diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 8b98405..9bfa223 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import { initBrowser, closeBrowser } from "./services/browser.js";
 import { loadKeys, getAllKeys } from "./services/keys.js";
 import { initDatabase, pool } from "./services/db.js";
 import { billingRouter } from "./routes/billing.js";
-import { statusRouter } from "./routes/status.js";
+
 
 import { usageRouter } from "./routes/usage.js";
 import { openapiSpec } from "./docs/openapi.js";
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ app.use(rateLimit({ windowMs: 60_000, max: 120, standardHeaders: true, legacyHea
 // Public routes
 app.use("/health", healthRouter);
 app.use("/v1/billing", billingRouter);
-app.use("/status", statusRouter);
 app.use("/v1/playground", playgroundRouter);
 
 
diff --git a/src/routes/__tests__/playground.test.ts b/src/routes/__tests__/playground.test.ts
index 1dfd56d..c0bd80c 100644
--- a/src/routes/__tests__/playground.test.ts
+++ b/src/routes/__tests__/playground.test.ts
@@ -317,5 +317,41 @@ describe('Playground Route', () => {
         fullPage: true
       }))
     })
+
+    it('BUG-021 FIXED: URL validation now happens before rate limiting', async () => {
+      // Test that invalid URLs get 400 validation errors without consuming rate limit
+      const longUrl = 'https://example.com/' + 'a'.repeat(2100)
+
+      const req = createMockRequest({ url: longUrl })
+      const res = createMockResponse()
+
+      // Get all middleware handlers for the POST route
+      const route = playgroundRouter.stack.find(layer => layer.route?.methods.post)?.route
+      const middlewares = route?.stack || []
+      
+      // Should have urlValidationMiddleware first, then playgroundLimiter, then the main handler
+      expect(middlewares.length).toBe(3)
+
+      // Test that the first middleware (URL validation) rejects long URLs
+      const urlValidationMiddleware = middlewares[0].handle
+      await urlValidationMiddleware(req, res, vi.fn())
+
+      expect(res.status).toHaveBeenCalledWith(400)
+      expect(res.json).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ error: "Invalid URL: must be between 1 and 2048 characters" })
+    })
+    
+    it('should allow valid URLs to pass through validation middleware', async () => {
+      const req = createMockRequest({ url: 'https://example.com' })
+      const res = createMockResponse()
+      const next = vi.fn()
+
+      const route = playgroundRouter.stack.find(layer => layer.route?.methods.post)?.route
+      const urlValidationMiddleware = route?.stack[0].handle
+      
+      await urlValidationMiddleware(req, res, next)
+
+      expect(next).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      expect(res.status).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
   })
 })
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/routes/__tests__/status.test.ts b/src/routes/__tests__/status.test.ts
index 0cb69c2..1d52e6e 100644
--- a/src/routes/__tests__/status.test.ts
+++ b/src/routes/__tests__/status.test.ts
@@ -7,28 +7,52 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 const publicDir = path.join(__dirname, '../../../public')
 
-function createApp() {
+function createBuggyApp() {
   const app = express()
   app.use(express.static(publicDir, { etag: true }))
 
-  // Mirror the status route from index.ts
-  app.get('/status', (_req, res) => {
+  // Simulate the old buggy behavior - serve file directly instead of redirect
+  app.get("/status", (_req, res) => {
     res.sendFile(path.join(publicDir, 'status.html'))
   })
 
+  // Clean URLs for other pages
+  for (const page of ["privacy", "terms", "impressum", "usage"]) {
+    app.get(`/${page}`, (_req, res) => res.redirect(301, `/${page}.html`));
+  }
+
   return app
 }
 
-describe('Status Route', () => {
-  const app = createApp()
+function createFixedApp() {
+  const app = express()
+  app.use(express.static(publicDir, { etag: true }))
 
-  it('GET /status returns 200', async () => {
-    const res = await request(app).get('/status')
-    expect(res.status).toBe(200)
+  // The FIX: Remove statusRouter, let redirect loop handle it
+  // Clean URLs for legal pages (redirect /status → /status.html, etc.)
+  for (const page of ["privacy", "terms", "impressum", "status", "usage"]) {
+    app.get(`/${page}`, (_req, res) => res.redirect(301, `/${page}.html`));
+  }
+
+  return app
+}
+
+describe('Status Route BUG-020', () => {
+  it('CURRENT BUGGY BEHAVIOR: GET /status returns 200 instead of 301 redirect', async () => {
+    const buggyApp = createBuggyApp()
+    const res = await request(buggyApp).get('/status')
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200) // This is the bug - should be 301
     expect(res.headers['content-type']).toContain('text/html')
   })
 
-  it('GET /status.html returns 200', async () => {
+  it('EXPECTED BEHAVIOR: GET /status should redirect to /status.html with 301', async () => {
+    const fixedApp = createFixedApp()
+    const res = await request(fixedApp).get('/status').expect(301)
+    expect(res.headers['location']).toBe('/status.html')
+  })
+
+  it('GET /status.html should always return 200', async () => {
+    const app = createBuggyApp() // This works the same in both cases
     const res = await request(app).get('/status.html')
     expect(res.status).toBe(200)
     expect(res.headers['content-type']).toContain('text/html')
diff --git a/src/routes/playground.ts b/src/routes/playground.ts
index a444c3e..b62c2ca 100644
--- a/src/routes/playground.ts
+++ b/src/routes/playground.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,24 @@ import rateLimit from "express-rate-limit";
 
 export const playgroundRouter = Router();
 
+// URL validation middleware - runs BEFORE rate limiting
+const urlValidationMiddleware = (req: any, res: any, next: any) => {
+  const { url } = req.body;
+
+  if (!url || typeof url !== "string") {
+    res.status(400).json({ error: "Missing required parameter: url" });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Check URL length (same validation that happens in SSRF service)
+  if (url.length > 2048) {
+    res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid URL: must be between 1 and 2048 characters" });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  next();
+};
+
 // 5 requests per hour per IP
 const playgroundLimiter = rateLimit({
   windowMs: 60 * 60 * 1000,
@@ -83,13 +101,10 @@ const playgroundLimiter = rateLimit({
  *           application/json:
  *             schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/Error" }
  */
-playgroundRouter.post("/", playgroundLimiter, async (req, res) => {
+playgroundRouter.post("/", urlValidationMiddleware, playgroundLimiter, async (req, res) => {
   const { url, format, width, height, fullPage, quality, waitForSelector, deviceScale, waitUntil, pdfFormat, pdfLandscape, pdfPrintBackground, pdfScale, pdfMargin } = req.body;
 
-  if (!url || typeof url !== "string") {
-    res.status(400).json({ error: "Missing required parameter: url" });
-    return;
-  }
+  // URL validation is now handled by middleware before rate limiting
 
   // Enforce reasonable limits for playground
   const safeWidth = Math.min(Math.max(parseInt(width, 10) || 1280, 320), 1920);
diff --git a/src/routes/status.ts b/src/routes/status.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 7b2f0a1..0000000
--- a/src/routes/status.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-import { Router } from "express";
-import path from "path";
-import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
-const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
-const router = Router();
-
-/**
- * @openapi
- * /status:
- *   get:
- *     tags: [System]
- *     summary: Service status page
- *     operationId: statusPage
- *     responses:
- *       200:
- *         description: HTML status page
- *         content:
- *           text/html:
- *             schema: { type: string }
- */
-router.get("/", (_req, res) => {
-  res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, "../../public/status.html"));
-});
-export { router as statusRouter };