5 Best Solana RPC Providers in 2026: Pricing & Features Compared

Solana RPC provider shortlist

For wallet backends and application APIs, start by evaluating OnFinality for managed Solana JSON-RPC, WebSocket access and a path to dedicated capacity. Compare Chainstack for its RPC deployment options, Helius for Solana-specific transaction and streaming services, Alchemy for CU-based API access, and QuickNode for RPC with optional data products.

OnFinality publishes this comparison. Provider order is an editorial choice, not a measured speed or uptime ranking. The official Solana public service is a testing baseline, not one of the five commercial providers.

Solana RPC pricing and features compared

Pricing and coverage sources were reviewed on October 21, 2026. Prices are USD; monthly billing is shown where confirmed, excluding introductory and annual discounts. RU, CU and API credits are different billing units and must not be treated as interchangeable requests.

Pricing sources: OnFinality RPC plans, Chainstack plans, Helius plans, Alchemy plans, and QuickNode plans. QuickNode displays Build at $34/month billed annually alongside $49; confirm monthly checkout pricing rather than assuming the annual price applies to monthly billing.

1. OnFinality: managed RPC for Solana application backends

OnFinality serves Solana account reads, transaction queries, simulation and submission over JSON-RPC, plus WebSocket subscriptions. A wallet backend can query account state and track signatures while a dashboard subscribes to live updates. The Solana network page provides public HTTPS and WSS endpoints, request examples and service details.

Start by testing your application's actual methods, then create an account and select Solana to obtain an authenticated endpoint. Use request analytics to inspect usage before increasing traffic. Separate a heavy account scan or history worker from user-facing requests when it consumes too much of the shared budget; dedicated Solana nodes offer a deployment path for workloads needing isolated resources.

The free plan includes 400,000 response units per day; Growth lists $49/month and 20 million RU per month, with applicable node and API usage charges. RU consumption depends on the methods used, so estimate cost from a representative request mix. Confirm the available historical range and node configuration for your workload. Standard WebSocket subscriptions should not be assumed to include a Yellowstone gRPC service.

2. Chainstack: RPC deployment with optional Solana streaming

Chainstack's Solana service documents HTTP and WebSocket JSON-RPC, as well as Yellowstone Geyser gRPC streaming. It is worth evaluating when the application needs ordinary account reads alongside a separate stream of accounts, transactions or slots. Its Developer plan is free, while Growth lists $49/month before annual discounts.

Treat streaming and dedicated deployment as separate purchasing decisions. The pricing page lists Yellowstone gRPC from $49/month for two streams, starting from Growth; dedicated nodes require an eligible plan and a configuration quote. Confirm the total subscription and add-on cost, stream limits and historical-query coverage for the selected Solana endpoint.

3. Helius: Solana-specific data and transaction tooling

Helius lists a free plan with 1 million credits and 10 RPC requests/second, and Developer at $49/month with 10 million credits and 50 RPC requests/second. Transaction submission has its own lower limit. LaserStream WSS and gRPC are distinct products: the Developer listing identifies gRPC for devnet, while higher plans list broader gRPC access. Check the network and product eligibility when budgeting for a mainnet indexer or trading stream.

4. Alchemy: CU-based RPC and separate streaming charges

Alchemy's Solana platform includes RPC and gRPC streaming. Its pricing page lists a free allowance up to 30 million compute units, with pay-as-you-go usage and separate gRPC pricing starting at $75/TB. Evaluate the CU weights of your actual methods and streaming volume independently; a large CU allowance does not establish the cost of a long-lived data stream.

5. QuickNode: RPC alongside optional data products

QuickNode's Solana service offers an RPC entry point alongside data products. Its plans distinguish a one-month trial with 10 million API credits from the paid Build allowance of 80 million credits. Confirm the billing term at checkout and which streaming or data add-ons are included. Test the exact RPC methods and subscriptions before migrating existing clients.

Public, shared or dedicated Solana RPC?

Use the official public endpoints for learning and connection checks. Public capacity is rate-limited; it is not reserved for your app. Managed shared RPC adds authenticated access and a defined usage model without operating a node. Dedicated infrastructure isolates resources, but does not make every method unlimited or guarantee transaction landing.

Use Solana Devnet for staging with test SOL. Keep its URL and keys separate from mainnet. For testing environments, read the Mainnet, Devnet and Testnet guide.

Choose by your Solana workload

• Wallets and apps: test account reads, simulation, signature status and WebSocket reconnects. Compare method-specific request costs and limits.
• Indexers and analytics: test an old transaction and block that your application needs. Retention, transaction history and an indexed API are different capabilities.
• Trading systems: evaluate submission limits, commitment levels and the required streaming product. RPC latency alone does not prove transaction inclusion performance.
• Heavy account scans: run realistic getProgramAccounts queries and check response size, filters and timeout limits before buying dedicated capacity.

Test the shortlist before migrating

Run the same calls from your production region against each candidate: getLatestBlockhash, getAccountInfo, simulateTransaction, and the subscriptions you actually use. Record failures and rate limits as well as latency. Check reconnection and recovery after missed updates; a WebSocket connection alone does not supply durable event replay.

For OnFinality, start at the Solana RPC endpoint page, create an authenticated endpoint, then compare RPC plans against your method mix. Keep the public endpoint for initial checks and move application traffic to the endpoint and capacity you have tested.