 
-    crul (>= 0.5.2),
     dplyr (>= 0.7.4),
+    httr2 (>= 0.2.0),
     jsonlite (>= 1.5),
     lifecycle,
+    magrittr,
     memoise (>= 1.1.0),
     progress (>= 1.1.2),
     purrr (>= 0.2.4),
-    ratelimitr (>= 0.4.0),
     rlang,
     tibble (>= 1.4.2),
     tidyr (>= 0.8.0),
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 8c03a7d..534673b 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -26,4 +26,5 @@ export(oc_reverse_df)
 export(opencage_forward)
 export(opencage_key)
 export(opencage_reverse)
+importFrom(magrittr,`%>%`)
 importFrom(rlang,.data)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index a1df7af..79cc3a4 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # opencage (development version)
 
+
+* http requests are now handled by {[httr2](https://httr2.r-lib.org/)}, not {[crul](https://docs.ropensci.org/crul/)}; and rate limitation / throttling by httr2, not [ratelimitr](https://github.com/tarakc02/ratelimitr) ([#156](https://github.com/ropensci/opencage/issues/156)).
 * opencage now supports an `address_only` parameter, see "[New optional API parameter 'address_only'](https://blog.opencagedata.com/post/new-optional-parameter-addressonly)", ([#151](https://github.com/ropensci/opencage/pull/151)).
 * The geocoding functions will not send a query to the API anymore if no API key is present ([#133](https://github.com/ropensci/opencage/issues/133)).
 * `NA`s are allowed again for the `placename` or `latitude`/`longitude` arguments (also empty strings for `placename`). 
diff --git a/R/oc_api_ok.R b/R/oc_api_ok.R
index ec1cb52..abb41c7 100644
--- a/R/oc_api_ok.R
+++ b/R/oc_api_ok.R
@@ -10,5 +10,11 @@
 #' @keywords internal
 
 oc_api_ok <- function(url = "https://api.opencagedata.com") {
-  crul::ok(url, useragent = "https://github.com/ropensci/opencage")
+  resp <- httr2::request(url) %>%
+    httr2::req_method("HEAD") %>%
+    httr2::req_user_agent(oc_ua_string) %>%
+    httr2::req_error(is_error = function(resp) FALSE) %>%
+    httr2::req_perform()
+
+  !httr2::resp_is_error(resp)
 }
diff --git a/R/oc_config.R b/R/oc_config.R
index 499557d..ebd9b73 100644
--- a/R/oc_config.R
+++ b/R/oc_config.R
@@ -119,16 +119,16 @@ oc_config <-
 
     Sys.setenv(OPENCAGE_KEY = pat)
 
-    # set rate limit
-    ratelimitr::UPDATE_RATE(
-      oc_get_limited,
-      ratelimitr::rate(n = rate_sec, period = 1L)
-    )
-
     # set no_record
     oc_check_logical(no_record, check_length_one = TRUE)
     options("oc_no_record" = no_record)
 
     # set show_key
     options("oc_show_key" = show_key)
+
+    # set rate
+    if (!is.numeric(rate_sec)) {
+      cli::cli_abort("Must use a numeric {.code rate_sec}")
+    }
+    options("oc_rate_sec" = rate_sec)
   }
diff --git a/R/oc_process.R b/R/oc_process.R
index d52c74c..8f576ee 100644
--- a/R/oc_process.R
+++ b/R/oc_process.R
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ oc_process <-
     }
 
     # build url
-    oc_url <- oc_build_url(
+    oc_url_parts <- oc_build_url(
       query_par = list(
         q = query,
         bounds = bounds,
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@ oc_process <-
       ),
       endpoint = endpoint
     )
+    query_req <- build_query_with_req(oc_url_parts)
+    oc_url <- query_req[["url"]]
 
     # return url only
     if (return == "url_only") {
@@ -166,13 +168,11 @@ oc_process <-
     # send query to API if not NA, else return (fake) empty res_text
     if (!is.na(query) && nchar(query) >= 2) {
       # get response
-      res_env <- oc_get_memoise(oc_url)
+      res_env <- oc_get_memoise(oc_url_parts)
 
       # parse response
       res_text <- oc_parse_text(res_env)
 
-      # check status message
-      oc_check_status(res_env, res_text)
     } else {
       # Fake 0 results response
 
@@ -236,8 +236,7 @@ oc_build_url <- function(query_par, endpoint) {
 
   oc_path <- paste0("geocode/v1/", endpoint)
 
-  crul::url_build(
-    url = "https://api.opencagedata.com",
+  list(
     path = oc_path,
     query = query_par
   )
@@ -246,18 +245,38 @@ oc_build_url <- function(query_par, endpoint) {
 
 #' GET request from OpenCage
 #'
-#' @param oc_url character string URL with query parameters, built with
+#' @param oc_url_parts list with path and query, built with
 #'   `oc_build_url()`
 #'
-#' @return crul::HttpResponse object
+#' @return httr2 response
 #' @noRd
 
-oc_get <- function(oc_url) {
-  client <- crul::HttpClient$new(
-    url = oc_url,
-    headers = list(`User-Agent` = oc_ua_string)
-  )
-  client$get()
+oc_get <- function(oc_url_parts = NULL) {
+
+  query_req <- build_query_with_req(oc_url_parts)
+
+  query_req %>%
+    httr2::req_throttle(rate = getOption("oc_rate_sec", default = 1L) / 1L) %>%
+    httr2::req_user_agent(oc_ua_string) %>%
+    httr2::req_perform() # will error if API error :-)
+}
+
+build_query_with_req <- function(oc_url_parts) {
+  initial_req <- httr2::request("https://api.opencagedata.com")
+
+  req_with_url <- if (!is.null(oc_url_parts[["path"]])) {
+    httr2::req_url_path_append(initial_req, oc_url_parts[["path"]])
+  } else {
+    initial_req
+  }
+
+  query_req <- if (!is.null(oc_url_parts[["query"]])) {
+    httr2::req_url_query(req_with_url, !!!oc_url_parts[["query"]])
+  } else {
+    req_with_url
+  }
+
+  query_req
 }
 
 # user-agent string: this is set at build-time, but that should be okay,
@@ -277,36 +296,13 @@ oc_ua_string <-
 #' @noRd
 
 oc_parse_text <- function(res) {
-  text <- res$parse(encoding = "UTF-8")
+  text <- httr2::resp_body_string(res)
   if (identical(text, "")) {
     stop("OpenCage returned an empty response.", call. = FALSE)
   }
   text
 }
 
-
-#' Check the status of the HttpResponse
-#'
-#' @param res_env crul::HttpResponse object
-#' @param res_text parsed HttpResponse
-#'
-#' @return NULL if status code less than or equal to 201, else `stop()`
-#' @noRd
-
-oc_check_status <- function(res_env, res_text) {
-  if (res_env$success()) {
-    return(invisible())
-  }
-  message <-
-    jsonlite::fromJSON(
-      res_text,
-      simplifyVector = TRUE,
-      flatten = TRUE
-    )$status$message
-  stop("HTTP failure: ", res_env$status_code, "\n", message, call. = FALSE)
-}
-
-
 #' Format the result string
 #'
 #' @param res_text parsed HttpResponse
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index 26c18d1..19b3a07 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -1,27 +1,17 @@
+#' @importFrom magrittr `%>%`
+
 # We use `<<-` below to modify the package's namespace.
 # It doesn't modify the global environment.
-# We do this to prevent build time dependencies on {memoise} and {ratelimitr},
+# We do this to prevent build time dependencies on {memoise},
 # as recommended in <http://memoise.r-lib.org/reference/memoise.html#details>.
 # Cf. <https://github.com/r-lib/memoise/issues/76> for further details.
 
-# First make sure that the functions are defined at build time
-oc_get_limited <- oc_get
-oc_get_memoise <- oc_get_limited
+# First make sure that the function is defined at build time
+oc_get_memoise <- oc_get
 
 # Then modify them at load-time
 # nocov start
 .onLoad <- function(libname, pkgname) {
-  # limit requests per second
-  oc_get_limited <<-
-    ratelimitr::limit_rate(
-      oc_get,
-      # rate can be changed via oc_config()/ratelimitr::UPDATE_RATE()
-      ratelimitr::rate(
-        n = 1L,
-        period = 1L
-      )
-    )
-
-  oc_get_memoise <<- memoise::memoise(oc_get_limited)
+  oc_get_memoise <<- memoise::memoise(oc_get)
 }
 # nocov end
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-oc_build_url.R b/tests/testthat/test-oc_build_url.R
index f527987..7cc75dc 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-oc_build_url.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-oc_build_url.R
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-test_that("oc_build_url returns a string", {
+test_that("oc_build_url returns a list", {
   expect_type(
     oc_build_url(
       query_par = list(placename = "Haarlem"),
       endpoint = "json"
     ),
-    "character"
+    "list"
   )
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-oc_check_status.R b/tests/testthat/test-oc_check_status.R
index 23e0bda..7bd544e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-oc_check_status.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-oc_check_status.R
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ test_that("oc_check_status returns 400 error if request is invalid", {
       longitude = 0,
       return = "json_list"
     ),
-    "HTTP failure: 400"
+    "HTTP 400 Bad Request"
   )
 
   # We don't send queries with nchar(query) <= 1 to the API, see .oc_process()
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ test_that("oc_check_status returns 400 error if request is invalid", {
       placename = "  ",
       return = "json_list"
     ),
-    "HTTP failure: 400"
+    "HTTP 400 Bad Request"
   )
 })
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ test_that("oc_check_status returns 401 error if key is invalid", {
   withr::local_envvar(c("OPENCAGE_KEY" = "32charactersandnumbers1234567890"))
   expect_error(
     oc_reverse(latitude = 0, longitude = 0),
-    "HTTP failure: 401"
+    "HTTP 401 Unauthorized"
   )
 })
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ test_that("oc_check_status returns 402 error if quota exceeded", {
   withr::local_envvar(c("OPENCAGE_KEY" = key_402))
   expect_error(
     oc_reverse(latitude = 0, longitude = 0),
-    "HTTP failure: 402"
+    "HTTP 402"
   )
 })
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ test_that("oc_check_status returns 403 error if key is blocked", {
   withr::local_envvar(c("OPENCAGE_KEY" = key_403))
   expect_error(
     oc_reverse(latitude = 0, longitude = 0),
-    "HTTP failure: 403"
+    "HTTP 403"
   )
 })
 
@@ -75,6 +75,6 @@ test_that("oc_check_status returns 429 error if rate limit is exceeded", {
   withr::local_envvar(c("OPENCAGE_KEY" = key_429))
   expect_error(
     oc_reverse(latitude = 0, longitude = 0),
-    "HTTP failure: 429"
+    "HTTP 429"
   )
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-oc_clear_cache.R b/tests/testthat/test-oc_clear_cache.R
index 64581e1..657340c 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-oc_clear_cache.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-oc_clear_cache.R
@@ -2,11 +2,8 @@ test_that("oc_clear_cache clears cache", {
   skip_on_cran()
   skip_if_offline("httpbin.org")
 
-  # until a memoise >v.1.1 is released, we need to run oc_get_memoise() twice to
-  # have it really cache results
-  # https://github.com/ropensci/opencage/pull/87#issuecomment-573573183
-  replicate(2, oc_get_memoise("https://httpbin.org/get"))
-  expect_true(memoise::has_cache(oc_get_memoise)("https://httpbin.org/get"))
+  replicate(2, oc_get_memoise())
+  expect_true(memoise::has_cache(oc_get_memoise)())
   oc_clear_cache()
-  expect_false(memoise::has_cache(oc_get_memoise)("https://httpbin.org/get"))
+  expect_false(memoise::has_cache(oc_get_memoise)())
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-oc_config.R b/tests/testthat/test-oc_config.R
index a23de06..5d673f9 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-oc_config.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-oc_config.R
@@ -48,25 +48,6 @@ test_that("oc_config throws error with faulty OpenCage key", {
   )
 })
 
-# test rate_sec argument --------------------------------------------------
-
-test_that("oc_config updates rate limit of oc_get_limit", {
-  # make sure there is a key present
-  withr::local_envvar(c("OPENCAGE_KEY" = key_200))
-
-  rps <- 5L
-  oc_config(rate_sec = rps)
-  expect_identical(ratelimitr::get_rates(oc_get_limited)[[1]][["n"]], rps)
-
-  rps <- 3L
-  oc_config(rate_sec = rps)
-  expect_identical(ratelimitr::get_rates(oc_get_limited)[[1]][["n"]], rps)
-
-  # set rate_sec back to default: 1L/sec
-  oc_config()
-  expect_identical(ratelimitr::get_rates(oc_get_limited)[[1]][["n"]], 1L)
-})
-
 # test no_record argument -------------------------------------------------
 
 test_that("oc_config sets no_record option", {
@@ -112,3 +93,12 @@ test_that("oc_config sets show_key option", {
   oc_config(show_key = TRUE)
   expect_true(getOption("oc_show_key"))
 })
+
+test_that("rate_sec checks/sets oc_rate_sec option", {
+  withr::local_envvar(c("OPENCAGE_KEY" = key_200))
+  withr::local_options(oc_rate_sec = 123)
+  oc_config(rate_sec = 42)
+  expect_equal(getOption("oc_rate_sec"), 42)
+
+  expect_error(oc_config(rate_sec = "blablabla"), "Must")
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-oc_get.R b/tests/testthat/test-oc_get.R
index b55f351..497cb77 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-oc_get.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-oc_get.R
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ test_that("oc_get returns a response object", {
         endpoint = "json"
       )
     ),
-    "HttpResponse"
+    "httr2_response"
   )
 })
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ test_that("oc_get returns a response object for Namibia NA countrycode", {
         endpoint = "json"
       )
     ),
-    "HttpResponse"
+    "httr2_response"
   )
 })
 
@@ -52,21 +52,10 @@ test_that("oc_get returns a response object for vector countrycode", {
         endpoint = "json"
       )
     ),
-    "HttpResponse"
+    "httr2_response"
   )
 })
 
-test_that("oc_get_limited is rate limited", {
-  skip_on_cran()
-  skip_if_offline("httpbin.org")
-
-  tm <- system.time({
-    replicate(2, oc_get_limited("https://httpbin.org/get"))
-  })
-  rate <- ratelimitr::get_rates(oc_get_limited)
-  expect_gte(tm[["elapsed"]], rate[[1]][["period"]] / rate[[1]][["n"]])
-})
-
 test_that("oc_get_memoise memoises", {
   skip_on_cran()
   skip_if_offline("httpbin.org")