"Capacity" was widely acclaimed by contemporary music critics. Steffanee Wang, writing for The Fader, said that the tune "blooms in its softness — a reminder that recovery can be as joyful and euphoric as self-destruction." Lindsay Zoladz, writing about the band in a profile for The Ringer, praised its lyrics as "biting and insightful," perceiving it as a "shot fired at the normalized exhaustion of late capitalism and the conditioning of 'triple-overtime ambition.'" Nina Corcoran of Pitchfork dubbed it an "antidote for the burnout generation." Rolling Stone Jonathan Bernstein listed it among the magazine's "Songs You Need to Know", similarly referring to it as a "catchy, smart synth anthem for twentysomething burnouts." Joshua Bote of NPR interpreted it as "an anthem for emotional exhaustion at the hands of someone you deeply care for."
