diff --git a/packages/reacord/test/action-row.test.tsx b/packages/reacord/test/action-row.test.tsx
index 5625c14..d1207c5 100644
--- a/packages/reacord/test/action-row.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/reacord/test/action-row.test.tsx
@@ -1,16 +1,11 @@
 import { ComponentType } from "discord.js"
 import React from "react"
-import { beforeAll, expect, test } from "vitest"
+import { expect, test } from "vitest"
 import { ActionRow, Button, Option, Select } from "../src/main"
 import { ReacordTester } from "./tester"
 
-let tester: ReacordTester
-beforeAll(async () => {
-  tester = await ReacordTester.create()
-})
-
 test("action row", async () => {
-  const { message } = await tester.render(
+  const { message } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "action row",
     <>
       <Button label="outside button" onClick={() => {}} />
diff --git a/packages/reacord/test/embed.test.tsx b/packages/reacord/test/embed.test.tsx
index 9806ff6..ff63878 100644
--- a/packages/reacord/test/embed.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/reacord/test/embed.test.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import React from "react"
-import { beforeAll, expect, test } from "vitest"
+import { expect, test } from "vitest"
 import {
   Embed,
   EmbedAuthor,
@@ -11,15 +11,10 @@ import {
 } from "../src/main"
 import { ReacordTester } from "./tester"
 
-let tester: ReacordTester
-beforeAll(async () => {
-  tester = await ReacordTester.create()
-})
-
 test("kitchen sink", async () => {
   const now = new Date()
 
-  const { message } = await tester.render(
+  const { message } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "kitchen sink",
     <>
       <Embed color={0xfe_ee_ef}>
@@ -78,7 +73,7 @@ test("kitchen sink", async () => {
 })
 
 test("author variants", async () => {
-  const { message } = await tester.render(
+  const { message } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "author variants",
     <>
       <Embed>
@@ -112,7 +107,7 @@ test("author variants", async () => {
 }, 20_000)
 
 test("field variants", async () => {
-  const { message } = await tester.render(
+  const { message } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "field variants",
     <>
       <Embed>
@@ -157,7 +152,7 @@ test("field variants", async () => {
 test("footer variants", async () => {
   const now = new Date()
 
-  const { message } = await tester.render(
+  const { message } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "footer variants",
     <>
       <Embed>
@@ -205,7 +200,7 @@ test("footer variants", async () => {
 test("embed props", async () => {
   const now = new Date()
 
-  const { message } = await tester.render(
+  const { message } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "embed props",
     <Embed
       title="title text"
diff --git a/packages/reacord/test/global-setup.ts b/packages/reacord/test/global-setup.ts
index 6bd47ac..9157c60 100644
--- a/packages/reacord/test/global-setup.ts
+++ b/packages/reacord/test/global-setup.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { ReacordTester } from "./tester"
 
 export async function setup() {
+  console.info("Running test setup...")
   await ReacordTester.removeChannels()
 }
diff --git a/packages/reacord/test/link.test.tsx b/packages/reacord/test/link.test.tsx
index 9e99df3..fd98f41 100644
--- a/packages/reacord/test/link.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/reacord/test/link.test.tsx
@@ -1,16 +1,11 @@
 import { ButtonStyle, ComponentType } from "discord.js"
 import React from "react"
-import { beforeEach, expect, test } from "vitest"
+import { expect, test } from "vitest"
 import { Link } from "../src/main"
 import { ReacordTester } from "./tester"
 
-let tester: ReacordTester
-beforeEach(async () => {
-  tester = await ReacordTester.create()
-})
-
 test("link", async () => {
-  const { message } = await tester.render(
+  const { message } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "link",
     <>
       <Link url="https://example.com/">link text</Link>
diff --git a/packages/reacord/test/reacord.test.tsx b/packages/reacord/test/reacord.test.tsx
index 07b0596..20a2883 100644
--- a/packages/reacord/test/reacord.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/reacord/test/reacord.test.tsx
@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
 import { waitFor } from "@reacord/helpers/wait-for.js"
 import * as React from "react"
-import { beforeAll, expect, test } from "vitest"
+import { expect, test } from "vitest"
 import { Button, Embed, EmbedField, EmbedTitle } from "../src/main"
 import { ReacordTester } from "./tester"
 
-let tester: ReacordTester
-beforeAll(async () => {
-  tester = await ReacordTester.create()
-})
-
 test.skip("rendering behavior", async () => {
   // const tester = new ReacordTester()
   // const reply = tester.reply()
@@ -239,7 +234,7 @@ test.skip("rendering behavior", async () => {
 })
 
 test("destroy()", async () => {
-  const { message, channel, instance } = await tester.render(
+  const { message, channel, instance } = await ReacordTester.render(
     "destroy()",
     <>
       some text
diff --git a/packages/reacord/test/tester.ts b/packages/reacord/test/tester.ts
index aa4295b..ad9e494 100644
--- a/packages/reacord/test/tester.ts
+++ b/packages/reacord/test/tester.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { raise } from "@reacord/helpers/raise"
-import type { Client } from "discord.js"
 import { CategoryChannel, ChannelType, GatewayIntentBits } from "discord.js"
 import { kebabCase } from "lodash-es"
 import { randomBytes } from "node:crypto"
@@ -8,78 +7,70 @@ import { createDiscordClient } from "../src/create-discord-client"
 import { ReacordClient } from "../src/main"
 import { testEnv } from "./test-env"
 
-export class ReacordTester {
-  private static client?: Client
+const reacord = new ReacordClient({
+  token: testEnv.TEST_BOT_TOKEN,
+})
 
-  static async removeChannels() {
-    const client = await ReacordTester.getClient()
-    const category = await ReacordTester.getCategory(client)
-    for (const [, channel] of category.children.cache) {
-      await channel.delete()
-    }
-  }
+const clientPromise = createDiscordClient(testEnv.TEST_BOT_TOKEN, {
+  intents: GatewayIntentBits.Guilds | GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
+})
 
-  static async create() {
-    const client = await ReacordTester.getClient()
-    const category = await ReacordTester.getCategory(client)
-    return new ReacordTester(client, category)
-  }
+const categoryPromise = getCategory()
 
-  private static async getClient() {
-    return (this.client ??= await createDiscordClient(testEnv.TEST_BOT_TOKEN, {
-      intents: GatewayIntentBits.Guilds | GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
-    }))
-  }
-
-  private static async getCategory(client: Client<true>) {
-    const category =
-      client.channels.cache.get(testEnv.TEST_CATEGORY_ID) ??
-      (await client.channels.fetch(testEnv.TEST_CATEGORY_ID))
-
-    if (!(category instanceof CategoryChannel)) {
-      throw new TypeError("Category channel not found")
-    }
-    return category
-  }
-
-  private reacord?: ReacordClient
-
-  constructor(readonly client: Client, readonly category: CategoryChannel) {}
-
-  private async getTestChannel(testName: string) {
-    const hash = randomBytes(16).toString("hex").slice(0, 6)
-    const channelName = `${kebabCase(testName)}-${hash}`
-
-    let channel = this.category.children.cache.find(
-      (the) => the.name === channelName,
-    )
-    if (!channel || !channel.isTextBased()) {
-      channel = await this.category.children.create({
-        type: ChannelType.GuildText,
-        name: channelName,
-      })
-    }
-
-    for (const [, message] of await channel.messages.fetch()) {
-      await message.delete()
-    }
-
-    return channel
-  }
-
-  async render(testName: string, content?: ReactNode) {
-    this.reacord ??= new ReacordClient({
-      token: testEnv.TEST_BOT_TOKEN,
-    })
-
-    const channel = await this.getTestChannel(testName)
-    await channel.sendTyping()
-
-    const instance = this.reacord.send(channel.id, content)
-
-    const result = await channel.awaitMessages({ max: 1 })
-    const message = result.first() ?? raise("failed to send message")
-
-    return { channel, message, instance }
+async function removeChannels() {
+  const category = await categoryPromise
+  for (const [, channel] of category.children.cache) {
+    await channel.delete()
   }
 }
+
+async function getCategory() {
+  const client = await clientPromise
+
+  const category =
+    client.channels.cache.get(testEnv.TEST_CATEGORY_ID) ??
+    (await client.channels.fetch(testEnv.TEST_CATEGORY_ID))
+
+  if (!(category instanceof CategoryChannel)) {
+    throw new TypeError("Category channel not found")
+  }
+  return category
+}
+
+async function getTestChannel(testName: string) {
+  const hash = randomBytes(16).toString("hex").slice(0, 6)
+  const channelName = `${kebabCase(testName)}-${hash}`
+
+  const category = await categoryPromise
+
+  let channel = category.children.cache.find((the) => the.name === channelName)
+  if (!channel || !channel.isTextBased()) {
+    channel = await category.children.create({
+      type: ChannelType.GuildText,
+      name: channelName,
+    })
+  }
+
+  for (const [, message] of await channel.messages.fetch()) {
+    await message.delete()
+  }
+
+  return channel
+}
+
+async function render(testName: string, content?: ReactNode) {
+  const channel = await getTestChannel(testName)
+  await channel.sendTyping()
+
+  const instance = reacord.send(channel.id, content)
+
+  const result = await channel.awaitMessages({ max: 1 })
+  const message = result.first() ?? raise("failed to send message")
+
+  return { channel, message, instance }
+}
+
+export const ReacordTester = {
+  render,
+  removeChannels,
+}
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 8c2e4c4..ee5b9e1 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ export default defineConfig({
     globalSetup: ["packages/reacord/test/global-setup.ts"],
     threads: false,
     isolate: false,
-    hookTimeout: 20_000,
-    testTimeout: 20_000,
     reporters: ["verbose"],
+
+    // rate limiting means these timeouts need to be long af
+    hookTimeout: 60_000,
+    testTimeout: 60_000,
   },
 })