A method and system for limiting resource usage of a version store. A limit indicates a total amount of resources that may be consumed by in-progress transactions. A running total of the amount of remaining resources is maintained. Before a new transaction is started, a determination is made as to whether there are enough resources remaining to complete the new transaction. If so, the transaction starts and the running total is adjusted. If not, the transaction waits until more resources are available. When a transaction completes, if it is the oldest in-progress transaction, resources are released. Otherwise, the resources associated with the transaction are not released until all transactions that started before the transaction have completed. This ensures that a client of a version store does not exceed the limit of resources that may be consumed by in-progress transactions.