diff --git a/scripts/badges.py b/scripts/badges.py
index 6b93f9e72..48765116f 100755
--- a/scripts/badges.py
+++ b/scripts/badges.py
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
 import argparse
+import json
 import os
 import sys
+import time
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from pathlib import Path
 
 import requests
 import yaml
@@ -19,11 +23,78 @@ TOKENS_WEEKLY_TOOLTIP = "Number of tokens processed weekly by Aider users"
 OPENROUTER_TOOLTIP = "Aider's ranking among applications on the OpenRouter platform"
 SINGULARITY_TOOLTIP = "Percentage of the new code in Aider's last release written by Aider itself"
 
+# Cache settings
+CACHE_DIR = os.path.expanduser("~/.cache/aider-badges")
+CACHE_DURATION = 24 * 60 * 60  # 24 hours in seconds
+
+def ensure_cache_dir():
+    """Create the cache directory if it doesn't exist"""
+    os.makedirs(CACHE_DIR, exist_ok=True)
+
+def get_cache_path(package_name):
+    """Get the path to the cache file for a package"""
+    return os.path.join(CACHE_DIR, f"{package_name}_downloads.json")
+
+def read_from_cache(package_name):
+    """
+    Read download statistics from cache if available and not expired
+    Returns (downloads, is_valid) tuple where is_valid is True if cache is valid
+    """
+    cache_path = get_cache_path(package_name)
+    
+    if not os.path.exists(cache_path):
+        return None, False
+    
+    try:
+        with open(cache_path, 'r') as f:
+            cache_data = json.load(f)
+        
+        # Check if cache is expired
+        timestamp = cache_data.get('timestamp', 0)
+        current_time = time.time()
+        
+        if current_time - timestamp > CACHE_DURATION:
+            return None, False
+        
+        return cache_data.get('downloads'), True
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Error reading from cache: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return None, False
+
+def write_to_cache(package_name, downloads):
+    """Write download statistics to cache"""
+    cache_path = get_cache_path(package_name)
+    
+    try:
+        ensure_cache_dir()
+        cache_data = {
+            'downloads': downloads,
+            'timestamp': time.time(),
+            'datetime': datetime.now().isoformat()
+        }
+        
+        with open(cache_path, 'w') as f:
+            json.dump(cache_data, f)
+        
+        return True
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Error writing to cache: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return False
+
 
 def get_downloads_from_bigquery(credentials_path=None, package_name="aider-chat"):
     """
     Fetch download statistics for a package from Google BigQuery PyPI dataset
+    Uses a 24-hour cache to avoid unnecessary API calls
     """
+    # Check if we have a valid cached value
+    cached_downloads, is_valid = read_from_cache(package_name)
+    if is_valid:
+        print(f"Using cached download statistics for {package_name} (valid for 24 hours)")
+        return cached_downloads
+    
+    print(f"Cache invalid or expired, fetching fresh download statistics for {package_name}")
+    
     try:
         # Initialize credentials if path provided
         credentials = None
@@ -61,11 +132,18 @@ def get_downloads_from_bigquery(credentials_path=None, package_name="aider-chat"
 
         # Get the first (and only) row
         for row in results:
-            return row.total_downloads
+            downloads = row.total_downloads
+            # Write the result to cache
+            write_to_cache(package_name, downloads)
+            return downloads
 
         return 0
     except Exception as e:
         print(f"Error fetching download statistics from BigQuery: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+        # If there was an error but we have a cached value, use it even if expired
+        if cached_downloads is not None:
+            print("Using expired cached data due to BigQuery error")
+            return cached_downloads
         return None
 
 
@@ -332,6 +410,9 @@ def get_badges_html():
 def main():
     # Load environment variables from .env file
     load_dotenv()
+    
+    # Ensure cache directory exists
+    ensure_cache_dir()
 
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Get total downloads and GitHub stars for aider")
     parser.add_argument(