Your Rates Are Not Your PIDs. Betaflight Makes Them Look Related

Quick Answer

Betaflight rates turn stick position into a requested rotation speed; PID gains tell the flight controller how to make the aircraft follow that request. Rates change stick feel and flip speed. PIDs change tracking, damping and stability. For a fresh setup, keep the default Actual Rates first: 70deg/s centre sensitivity, 670deg/s maximum rate and 0.00 expo.

Rates vs PID: Change the Right Control

Betaflight puts Rateprofile Settings inside the PID Tuning page, which makes two separate controls look related. They are not interchangeable. A rate curve creates the setpoint in degrees per second; the controller then compares that request with gyro movement and drives the motors to close the error.

What you notice	Change rates?	Change PIDs?
Full-stick flips are too slow or too fast	Yes: Max Rate	No
Small stick corrections feel too sharp or dull	Yes: Centre Sensitivity	No
Quad overshoots after a flip	Usually no	Diagnose tune, mechanics and filters
Motors run hot or the quad oscillates	No	Stop and diagnose the tune or build

Do not lower Max Rate to hide bounce-back or raise P to make slow flips faster. Use our PID tuning article when the aircraft fails to track a sensible command cleanly.

Actual Rates and the 70/670 Default

Betaflight supports Actual, Betaflight, KISS, Quick and Raceflight rate models. Actual Rates became the default in Betaflight 4.3 and remains the clearest choice for a new pilot because its main values use understandable units.

• Centre Sensitivity is the slope of the curve at stick centre. Raise it when fine corrections feel dull; lower it when the centre feels nervous.
• Max Rate is the commanded rotation speed at full stick. A value of 670 means 670 degrees per second.
• Expo moves the transition between centre feel and maximum rate without changing either endpoint.

The verified fresh-configuration default is 70deg/s centre sensitivity, 670deg/s Max Rate and 0.00 expo on roll, pitch and yaw. We recommend flying that baseline before copying another pilot's numbers. The common 70/670 shorthand describes centre and maximum rate; it is not a PID tune.

Actual Rates vs Legacy Betaflight Rates

Feature	Actual Rates	Legacy Betaflight Rates
Main values	Centre, Max Rate, Expo	RC Rate, Super Rate, Expo
Maximum entered directly	Yes, in deg/s	No; values interact
Best use	New setups and readable changes	Keeping an established legacy curve

Legacy RC Rate affects centre feel and contributes to full-stick speed; Super Rate bends the outer curve and increases maximum speed. Copying the three legacy numbers into an Actual profile produces the wrong curve. Use Betaflight's documented rate calculator or Metamarc converter, match the maximum rate first, then compare centre sensitivity.

How We Would Set a New Rate Profile

Connect your flight controller or F405 stack, then open PID Tuning → Rateprofile Settings. Select a spare rate profile, choose Actual, keep 70/670/0 as the baseline and save. Watch the graph while changing only the value linked to the behaviour you felt.

Test the copied profile first in an FPV simulator, then in clear open air. Roll, pitch and yaw do not have to match. Browse our flight controllers if you are building rather than adjusting an existing quad, and use our Betaflight setup guide for the rest of the configuration.

FAQ

Q: Are Betaflight rates the same as PIDs?

A: No. Rates convert stick position into a requested rotation speed. PIDs and feedforward determine how the aircraft tracks that request. Rates change pilot input feel; PIDs affect control response and stability.

Q: What are the default Betaflight rates?

A: A fresh configuration uses Actual Rates with 70deg/s centre sensitivity, 670deg/s Max Rate and 0.00 expo on all three axes. Existing configurations retain their saved profile, so check the selected rate type rather than assuming.

Q: How do I convert Betaflight Rates to Actual Rates?

A: Use a rate converter rather than copying the numbers. Match full-stick speed in deg/s, then match the centre slope and curve shape. The Configurator graph is useful for checking the result, but changing the rate-type dropdown alone does not translate the saved values.

Q: Why does the quad still feel delayed after I raise Centre Sensitivity?

A: Rates only change the requested setpoint. Mechanical problems, filtering, PID gains, feedforward, radio smoothing or a slow aircraft can still prevent clean tracking. Stop changing rates and diagnose the response if the graph looks right but the aircraft does not follow it.