Last updated: July 2026
Compare · Solana RPC
10 Solana RPC providers, every feature axis — free tier size, paid pricing, gRPC streaming, staked connections, DAS API, webhooks, archive depth. Pick on facts, not on the homepage hero.
Pricing pulled from each provider's public plans · feature flags verified against current docs
The lineup
What's in this comparison.
Free + paid
Specialist providers
Yellowstone streams
QoS-prioritised TX
The table
Sort by lowest paid price, best free tier, or feature breadth. Click any provider to read the full review.
Most generous free tier
Multi-chain (80+) with a large free tier
Low-cost Solana specialist
Unlimited requests with RPS cap
Cheapest per-request pricing
Lowest latency for HFT and MEV
Highest free-tier RPS
Best for Solana-focused devs
Largest free tier among paid providers
Feature guide
Real-time block and transaction streaming via Yellowstone gRPC. Essential for trading bots and MEV.
RPC traffic routed through staked validators for higher transaction priority and faster landing.
Digital Asset Standard API for querying compressed NFTs (cNFTs) and token metadata.
Push notifications for on-chain events — account changes, transactions, program logs.
Access to full historical blockchain data beyond the standard ~2-day retention window.
Provider specializes exclusively in Solana, often meaning deeper integration and optimization.
How it works
An RPC is your app's doorway to the chain. Every provider above runs validator/RPC nodes and exposes them to you — these four mechanics explain what they serve and why latency, limits and streaming differ.
Your client sends JSON-RPC requests to an endpoint over HTTPS for one-shot reads and writes, or over a WebSocket (wss://) for subscriptions. The node executes the call against its view of the ledger and returns a JSON result — this is the standard interface every Solana SDK and CLI speaks.
Read methods (getAccountInfo, getBalance, getTransaction, getProgramAccounts) query chain state and history; sendTransaction submits a signed transaction to the network and forwards it toward the current leader. WebSocket subscriptions (accountSubscribe, logsSubscribe) push updates as state changes.
A node only answers as fast as the network round-trip plus its own load, so geographic proximity and the specific method dominate real latency. Providers cap usage by requests/credits per second or compute units per month — exceed it and you get throttled (HTTP 429), which is why tier and region matter.
Standard RPC makes you poll; Geyser/Yellowstone gRPC is a separate streaming plane that pushes blocks, transactions and account writes in real time — essential for bots. Separately, archive (full-history) nodes can answer queries for old slots, where non-archive nodes only retain recent ledger data.
Guide
Your RPC directly impacts speed, reliability, and cost. The right provider depends on what you're building.
Latency
Solana-only providers like Helius and Triton typically offer the lowest latency due to dedicated infrastructure. Latency also varies by region and by RPC method — test with the calls you actually use.
Staked connections
Routes transactions through staked validators for higher QoS priority during congestion. Essential for any app that sends transactions, not just reads.
gRPC streaming
Real-time block and transaction streaming via Yellowstone gRPC. Required for trading bots, MEV searchers, and real-time analytics.
Pricing model
Alchemy and dRPC charge per compute unit. GetBlock and RPC Fast charge per request. Chainstack offers unlimited requests with an RPS cap. Pick based on your usage pattern.
Free tier
dRPC leads with 50M CU/month. Alchemy follows at 30M. GetBlock has the highest free RPS (60). Most production apps will outgrow free tiers quickly.
Specialization
Solana-only providers (Helius, Triton, Syndica, RPC Fast) invest everything into Solana optimization. Multi-chain providers (Alchemy, QuickNode, Chainstack) offer broader ecosystem support.
Recommendations
Trading bots & MEV
Both offer gRPC streaming and staked connections — the two features most critical for fast TX execution. Triton created Yellowstone gRPC and has the deepest HFT integration.
Consumer dApps
Best combination of reliability, dev tools, and enhanced APIs. Helius's DAS API is essential if your app touches compressed NFTs or needs parsed transactions.
Budget-conscious
Start with dRPC (50M free CU) or Alchemy (30M free CU). When ready to scale, RPC Fast ($19/mo) and Chainstack ($29/mo unlimited) offer the best value.
Latency notes
Most published latency benchmarks are run and funded by the providers themselves. Read them as directional, not gospel.
QuickNode and Triton One consistently ranked fastest in this p95-across-5-regions test. Triton at roughly 2× QuickNode's p95. Helius, Alchemy, and Chainstack followed. Caveat: QuickNode ran and funded the benchmark about themselves.
dRPC, Syndica, and RPC Fast have no publicly available independent latency data at the time of this review. RPC Fast publishes colocation latency figures (<0.9 ms) that only apply inside their data center.
CompareNodes measures from 27 locations on 6 continents. Thorofare by Triton One is an open-source slot-lifecycle benchmarking tool. TestDrive by Helius is a self-serve latency tester at testdrive.helius.xyz.
For latency-critical apps, geographic proximity matters more than any global benchmark. Test with the methods you actually use — getBalance results can differ significantly from getTransaction or sendTransaction.
FAQ
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