diff --git a/auth/auth.go b/auth/auth.go
index ce4a5bc442..aa3d22ed4a 100644
--- a/auth/auth.go
+++ b/auth/auth.go
@@ -32,11 +32,12 @@ type Authenticator struct {
 }
 
 type AuthenticatorOptions struct {
-	ClientPartitionWindow    time.Duration
-	ChannelsWarningThreshold *uint32
-	SessionCookieName        string
-	BcryptCost               int
-	LogCtx                   context.Context
+	ClientPartitionWindow      time.Duration
+	ChannelsWarningThreshold   *uint32
+	ServerlessChannelThreshold uint32
+	SessionCookieName          string
+	BcryptCost                 int
+	LogCtx                     context.Context
 
 	// Collections defines the set of collections used by the authenticator when rebuilding channels.
 	// Channels are only recomputed for collections included in this set.
@@ -196,6 +197,17 @@ func (auth *Authenticator) getPrincipal(docID string, factory func() Principal)
 				}
 				changed = true
 			}
+			// If the channel threshold has been set we need to check the inherited channels across all scopes and collections against the limit
+			if auth.ServerlessChannelThreshold != 0 {
+				channelsLength, err := auth.getInheritedChannelsLength(user)
+				if err != nil {
+					return nil, nil, false, err
+				}
+				err = auth.checkChannelLimits(channelsLength, user)
+				if err != nil {
+					return nil, nil, false, err
+				}
+			}
 		}
 
 		if changed {
@@ -223,6 +235,73 @@ func (auth *Authenticator) getPrincipal(docID string, factory func() Principal)
 	return princ, nil
 }
 
+// inheritedCollectionChannels returns channels for a given scope + collection
+func (auth *Authenticator) inheritedCollectionChannels(user User, scope, collection string) (ch.TimedSet, error) {
+	roles, err := auth.getUserRoles(user)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	channels := user.CollectionChannels(scope, collection)
+	for _, role := range roles {
+		roleSince := user.RoleNames()[role.Name()]
+		channels.AddAtSequence(role.CollectionChannels(scope, collection), roleSince.Sequence)
+	}
+	return channels, nil
+}
+
+// getInheritedChannelsLength returns number of channels a user has access to across all collections
+func (auth *Authenticator) getInheritedChannelsLength(user User) (int, error) {
+	var cumulativeChannels int
+	for scope, collections := range auth.Collections {
+		for collection := range collections {
+			channels, err := auth.inheritedCollectionChannels(user, scope, collection)
+			if err != nil {
+				return 0, err
+			}
+			cumulativeChannels += len(channels)
+		}
+	}
+	return cumulativeChannels, nil
+}
+
+// checkChannelLimits logs a warning when the warning threshold is met and will return an error when the channel limit is met
+func (auth *Authenticator) checkChannelLimits(channels int, user User) error {
+	// Error if ServerlessChannelThreshold is set and is >= than the threshold
+	if uint32(channels) >= auth.ServerlessChannelThreshold {
+		base.ErrorfCtx(auth.LogCtx, "User ID: %v channel count: %d exceeds %d for channels per user threshold. Auth will be rejected until rectified",
+			base.UD(user.Name()), channels, auth.ServerlessChannelThreshold)
+		return base.ErrMaximumChannelsForUserExceeded
+	}
+
+	// This function is likely to be called once per session when a channel limit is applied, the sync once
+	// applied here ensures we don't fill logs with warnings about being over warning threshold. We may want
+	// to revisit this implementation around the warning threshold in future
+	user.GetWarnChanSync().Do(func() {
+		if channelsPerUserThreshold := auth.ChannelsWarningThreshold; channelsPerUserThreshold != nil {
+			if uint32(channels) >= *channelsPerUserThreshold {
+				base.WarnfCtx(auth.LogCtx, "User ID: %v channel count: %d exceeds %d for channels per user warning threshold",
+					base.UD(user.Name()), channels, *channelsPerUserThreshold)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	return nil
+}
+
+// getUserRoles gets all roles a user has been granted
+func (auth *Authenticator) getUserRoles(user User) ([]Role, error) {
+	roles := make([]Role, 0, len(user.RoleNames()))
+	for name := range user.RoleNames() {
+		role, err := auth.GetRole(name)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		} else if role != nil {
+			roles = append(roles, role)
+		}
+	}
+	return roles, nil
+}
+
 // Rebuild channels computes the full set of channels for all collections defined for the authenticator.
 // For each collection in Authenticator.collections:
 //   - if there is no CollectionAccess on the principal for the collection, rebuilds channels for that collection
@@ -230,6 +309,7 @@ func (auth *Authenticator) getPrincipal(docID string, factory func() Principal)
 func (auth *Authenticator) rebuildChannels(princ Principal) (changed bool, err error) {
 
 	changed = false
+
 	for scope, collections := range auth.Collections {
 		for collection, _ := range collections {
 			// If collection channels are nil, they have been invalidated and must be rebuilt
@@ -242,6 +322,7 @@ func (auth *Authenticator) rebuildChannels(princ Principal) (changed bool, err e
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
 	return changed, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/auth/auth_test.go b/auth/auth_test.go
index 7d2ddc41e7..b6dd83d8aa 100644
--- a/auth/auth_test.go
+++ b/auth/auth_test.go
@@ -2759,6 +2759,117 @@ func TestObtainChannelsForDeletedRole(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestServerlessChannelLimitsRoles(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		Name       string
+		Collection bool
+	}{
+		{
+			Name: "Single role",
+		},
+		{
+			Name: "Muliple roles",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testCase := range testCases {
+		t.Run(testCase.Name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			testBucket := base.GetTestBucket(t)
+			defer testBucket.Close()
+			dataStore := testBucket.GetSingleDataStore()
+			var role2 Role
+
+			opts := DefaultAuthenticatorOptions()
+			opts.ServerlessChannelThreshold = 5
+			opts.Collections = map[string]map[string]struct{}{
+				"scope1": {"collection1": struct{}{}, "collection2": struct{}{}},
+			}
+			auth := NewAuthenticator(dataStore, nil, opts)
+			user1, err := auth.NewUser("user1", "pass", ch.BaseSetOf(t, "ABC"))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			err = auth.Save(user1)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			_, err = auth.AuthenticateUser("user1", "pass")
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			role1, err := auth.NewRole("role1", nil)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			if testCase.Name == "Single role" {
+				user1.SetExplicitRoles(ch.TimedSet{"role1": ch.NewVbSimpleSequence(1)}, 1)
+				require.NoError(t, auth.Save(user1))
+				_, err = auth.AuthenticateUser("user1", "pass")
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				role1.SetCollectionExplicitChannels("scope1", "collection1", ch.AtSequence(ch.BaseSetOf(t, "ABC", "DEF", "GHI", "JKL"), 1), 1)
+				require.NoError(t, auth.Save(role1))
+			} else {
+				role2, err = auth.NewRole("role2", nil)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+				user1.SetExplicitRoles(ch.TimedSet{"role1": ch.NewVbSimpleSequence(1), "role2": ch.NewVbSimpleSequence(1)}, 1)
+				require.NoError(t, auth.Save(user1))
+				role1.SetCollectionExplicitChannels("scope1", "collection1", ch.AtSequence(ch.BaseSetOf(t, "ABC", "DEF", "GHI", "JKL"), 1), 1)
+				role2.SetCollectionExplicitChannels("scope1", "collection2", ch.AtSequence(ch.BaseSetOf(t, "MNO", "PQR"), 1), 1)
+				require.NoError(t, auth.Save(role1))
+				require.NoError(t, auth.Save(role2))
+			}
+			_, err = auth.AuthenticateUser("user1", "pass")
+			require.Error(t, err)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestServerlessChannelLimits(t *testing.T) {
+
+	testCases := []struct {
+		Name       string
+		Collection bool
+	}{
+		{
+			Name:       "Collection not enabled",
+			Collection: false,
+		},
+		{
+			Name:       "Collection is enabled",
+			Collection: true,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testCase := range testCases {
+		t.Run(testCase.Name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			testBucket := base.GetTestBucket(t)
+			defer testBucket.Close()
+			dataStore := testBucket.GetSingleDataStore()
+
+			opts := DefaultAuthenticatorOptions()
+			opts.ServerlessChannelThreshold = 5
+			if testCase.Collection {
+				opts.Collections = map[string]map[string]struct{}{
+					"scope1": {"collection1": struct{}{}, "collection2": struct{}{}},
+				}
+			}
+			auth := NewAuthenticator(dataStore, nil, opts)
+			user1, err := auth.NewUser("user1", "pass", ch.BaseSetOf(t, "ABC"))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			err = auth.Save(user1)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			_, err = auth.AuthenticateUser("user1", "pass")
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			if !testCase.Collection {
+				user1.SetCollectionExplicitChannels("_default", "_default", ch.AtSequence(ch.BaseSetOf(t, "ABC", "DEF", "GHI", "JKL", "MNO", "PQR"), 1), 1)
+				err = auth.Save(user1)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+			} else {
+				user1.SetCollectionExplicitChannels("scope1", "collection1", ch.AtSequence(ch.BaseSetOf(t, "ABC", "DEF", "GHI", "JKL"), 1), 1)
+				user1.SetCollectionExplicitChannels("scope1", "collection2", ch.AtSequence(ch.BaseSetOf(t, "MNO", "PQR"), 1), 1)
+				err = auth.Save(user1)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+			}
+			_, err = auth.AuthenticateUser("user1", "pass")
+			require.Error(t, err)
+			assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), base.ErrMaximumChannelsForUserExceeded.Error())
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestInvalidateRoles(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := base.TestCtx(t)
 	testBucket := base.GetTestBucket(t)
diff --git a/auth/principal.go b/auth/principal.go
index 0f9d83ef7d..39c439c749 100644
--- a/auth/principal.go
+++ b/auth/principal.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 package auth
 
 import (
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/couchbase/sync_gateway/base"
@@ -125,6 +126,8 @@ type User interface {
 
 	InitializeRoles()
 
+	GetWarnChanSync() *sync.Once
+
 	revokedChannels(since uint64, lowSeq uint64, triggeredBy uint64) RevokedChannels
 
 	// Obtains the period over which the user had access to the given channel. Either directly or via a role.
diff --git a/auth/user.go b/auth/user.go
index 34582e76d3..54a2ca9090 100644
--- a/auth/user.go
+++ b/auth/user.go
@@ -183,6 +183,10 @@ func (user *userImpl) SetEmail(email string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (user *userImpl) GetWarnChanSync() *sync.Once {
+	return &user.warnChanThresholdOnce
+}
+
 func (user *userImpl) RoleNames() ch.TimedSet {
 	if user.RoleInvalSeq != 0 {
 		return nil
diff --git a/db/database.go b/db/database.go
index 8508e4bbf3..0934654843 100644
--- a/db/database.go
+++ b/db/database.go
@@ -835,16 +835,21 @@ func (context *DatabaseContext) Authenticator(ctx context.Context) *auth.Authent
 	if context.Options.UnsupportedOptions != nil && context.Options.UnsupportedOptions.WarningThresholds != nil {
 		channelsWarningThreshold = context.Options.UnsupportedOptions.WarningThresholds.ChannelsPerUser
 	}
+	var channelServerlessThreshold uint32
+	if context.IsServerless() {
+		channelServerlessThreshold = base.ServerlessChannelLimit
+	}
 
 	// Authenticators are lightweight & stateless, so it's OK to return a new one every time
 	authenticator := auth.NewAuthenticator(context.MetadataStore, context, auth.AuthenticatorOptions{
-		ClientPartitionWindow:    context.Options.ClientPartitionWindow,
-		ChannelsWarningThreshold: channelsWarningThreshold,
-		SessionCookieName:        sessionCookieName,
-		BcryptCost:               context.Options.BcryptCost,
-		LogCtx:                   ctx,
-		Collections:              context.CollectionNames,
-		MetaKeys:                 context.MetadataKeys,
+		ClientPartitionWindow:      context.Options.ClientPartitionWindow,
+		ChannelsWarningThreshold:   channelsWarningThreshold,
+		ServerlessChannelThreshold: channelServerlessThreshold,
+		SessionCookieName:          sessionCookieName,
+		BcryptCost:                 context.Options.BcryptCost,
+		LogCtx:                     ctx,
+		Collections:                context.CollectionNames,
+		MetaKeys:                   context.MetadataKeys,
 	})
 
 	return authenticator