Providers
6
compared on their own published terms
Prices checked
21 Oct 2026
from each provider's pricing page
Speed scores
None
no latency claim without a published method
01 · At a glance
Six Solana RPC providers, side by side
One row per provider. Each figure is from the provider's own pricing page or docs, in the provider's own unit.
| Provider | Free tier | First paid plan | Billing unit | gRPC streaming | WebSocket | Chains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbium | 500K credits, 10 RPS | $32: 10M credits, 50 RPS | Credits | Native gRPC from Business, $320 | Standard endpoint, every plan | Solana |
| Helius | 1M credits, 10 RPS | $49: 10M credits, 50 RPS | Credits; heavy calls cost 10 | LaserStream from Business, $499 | Every plan | Solana |
| Quicknode | 1-month trial: 10M API credits, 15 RPS | $49: 80M API credits, 50 RPS | API credits; a Solana call costs 30 | Included from Scale, $499, or a $499 add-on | Every plan, metered by data | 76+ chains |
| Triton | None; a $125 prepaid deposit to start | Pay as you go: $10 per 1M calls + $0.08 per GB | Calls and bandwidth | Dragon's Mouth, $0.08 per GB | Included | Solana, Sui, Monad |
| Alchemy | 30M compute units a month, 15 RPS | Pay as you go: $0.525 per 1M CU, 300 RPS | Compute units, priced per method | Pay as you go, $75 per TB | Every plan, billed per byte | 100+ chains |
| Chainstack | 3M request units, 5 RPS on Solana | $49: 20M request units, 50 RPS on Solana | Request units; archive calls cost 2 | Yellowstone add-on from $49, on Growth and up | Every plan | 70+ chains |
List prices and plan terms from each provider's own pages, checked 21 October 2026; sources are listed at the end of this page. A credit at one provider is not a credit at another, so compare volume in each provider's own unit.
02 · Plans
Every public plan on one price line
Where each provider's plans sit between $0 and $1,000 a month, with the requests per second each allows. Carbium and Helius sell the same limits on every paid plan; Carbium's list price is about 35% lower.
Carbium
- Free$0/mo10 RPS500K credits
- −35%Developer$32/mo50 RPS10M credits
- −36%Business$320/mo200 RPS100M credits
- −36%Professional$640/mo500 RPS200M credits
- Enterprise on request
Tags show the list price below Helius's plan with the same credits and requests per second.
Helius
- Free$0/mo10 RPS1M credits
- Developer$49/mo50 RPS10M credits
- Business$499/mo200 RPS100M credits
- Professional$999/mo500 RPS200M credits
- Enterprise, custom
A standard RPC call is 1 credit; getProgramAccounts, archival and DAS calls are 10.
Quicknode
- Trial$0/mo15 RPS10M credits
- Build$49/mo50 RPS80M credits
- Accelerate$249/mo125 RPS450M credits
- Scale$499/mo250 RPS950M credits
- Business$999/mo500 RPS2B credits
- Business+ from $1,499
A Solana call costs 30 API credits, so Build's 80M credits cover about 2.7M Solana calls. The free plan lasts one month.
Triton
No plan ladder. $10 per million calls plus $0.08 per GB of bandwidth, drawn from a prepaid deposit of at least $125 (valid 12 months). No free trial.
Alchemy
- Free$0/mo15 RPS30M CU
Then pay as you go: $0.525 per million compute units at up to 300 RPS, with no base fee. Extra throughput is $160 a month per block.
Chainstack
- Developer$0/mo5 RPS on Solana3M RU
- Growth$49/mo50 RPS on Solana20M RU
- Pro$199/mo400 RPS80M RU
- Business$499/mo600 RPS200M RU
- Enterprise$990/moUnlimited400M RU
Chainstack's limits page caps Solana mainnet at 5 RPS on Developer and 50 on Growth; the higher figures are plan-wide.
03 · Billing
Five ways to bill a Solana RPC request
The same month of traffic reads differently in each unit. Each bar below is ten calls; wider means that call costs more of your plan.
A credit pool at a fixed price
CarbiumHelius
Each plan buys a monthly pool of credits and a requests-per-second ceiling for a fixed price. At Helius a standard call is 1 credit and heavy calls are 10.
Predictable: the plan price is the bill you plan for.
API credits with multipliers
Quicknode
Credits are weighted by chain and method. A Solana call costs 30 API credits, so a large credit number buys fewer Solana calls than it suggests.
Convert the credits into Solana calls before you compare.
Compute units, pay as you go
Alchemy
Every method has a compute-unit price. After the free allowance you pay per million compute units, with no base fee, and throughput is set in compute units per second.
Cheap to start; the bill moves with your method mix.
Request units
Chainstack
A plan includes a number of request units a month. A full request is 1 unit and an archive request is 2, with a price per extra million.
Close to counting calls; watch the per-chain RPS caps.
Usage from a prepaid deposit
Triton
No plans: you pay per million calls and per GB of bandwidth, drawn from a deposit you top up. The first deposit is at least $125.
Suits large, known volume; harder to forecast early.
How to compare
Compare requests per second directly. Turn monthly volume into calls for your own mix of methods.
Rate limits and 429s, explained04 · Streaming
Where Solana gRPC streaming starts
The monthly price of the cheapest plan or add-on that includes Solana gRPC (Yellowstone-style) streaming at each provider.
- Chainstack$98 a month · $49 Growth plan plus the $49 Yellowstone add-on, 2 streams
- Carbium$320 a month · native gRPC or WebSocket, included in Business with 5 streams; 1 credit per 1,000 messages
- Helius$499 a month · LaserStream included in Business; data billed at 2 credits per 0.1 MB
- Quicknode$499 a month · included in Scale, or a $499 add-on on Build and Accelerate
- AlchemyMetered · pay as you go, $75 per TB streamed
- TritonMetered · $0.08 per GB streamed, from the prepaid deposit
05 · Why Carbium
Why teams pick Carbium RPC
Everything above, in four lines.
−35%
Same limits, lower price
Developer $32, Business $320 and Professional $640 a month, with the same credits and requests per second as Helius's $49, $499 and $999 plans.
See Carbium plans$320
Native gRPC included
Yellowstone gRPC at grpc.carbium.io, or JSON over WebSocket, included from Business with 5 streams; Professional adds full blocks and replay.
Solana gRPC on CarbiumSwiss
Hardware Carbium owns
Bare-metal servers in a Swiss-owned private data center, on fibre, routers and power Carbium runs itself.
Our infrastructure0.05%
Swaps from the same team
The Carbium Swap API quotes and routes swaps across Solana's major DEXs at 0.05% per swap, next to your RPC.
Carbium Swap API06 · Switch
Moving to Carbium RPC is one URL
Your Solana client code stays as it is. Run both providers side by side until you trust the numbers.
- 1Create a keyStart on the free plan to test.
- 2Swap the URLPoint your Solana client at the Carbium endpoint. web3.js, Kit and any JSON-RPC client keep working.
- 3Test before you move trafficRun getVersion, getSlot and your heaviest method side by side with your current provider, then shift traffic.
Step-by-step guides: from Helius, from Quicknode, and how to benchmark providers yourself.
const connection = new Connection("https://<your-provider-endpoint>");const connection = new Connection("https://rpc-service.carbium.io/?apiKey=YOUR_RPC_KEY");WebSocket and gRPC endpoints are in your dashboard after sign-up; see the quick start.
Which Solana RPC provider is the best?
No single provider is best for every workload: it depends on your methods, your regions and your budget, so test a shortlist on your own traffic. For most Solana teams that need JSON-RPC, WebSocket and gRPC streaming, we think Carbium is the best choice: the same credits and requests per second as Helius for about 35% less, native gRPC streaming from $320 a month, and hardware Carbium owns in Switzerland.
Which Solana RPC provider has the best free tier?
It depends on the unit. Alchemy gives 30M compute units a month at 15 RPS, Helius 1M credits at 10 RPS, Carbium 500K credits at 10 RPS and Chainstack 3M request units at 5 RPS on Solana mainnet. Quicknode's free plan is a one-month trial with 10M API credits at 15 RPS, and Triton has no free tier. The units differ, so test with your own calls.
Helius vs Quicknode: what is the difference?
Helius is Solana-only: a standard call is 1 credit, plans start at $49 for 10M credits, and LaserStream gRPC is included from Business at $499. Quicknode covers 76+ chains: a Solana call costs 30 API credits, Build is $49 for 80M credits (about 2.7M Solana calls), and gRPC is included from Scale at $499. Both offer standard WebSockets and DAS. Carbium matches Helius's credits and requests per second for about 35% less.
Which providers offer Solana gRPC streaming, and from what price?
All six offer Yellowstone-style gRPC streaming. At a fixed monthly price it starts at $98 at Chainstack ($49 Growth plus a $49 add-on), $320 at Carbium (Business), $499 at Helius (Business) and $499 at Quicknode (Scale). Alchemy ($75 per TB) and Triton ($0.08 per GB) meter it by the data streamed.
Why can't you compare credits between providers?
Each provider defines its own unit. A Solana call costs 30 API credits at Quicknode and a standard call 1 credit at Helius; Alchemy prices every method in compute units, and Chainstack counts an archive request as 2 request units. Compare requests per second directly, and turn monthly volume into calls for your own mix of methods.
Is Carbium cheaper than Helius?
At the same limits, yes: Developer is $32 against $49, Business $320 against $499 and Professional $640 against $999, each with the same monthly credits and requests per second. Helius has the larger free tier (1M credits against 500K) and offers DAS, Sender and staked connections, which Carbium RPC does not list.
Does this page compare latency or uptime?
No. Speed depends on your region, your methods and your load, and there is no published method that would make one number fair across providers. Use the benchmark guide to test each provider on your own traffic before you decide.
How do I switch to Carbium RPC?
Create a key on the free plan, replace your current provider's URL with https://rpc-service.carbium.io/?apiKey=YOUR_RPC_KEY and keep your Solana client code. Test your heaviest methods side by side, then move traffic. The migration guides cover Helius and Quicknode step by step.
Test Carbium next to the provider you run today
The free plan is enough to run your own side-by-side. Keep the provider that wins on your traffic.
Sources, checked 21 October 2026
- Carbiumrpc.carbium.io/planscarbium.io/docs/solana-grpc
- Heliushelius.dev/pricinghelius.dev/docs/billing/plans
- Quicknodequicknode.com/pricingquicknode.com/api-credits/solquicknode.com/solana-grpc
- Tritontriton.one/pricing
- Alchemyalchemy.com/pricingalchemy.com/docs/reference/compute-unit-costs
- Chainstackchainstack.com/pricingdocs.chainstack.com/docs/limitschainstack.com/marketplace/data-automation-services/yellowstone-grpc-geyser-plugin
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