RPC & Node Services
RPC & Node Services evaluated across real cost per 1M identical calls, archive debug and trace access, published throughput and self-serve ceiling, and documented incident record and chain coverage.
17providers tracked
9ranked (methodology v2026.11.1)
12 November 2026Ranking snapshot
22 October 2026oldest read · due 6 DecIndependent. Evidence-based.We rank with a published method and sourced evidence. No one can pay to rank.How it works
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9 providers match your requirements
Out of 9 ranked providers. 0 excluded.
What this ranks
Ranked here: RPC and node services that provide a production RPC endpoint, compared on the real cost of your actual workload, archive and trace access, throughput and incidents.Not ranked here: staking and indexing providers ranked in those categories, networks others build gateways on, and endpoints that are winding down, withdrawn, set to shut down or already dead.9 of the 17 assessed are ranked; 8 were turned away by name. Who, and whyRequirements narrow the list; they never change a published ChainChoice Score. How the ranking works
BlockPI
How BlockPI was chosen
Leads this ranking on Real cost per 1M identical callsPer-method request units
81 / 100 out of 100published score, #1 of all 9 worldwide
Evidence
High
4/4 criteria scored, with 4 dated sources quoted.Real cost per 1M identical callsPublished throughput and self-serve ceiling
Why it leads
- BlockPI is 3 points ahead of dRPC, mainly because it scores higher on its real cost per million calls and its throughput headroom.
- Best in this ranking on real cost per million calls and throughput headroom
- Ahead of dRPC on real cost per million calls (+4.4 points) and throughput headroom (+1.2 points)
Tradeoff
Reliability and coverage: 2 points below the best in this ranking
Usage price
$0.01/unit
Share
#ProviderUsage priceCompare
3
Same score, not joint · ordered by weighted total (45.80 against 45.60)
Managed nodes
78 / 100 out of 100
$20/unitfee read 22 October 2026 · source
6
Tied for #5 · ordered by tie-break points (1.95 against 1.94)
Managed RPC across 70+ chains
65 / 100 out of 100
$0.62/unitfee read 22 October 2026 · source
8
Tied for #7 · ordered by tie-break points (1.99 against 0)
Consensys RPC behind MetaMask
59 / 100 out of 100
9
TE
Debugger-first RPC billed in Tenderly Units
45 / 100 out of 100
Compare providers (0)
See key differences in features, fees, security and more.
Real cost per million calls
Real cost per 1M identical calls
35% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Real cost per million calls (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| BlockPI | 10 | 81 |
| Chainstack | 9 | 78 |
| dRPC | 8 | 78 |
| Helius | 8 | 66 |
| Infura (Consensys) | 6 | 59 |
| Alchemy | 4 | 65 |
| QuickNode | 4 | 65 |
| Ankr | 2 | 59 |
| Tenderly Node | 1 | 45 |
Reliability and coverage
Documented incident record and chain coverage
25% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Reliability and coverage (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| dRPC | 7 | 78 |
| Alchemy | 7 | 65 |
| QuickNode | 7 | 65 |
| Chainstack | 6 | 78 |
| BlockPI | 5 | 81 |
| Tenderly Node | 5 | 45 |
| Helius | 4 | 66 |
| Ankr | 3 | 59 |
| Infura (Consensys) | 3 | 59 |
Archive and trace access
Archive debug and trace access
20% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Archive and trace access (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| Ankr | 7 | 59 |
| BlockPI | 6 | 81 |
| dRPC | 6 | 78 |
| QuickNode | 6 | 65 |
| Chainstack | 5 | 78 |
| Alchemy | 4 | 65 |
| Infura (Consensys) | 4 | 59 |
| Helius | 3 | 66 |
| Tenderly Node | 1 | 45 |
Throughput headroom
Published throughput and self-serve ceiling
20% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Throughput headroom (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| BlockPI | 9 | 81 |
| dRPC | 8 | 78 |
| Chainstack | 8 | 78 |
| Ankr | 7 | 59 |
| Alchemy | 6 | 65 |
| Helius | 5 | 66 |
| QuickNode | 4 | 65 |
| Infura (Consensys) | 3 | 59 |
| Tenderly Node | 1 | 45 |
All 4 published criteria
Every ranked row’s score on each criterion, in the published order. Choose a column to order by it.
| Provider | ChainChoice Score | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BlockPI | 10 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 81 |
| 2 | dRPC | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 78 |
| 3 | Chainstack | 9 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 78 |
| 4 | Helius | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 66 |
| 5 | Alchemy | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 65 |
| 6 | QuickNode | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 65 |
| 7 | Ankr | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 59 |
| 8 | Infura (Consensys) | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 59 |
| 9 | Tenderly Node | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 45 |
How this ranking works
How firm the #1 is, the per-criterion arithmetic behind each score, who pays ChainChoice, and which RPC & node services were assessed and left out.
FirmThis verdict holds under every one-point re-read
See the arithmetic
Every published criterion was moved up and down by one point and the ranking re-run. The same product came first each time. The published rankings file
Why this score4 published criteria · leads 2 of 4
Published criterionWtScore, and the best hereGap/10 out of 10Pts
Real cost per 1M identical calls8.4·1011.2
Archive debug and trace access4.8−163.8
Published throughput and self-serve ceiling4.8·95.8
Documented incident record and chain coverage6−254.0
Σ methodology points24.8/32
Each bar is the score on that criterion’s own 0–10 scale, never rescaled to the pool. The dark line is the best any product here reached on that axis. Wt is the most the criterion can add to the 86-point weighted total. Pts is weight × score × 32; the sum is the methodology score, and each weighted point behind the leader costs 2.6 on the displayed score. how these are weighted
Why it ranks first
Why BlockPI leads this category right now
Per-method request units, expiring prepaid RU packages, 70+ networks. Strongest on real cost per 1M identical calls (10/10): BlockPI prices eth_call at 20 RU. The Premium package sells 4,000M RU for $299 and Elementary 500M RU for $49, about $1.50 and $1.96 per million eth_call; the packages expire after 90 and 60 days. Pay As You Go costs $0.01 per 50,000 RU, about $4 per million eth_call. Weakest on documented incident record and chain coverage (5/10): BlockPI's status page shows a December 5, 2025 outage, tied to Cloudflare, that took all RPC service down, plus frequent chain-level critical incidents through 2026, the latest a Cosmos chain-level outage on September 22, 2026. BlockPI serves 77 networks. Published price: BlockPI pricing page (docs.blockpi.io/pricing/pricing-and-rate-limit), read 2026-10-22 for the 2026-10-21 re-read; unchanged since 2026-09-14. RU packages expire.
Best for
Real cost per 1M identical calls — 10/10
Main tradeoff
The RU packages EXPIRE — Free 50M RU in 32 days, Elementary 500M in 60 days, Premium 4,000M in 90 days. Unused units are forfeited, so the category's cheapest per-request price only holds if you burn the entire package inside the window; a quiet quarter means you paid $299 for whatever you happened to use. On top of that, Archive Mode adds 30% RU, eth_getLogs RU doubles 'for every additional 200 KB' above 200 KB of response data, any method doubles per extra 1 MB, and Polygon MEV-protected eth_sendRawTransaction is billed at 250,000 RU per request — 12,500x a normal eth_call.
Verify before signup
BlockPI pricing page (docs.blockpi.io/pricing/pricing-and-rate-limit), read 22 October 2026 for the 21 October 2026 re-read; unchanged since 14 September 2026. RU packages expire. Free "$0", "50M" RU, "32 days", "20 requests/sec" / "400 RU/sec" (a gift package "distributed to registered users on the 1st of every month"). Elementary "$49", "500M" RU, "60 days", "1000 requests/sec" / "40000 RU/sec". Premium "$299", "4,000M" RU, "90 days", "2500 requests/sec" / "100000 RU/sec". Pay As You Go "$0.01" per "50000" RU, "20 requests/sec" / "1000 RU/sec". Enterprise "Contact us". Public RPC "10 requests/sec" / "200 RU/sec". EVM RU table (docs): eth_call 20, eth_getLogs 50, eth_getBalance 15, eth_blockNumber 10, trace_transaction 20, debug_traceTransaction 150, eth_sendRawTransaction 200. RU doc: Archive Mode "30% additional RU consumption"; eth_getLogs +100% per additional 200 KB above 200 KB; any method +100% per additional 1 MB; Polygon MEV eth_sendRawTransaction "250,000 RU per request".
Recommendation summary
What should decide this category
What is your realistic monthly call volume, and which methods dominate it?
Do you need archive state or debug and trace methods, and on which chains?
What request rate breaks you — and does the largest self-serve plan carry it without a sales call?
Quick picks
Strong options in this category
Start with the lead choice first, then use the shortlist only if you still need a challenger or stronger fit for a specific setup.
Best overall
BlockPI
Per-method request units, expiring prepaid RU packages, 70+ networks
Per-method request units, expiring prepaid RU packages, 70+ networks. Strongest on real cost per 1M identical calls (10/10): BlockPI prices eth_call at 20 RU. The Premium package sells 4,000M RU for $299 and Elementary 500M RU for $49, about $1.50 and $1.96 per million eth_call; the packages expire after 90 and 60 days. Pay As You Go costs $0.01 per 50,000 RU, about $4 per million eth_call. Weakest on documented incident record and chain coverage (5/10): BlockPI's status page shows a December 5, 2025 outage, tied to Cloudflare, that took all RPC service down, plus frequent chain-level critical incidents through 2026, the latest a Cosmos chain-level outage on September 22, 2026. BlockPI serves 77 networks. Published price: BlockPI pricing page (docs.blockpi.io/pricing/pricing-and-rate-limit), read 2026-10-22 for the 2026-10-21 re-read; unchanged since 2026-09-14. RU packages expire.
Best for: Real cost per 1M identical calls — 10/10
Real cost per 1M identical calls · weight 35%10/10Archive debug and trace access · weight 20%6/10Published throughput and self-serve ceiling · weight 20%9/10Documented incident record and chain coverage · weight 25%5/10
Quick pick
dRPC
Routed multi-provider RPC, flat 20 compute units per request, 200+ networks
Routed multi-provider RPC, flat 20 compute units per request, 200+ networks. Strongest on real cost per 1M identical calls (8/10): dRPC charges a flat 20 compute units per method at $0.30 per million CU. For accounts created after October 19, 2026, the $199 Scale plan includes 47M multi-chain requests at $4.2 per million and the $49 Pro plan works out at $4.8; pay as you go and overage cost $6 per million. Weakest on archive debug and trace access (6/10): dRPC prices debug, trace and archive requests at the same 20 compute units as eth_call on every paid plan, with no minimum spend on pay as you go. The free plan uses public nodes only and marks archive nodes and the Debug and Trace API unavailable; archive depth varies by network. Published price: dRPC pricing page (drpc.org/pricing), read 2026-10-22 for the 2026-10-21 re-read; REPRICED since 2026-09-14 (new plans for accounts created after October 19, 2026). "$0.30/1M CU across Multi-Chain and Solana".
Best for: Real cost per 1M identical calls — 8/10
Real cost per 1M identical calls · weight 35%8/10Archive debug and trace access · weight 20%6/10Published throughput and self-serve ceiling · weight 20%8/10Documented incident record and chain coverage · weight 25%7/10
Quick pick
Same score, not joint · ordered by weighted total (45.80 against 45.60)
Chainstack
Managed nodes, one request unit per call, 70+ protocols
Managed nodes, one request unit per call, 70+ protocols. Strongest on real cost per 1M identical calls (9/10): Chainstack bills an eth_call on a Global Node at 1 request unit. Pro costs $199 a month for 80M units and Business $499 for 200M, about $2.49 per million eth_call. Extra units cost $20 per million on the free Developer plan, falling to $10 on Business. Weakest on archive debug and trace access (5/10): Chainstack's archive data and Debug and Trace API start on the $49 Growth plan; the free Developer plan has neither. Archive and debug/trace requests cost 2 request units against 1 for a full request, and archive appears on 37 of the 94 chain rows in its networks list. Published price: Chainstack pricing page (chainstack.com/pricing/), read 2026-10-22 for the 2026-10-21 re-read. Developer "Free" (0 per month), "3M requests included", "25 requests / second", 1 node; extra usage "$20 on Developer plan" per 1M request units.
Best for: Real cost per 1M identical calls — 9/10
Real cost per 1M identical calls · weight 35%9/10Archive debug and trace access · weight 20%5/10Published throughput and self-serve ceiling · weight 20%8/10Documented incident record and chain coverage · weight 25%6/10
Quick pick
Helius
Solana-only RPC, DAS API, webhooks, gRPC streaming, one credit per call
Solana-only RPC, DAS API, webhooks, gRPC streaming, one credit per call. Strongest on real cost per 1M identical calls (8/10): Helius serves Solana only, and a standard RPC call costs 1 credit. The Developer plan costs $49 a month for 10M credits and additional credits cost $5 per million, about $5 per million calls. Weakest on archive debug and trace access (3/10): Helius includes archival data on every plan, but its pricing page bills getProgramAccounts and archival calls at 10 credits against 1 for a standard call. It serves a single chain, Solana, with no EVM debug or trace methods. Published price: Helius pricing page (helius.dev/pricing), read 2026-10-22 for the 2026-10-21 re-read. Free "$0 / month", "1M credits", "10 Requests / sec", 1 sendTransaction/s, 5 getProgramAccounts/s, 2 DAS/s.
Best for: Real cost per 1M identical calls — 8/10
Real cost per 1M identical calls · weight 35%8/10Archive debug and trace access · weight 20%3/10Published throughput and self-serve ceiling · weight 20%5/10Documented incident record and chain coverage · weight 25%4/10
Considered and not ranked
8 products we looked at and left out
A shortlist is only honest if it says who it turned away. Each of these was assessed against the same published criteria as the ranked table and excluded for a stated reason — not overlooked.
We assessed 17 products here and rank 9 — 53% of what we looked at. That share is of the products we assessed, not of the category: how many exist is not something we can count, so we do not claim a number for it.
Blockdaemon· Ranked elsewhereFigment (DataHub)· Ranked elsewhereThe Graph· Ranked elsewhereGrove (Grove Portal)Pocket Network (POKT)· No longer operatingBlast API (Bware Labs)· No longer operatingGoogle Cloud Blockchain Node Engine· No longer operatingLlamaNodes (LlamaRPC)
What this ranking does not assess
- Exit failure: you cannot get out at par, on time, or with what is yours.
- Information failure: the number is wrong or bought, or your data leaks.
These can still cost you money here; the ranking does not measure them, so a high place says nothing about them. Which criterion scores each family, and why the others do not apply, is in /data/risk-coverage.json.
How this ranking is built
Reviewed on real cost per 1M identical calls, archive debug and trace access, published throughput and self-serve ceiling, and documented incident record and chain coverage.
Data checked Oct 2026 · Independent rankings · We show our work
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means every product ranked on this page was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.
How we review · Review calendar · Corrections log · How we make money
Direct answer
What is the best RPC provider in 2026?
BlockPI ranks #1 overall for RPC & node services on ChainChoice. Per-method request units, expiring prepaid RU packages, 70+ networks. It holds that rank under an affiliate-blind methodology scored across 4 published, weighted criteria — the code that ranks providers physically cannot read affiliate payouts (CI-enforced), so a payout can't move a rank. The verdict re-computes on every fee change, incident, or regulatory action; the full reasoning and the audit receipt are under Methodology.
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
- Liveness failure: the operator stops, censors you or loses data.Scored by Documented incident record and chain coverage · 25% (BlockPI 5/10, dRPC 7/10, Chainstack 6/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Exit failure, Information failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: Real cost per 1M identical calls (35%), Archive debug and trace access (20%), Published throughput and self-serve ceiling (20%).
FAQs
3 questions readers ask before choosing RPC & node services.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before choosing RPC nodes
Why can't I just compare monthly plan prices?
Because the unit behind the price differs per vendor. Compute units, credits and request units are all sized differently per method, so the only comparable number is the cost of one identical workload priced through each vendor's own table — which is what is scored here.
Is a free tier worth anything in production?
Only if its rate limit is. A generous monthly request allowance behind a low per-second ceiling breaks under real traffic, so throughput is scored separately from volume.
How much does an outage really matter?
It depends entirely on blast radius, which is why incidents are weighted that way rather than counted. An event that stops a chain-wide wallet from loading is not the same as a degraded regional endpoint.
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Best picks
Best RPC & node services in 2026
The best RPC provider depends on your call mix and your throughput ceiling — but headline plan prices in this category are not comparable at all. Every vendor bills in its own unit, and the same eth_call is 1 unit at one provider and 200 at another, so a plan that looks cheaper per month can be many times dearer for identical work. The scored figure is the cost of one fixed workload derived from each vendor's own published unit table, and incident history is weighted by blast radius rather than count.
Best overall
BlockPI
Per-method request units, expiring prepaid RU packages, 70+ networks
Data checked Oct 2026
Per-method request units, expiring prepaid RU packages, 70+ networks. Strongest on real cost per 1M identical calls (10/10): BlockPI prices eth_call at 20 RU. The Premium package sells 4,000M RU for $299 and Elementary 500M RU for $49, about $1.50 and $1.96 per million eth_call; the packages expire after 90 and 60 days. Pay As You Go costs $0.01 per 50,000 RU, about $4 per million eth_call. Weakest on documented incident record and chain coverage (5/10): BlockPI's status page shows a December 5, 2025 outage, tied to Cloudflare, that took all RPC service down, plus frequent chain-level critical incidents through 2026, the latest a Cosmos chain-level outage on September 22, 2026. BlockPI serves 77 networks. Published price: BlockPI pricing page (docs.blockpi.io/pricing/pricing-and-rate-limit), read 2026-10-22 for the 2026-10-21 re-read; unchanged since 2026-09-14. RU packages expire.
Best for: Real cost per 1M identical calls — 10/10
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Written and reviewed by Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research