DEV Community

crypto blog
crypto blog

Posted on • Originally published at Medium on

Solana RPC Providers: The Full 2025 List — How to Choose, Benchmark, and Ship With Confidence

Solana RPC Providers: The Full 2025 List — How to Choose, Benchmark, and Ship With Confidence

From staked connections to decentralized gateways, everything builders and traders need to know about Solana RPCs now.

If you build or trade on Solana, your RPC is the lifeline between your app or bot and the chain. Pick right, and your transactions land fast with clean data and low variance; pick wrong, and you’re rate-limited during mints, miss fills, or spend nights chasing phantom bugs. In this deep, crypto-native guide, we’ll map the full landscape of Solana RPC providers , how they differ, how to evaluate them for throughput and correctness, and pragmatic setups that teams actually run in 2025. (Quick note: if you’re here for trading and want cheaper fees when you do move size, there’s a 20% fee offer on Axiom Trade  — grab it here: axiom.trade/@code20.)

TL;DR (but read the benchmarks section before you ship)

  • There is no one “best” RPC  — optimize for your workload: read-heavy indexing, write-heavy trading, or mixed dApp traffic.
  • Stake-weighted QoS (SWQoS), staked endpoints , Jito bundles , Yellowstone gRPC , Geyser streams , and durable nonce/priority fee strategy matter more than marketing RPS.
  • Most production stacks mix : a staked, Solana-native RPC for critical writes + one multi-chain provider for resilience + a decentralized gateway for fallback.
  • Public endpoints are for dev/test only. They’re rate-limited by design and get throttled when it hurts most.
  • Monitor everything : request/slot lag, compute units spent, confirmation spread (processed/confirmed/finalized), dropped WS events, and transaction landing rates.

What a Solana RPC Provider Actually Does (and Why It’s Different)

An RPC provider exposes Solana’s JSON-RPC and streaming interfaces so your code can read state and submit transactions. On Solana, latency and data-correctness are uniquely sensitive because:

  • High throughput + short slot times turn small latencies into missed bundles or higher priority fees.
  • SWQoS favors connections from staked validators/providers; “staked” write paths often land faster and more consistently.
  • Geyser (plugin/streaming) and Yellowstone gRPC open high-fidelity feeds beyond poll-heavy JSON-RPC.
  • Block propagation variance across regions/providers can produce differing views of “latest” and cause subtle failures (e.g., fetching a blockhash that’s already too old on your write path).

Key takeaway: You’re selecting more than an HTTP URL — you’re choosing a transaction delivery strategy , data plane, and an SLO you can live with.

Public vs Private vs Decentralized Gateways

  • Public endpoints (Devnet/Testnet/Mainnet public URLs) are great for tinkering and short QA. They’re rate-limited and get throttled during booms — don’t rely on them for launches.
  • Private/managed providers run tuned clusters and offer SLAs, dedicated/staked write paths, archives, and advanced APIs (NFT/token indexing, webhooks, gRPC).
  • Decentralized/gateway networks route requests across multiple operators, providing fault tolerance and censorship resistance. These are popular for fallback or global apps with spiky loads.

If you only remember one thing: production = private/staked path , with decentralized fallback and a second private provider for diversity.

The FULL 2025 List: Solana RPC Providers (Categorized)

Below is a comprehensive, ecosystem-sourced list of providers you’ll encounter in 2025. Some are Solana-native; some are multi-chain infra; some are decentralized gateways; some are niche traders’ favorites. Use this as a checklist when shortlisting.

Solana-native & performance-focused

  • Triton One (Solana-first, staked write paths, Yellowstone/gRPC, Geyser)
  • Helius (Solana-specialist, enhanced APIs/webhooks, indexing)
  • Syndica (Solana-focused RPC + ChainStream; observability, logs)
  • GenesysGo (long-time Solana infra/RPC lineage)

Multi-chain infrastructure with strong Solana support

  • QuickNode
  • Alchemy
  • Chainstack
  • Ankr
  • GetBlock
  • NOWNodes
  • RockX
  • NodeReal
  • Blockdaemon
  • Figment (DataHub)
  • Tatum
  • Runnode
  • Dexter Lab (managed Solana data streams and storage)
  • DedicatedNodes.io
  • Nodes by Intract
  • Ligma Node
  • o7 Node
  • Backpac RPC Layer

  • Uniblock

Decentralized RPC / Aggregators / Gateways

  • dRPC (decentralized RPC network)
  • Lava Network (gateway across providers; SDK)
  • Pocket Portal / Pocket Network
  • Bware Labs — Blast API
  • PublicNode (privacy-first Lava gateway)
  • OMNIA

Practical note: Some directories list adjacent tools (trackers, analytics) alongside node providers. The names above are the ones you’ll actually hit for Solana RPC in production or staging. As always, validate current Solana support and SLAs during your vendor call — line items change.

How to Evaluate a Solana RPC in 2025 (Crypto-Native Criteria)

1) Write-path realism (trader’s view).

  • Landing rate under load (esp. during mints/listings).
  • Staked connections + SWQoS access.
  • Bundle support (Jito relays), priority fee guidance.
  • Mean vs p95/p99 latency to leader.
  • Resends : behavior around BlockhashNotFound / PriorityFeeTooLow.

2) Read-path realism (indexer/dApp view).

  • Archive availability; historical bigtable or equivalent.
  • Geyser streams & Yellowstone gRPC stability.
  • Slot lag and block completeness under churn.
  • WebSocket durability (disconnects, backoff, dupes).
  • Data correctness consistency across regions.

3) Reliability/SLOs.

  • Published uptime and RTO/RPO.
  • Multi-region failover and planned maintenance communications.
  • Abuse isolation : how “noisy neighbor” traffic is contained.

4) Observability & tooling.

  • Per-key metrics (success/failures, lag, CU usage, fees).
  • Webhooks for signatures/slots/accounts , logs/export options.
  • Usable dashboards; alerts to Slack/PagerDuty.

5) Commercials.

  • RPS is not the whole story. You want capacity per region , write-path guarantees, and fair burst handling.
  • Policies around temporary spikes , DDoS shielding , abuse handling , and hotkey recovery.

Short, Honest Profiles (What They’re Great At)

These aren’t rankings — just the traits teams in the wild tend to value. Use them to build your shortlist.

Triton One  — Solana-native, tuned for millisecond-sensitive flows. Strong at staked write paths , Yellowstone gRPC , Geyser ; popular for performance-critical bots, market-making, and latency-sensitive dApps. Good “primary write” in a two-provider setup.

Helius  — Solana-specialist with enhanced APIs , webhooks , indexing , and clean developer ergonomics. Great for dApps that want fewer moving parts (NFTs, token metadata, webhooks) without building a custom indexer. Often the “primary read + light write.”

Syndica  — Focus on observability , logs , ChainStream realtime data, and Solana-specific R&D (e.g., read-optimized validator work). Good for teams that want deep visibility into RPC behavior and stream pipelines.

QuickNode  — Broad multi-chain, strong ops maturity, decent Solana add-ons and marketplace. A common second provider for diversity with workable pricing tiers.

Alchemy  — Multi-chain platform with robust tooling; Solana support plus familiar developer flow. Strong docs and enterprise posture; fits orgs consolidating infra on one vendor.

Chainstack  — Mixed dedicated/shared nodes with predictable SLAs and a straightforward pricing model; solid as a read-heavy backbone.

Ankr  — PAYG flexibility with a decentralization angle; useful for cost-aware teams or spiky workloads testing the waters.

GetBlock / NOWNodes  — Accessible pricing and quick provisioning; handy for staging , internal tools, and lighter production reads; validate write performance for critical flows.

Blockdaemon / Figment  — Enterprise-grade ops; strong where procurement requires established vendors , custom SLAs, and multi-cloud footprints.

Tatum  — SDK-heavy developer experience across chains; pragmatic for teams that want a single abstraction spanning Solana and EVM.

dRPC  — Decentralized RPC fabric with MEV-aware routing and cross-chain reach; compelling as a global fallback and for resilience against single-provider incidents.

Lava Network  — Gateway/SDK routing across vetted providers with privacy-first ops via partners like PublicNode; useful for fallback + wide coverage.

Pocket Network (Pocket Portal) — Fully decentralized ethos with token-incentivized operator set; pairs well with a staked primary.

Bware Labs — Blast API  — Performance-oriented middleware over a decentralized operator set; good mix of latency + resilience.

Special mentions (niche/trader-fav tools): DedicatedNodes.io, o7 Node, Ligma Node, Backpac, Dexter Lab, Uniblock — worth trialing if you want tailored pipelines or trader-first routing. As always, run your own load tests.

The “No-Drama” Production Pattern (What Most Teams Actually Run)

Pattern A: Trader/Bot-First

  • Primary write : Solana-native/staked provider (e.g., Triton One or Helius/Syndica depending on your APIs).
  • Secondary write + read : Multi-chain (QuickNode/Alchemy/Chainstack) for diversity.
  • Failover : Decentralized gateway (dRPC/Lava) with health-gated cutover.
  • Extras : Jito bundle path; local fee oracle with dynamic priority fee ; conditional resends.

Pattern B: dApp/Consumer UX-First

  • Primary read : Enhanced-API provider (Helius/Syndica) for webhooks and indexing.
  • Write : Staked path (Triton One/Helius) for critical tx.
  • Archive : Bigtable/Archive add-on from primary or a dedicated service.
  • Failover : One multi-chain provider + gateway.

Pattern C: Indexer/Analytics-First

  • Primary : Provider with Yellowstone gRPC + Geyser and consistent archive access.
  • Secondary : Cheaper multi-chain node for broad crawling.
  • Storage : Cloud object store + parquet; slot pinning & replay tools.

Benchmarking That Matters (Scripts You’ll Actually Use)

You don’t need a fancy harness — just consistent workloads and apples-to-apples regions. Measure:

  • sendTransaction time to processed/confirmed/finalized , with retry/backoff, same fee parameters.
  • Landing rate over time buckets (e.g., every 5 minutes during known high-vol periods).
  • getLatestBlockhash drift vs your write path (detect blockhash expiry failures).
  • WS event loss/duplication over 1–4 hour windows with reconnects.
  • Slot lag and block completeness (are you seeing missing transactions under stress?).
  • Cost model : $/1M requests + overage + dedicated vs shared RPS ceilings.
  • Data correctness checks : sample 100 random accounts/programs — diff snapshots across providers.

Keep runs short and frequent ; you want trend lines , not a single “hero run.”

“What Traders Are Saying”

  • “Staked connections + SWQoS beat raw RPS.” Under heat, the pipe that lands bundles consistently matters more than a high advertised throughput.
  • “WS stability is alpha.” Missed account notifications or dupes kill bots; durable WS + graceful reconnects is table stakes now.
  • “Fee logic > brand.” Dynamic priority fees + real-time landing telemetry out-perform switching providers mid-mint.
  • “Two providers minimum.” A single incident can clip your edge. Always keep a hot standby with health-based routing.
  • “JSON-RPC is fine; gRPC is better.” If your provider offers Yellowstone gRPC, test it — you’ll likely keep it.
  • “Logs and metrics win.” Per-key dashboards, slot lag, and landing rates make post-mortems trivial — and stop you from shadow-boxing.

Practical Setup: Code Snippets You’ll Reuse

HTTP + WS with hot-swappable endpoints (TypeScript, @solana/web3.js)

import { Connection, clusterApiUrl, Commitment } from '@solana/web3.js';

type RpcPair = { http: string; ws?: string; name: string; staked?: boolean };

const RPCS: RpcPair[] = [
  { name: 'Primary-Staked', http: process.env.RPC_PRIMARY_HTTP!, ws: process.env.RPC_PRIMARY_WS!, staked: true },
  { name: 'Secondary', http: process.env.RPC_SECONDARY_HTTP!, ws: process.env.RPC_SECONDARY_WS! },
  { name: 'Gateway', http: process.env.RPC_GATEWAY_HTTP! }
];

const commitment: Commitment = 'confirmed';

function makeConn(r: RpcPair) {
  return new Connection(r.http, { commitment, wsEndpoint: r.ws });
}

let current = 0;
let conn = makeConn(RPCS[current]);

export function connection() { return conn; }

// Simple health-gated failover
export async function maybeFailover(thresholdMs = 1500) {
  const t0 = performance.now();
  try {
    await conn.getLatestBlockhash();
    const dt = performance.now() - t0;
    if (dt > thresholdMs && current + 1 < RPCS.length) {
      current += 1;
      conn = makeConn(RPCS[current]);
      console.warn(`RPC failover → ${RPCS[current].name} (${dt.toFixed(0)}ms)`);
    }
  } catch {
    if (current + 1 < RPCS.length) {
      current += 1;
      conn = makeConn(RPCS[current]);
      console.warn(`RPC failover → ${RPCS[current].name} (exception)`);
    } else {
      current = 0; // loop back
      conn = makeConn(RPCS[current]);
    }
  }
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Jito bundle submission

Use your provider’s Jito integration or relay URL. Keep private key management out of lambdas; sign locally or via HSM.

Priority fees strategy

Query recent blocks for median CU and priority fee micro-lamports per CU for your program; set a sliding window and add a risk premium during contention. Track landing rate vs fee to converge.

The Full Provider List — At-a-Glance Cheat Sheet (Use This to Shortlist)

  • Performance-first (Solana-native): Triton One, Helius, Syndica, GenesysGo
  • Enterprise/multi-chain: QuickNode, Alchemy, Chainstack, Ankr, GetBlock, NOWNodes, RockX, NodeReal, Blockdaemon, Figment, Tatum, Runnode, Dexter Lab, DedicatedNodes.io, Nodes by Intract, Ligma Node, o7 Node, Backpac, Uniblock
  • Decentralized/gateways: dRPC, Lava Network, Pocket Portal/Network, Bware Labs (Blast API), PublicNode, OMNIA

Bookmark the official Solana clusters & public RPCs page for dev/test URLs and rate-limit notes here:

solana.com/docs/references/clusters

For discovery and quick comparisons, a handy directory of Solana RPC providers (kept current) is here:

Alchemy Dapp Store: RPC Node Providers on Solana

Buyer’s Guide: Which One Should You Use?

Solo dev / indie tool

  • Start with a multi-chain provider (QuickNode/Alchemy/Chainstack) for cost and support.
  • Add Helius/Syndica when you need webhooks/indexing.
  • Keep dRPC/Lava as a free or cheap fallback.

Trading bots / MEV-sensitive

  • Primary write on Triton One (or Solana-native staked path), plus Jito.
  • Secondary on Helius/Syndica or a multi-chain for diversity.
  • Gateway fallback (dRPC/Lava).
  • Build an internal fee oracle and landing telemetry.

High-scale dApp / consumer UX

  • Primary read : Helius or Syndica for enhanced APIs/webhooks.
  • Write : staked path (Triton One/Helius) with bundle options.
  • Archive : contract with your primary or a dedicated archive.
  • Secondary : QuickNode/Alchemy for availability spread.
  • Gateway : dRPC/Lava for extra resilience.

Data/analytics/indexers

  • Providers with Yellowstone gRPC , Geyser , and robust archive access.
  • Expect to roll your own S3/parquet lake and replay tools.

Ops Playbook: Don’t Ship Without These

  • Read/write separation: different endpoints and rate limits.
  • Region pinning: minimize cross-ocean latency on write paths.
  • Circuit breakers: 429/5xx budgets; WS reconnect backoff with jitter.
  • Observability: dashboards per API key; alerts for slot lag and landing rate.
  • Runbooks: known incident modes (e.g., “BlockhashNotFound storm”), remediations, comms templates.
  • Vendor contacts: Slack/Telegram/phone escalation; who signs the SLA.

FAQs

Q1: Are public RPC endpoints safe for production?

No. They’re intentionally rate-limited and sometimes blocked during heavy use. Keep them for Devnet/Testnet and light QA. Use private/staked endpoints in production.

Q2: Do I need a “staked connection”?

If you care about landing quickly under contention , yes. SWQoS paths and relay integrations (e.g., Jito) materially improve landing rates.

Q3: What’s the point of decentralized RPC if I already have two providers?

Resilience. Gateways spread risk across operators and smooth out regional incidents. They’re excellent fallbacks.

Q4: Should I prefer JSON-RPC or Yellowstone gRPC?

Use gRPC for high-fidelity streaming and lower overhead when supported, but keep JSON-RPC for broad library compatibility. Many stacks now run both.

Q5: How do I test providers fairly?

Pin regions, replay the same workload , record landing rates vs fees , track slot lag , and run tests during real contention windows.

Q6: What about archives and historical queries?

Ask explicitly for archive access (Bigtable or equivalent). If you run analytics, budget for storage egress and plan a data lake.

Q7: Is one provider enough if I’m early?

You can start with one, but wire failover now. You’ll thank yourself during your first spike.

Final Word

In 2025, a great Solana RPC setup is a strategy , not a URL. Treat it like any other production dependency: design for landing rate , latency , correctness , and resilience. Start with a staked, Solana-native write path , pair it with a multi-chain provider for read diversity, and add a decentralized gateway as ballast. Instrument everything, and you’ll sleep through the next hype cycle.

Top comments (0)