Infura, Alchemy, and Quicknode are three of the most widely used blockchain infrastructure providers. This guide compares chain support, cost at real traffic, performance, and what you get beyond a raw RPC endpoint, with numbers verified in August 2026.

Short version: Infura is the Ethereum-native option with MetaMask ties and daily-quota billing. Alchemy has the most generous ongoing free tier and the strongest built-in developer APIs. Quicknode covers the most production ground: 80+ chains, archive on every plan, trace on paid plans, real-time Streams, the lowest latency in its own public QuickLee benchmarks, and the only full SOC 1, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 stack of the three.

Infura vs Alchemy vs Quicknode at a glance

• Free tier: Quicknode 1-month trial, 10M API credits; Alchemy 30M CU/mo ongoing; Infura 3M credits/day ongoing

• Entry paid: Quicknode Build $49/mo; Alchemy Pay As You Go; Infura Developer $50/mo

• Chains: Quicknode 80+ / 135+ networks; Alchemy 79 chains; Infura ~24 chains, 40+ networks

• Trace/debug: Quicknode paid plans at 2x credits; Alchemy Pay As You Go+; Infura Developer+

• Real-time: Quicknode Streams, Webhooks, gRPC; Alchemy Webhooks and Smart WebSockets; Infura WebSocket RPC

• Compliance: Quicknode SOC 1, SOC 2, ISO 27001; Alchemy SOC 2 Type II; Infura not published

How each provider bills

One request is not one request. Quicknode bills API credits (eth_call is 20 on most EVM chains). Alchemy bills compute units (eth_call is 26 CUs). Infura bills credits against a daily quota that resets at 00:00 UTC. A spike can halt Infura until the next reset.

True cost per call = (method weight x price per million units) / 1,000,000. Two providers can advertise the same price per million and still differ 4x on your bill.

Chain support

Alchemy’s RPC directory lists 79 chains, in line with Quicknode’s 80+. Alchemy’s “100+ networks” headline counts testnets. Infura covers ~24 chains and 40+ networks, including Monad and HyperEVM; Solana is limited-access. Quicknode’s edge is Bitcoin, TRON, TON, and Hyperliquid HyperCore/gRPC under one account, plus archive and Streams. See the Quicknode chain list.

Pricing compared (2026)

Quicknode: 1-month trial at $0 (10M credits, 15 rps), then Build $49 / 80M / 50 rps, Accelerate $249 / 450M / 125, Scale $499 / 950M / 250, Business $999 / 2B / 500 rps. Overage $0.62/1M credits on Build to $0.50 on Business. Archive on every plan including trial; trace/debug on paid plans at 2x. Flat Rate RPS starts at $799/mo for 75 RPS on ETH/Base/OP/Arb/BSC/Polygon (Solana $1,199). Over cap returns HTTP 429.

Alchemy: ongoing Free 30M CU/mo at 25 rps, then Pay As You Go at $0.45/1M CU to 300M, then $0.40. Debug/trace not on Free. eth_getLogs is 60 CUs (~$27/1M); debug_traceTransaction is 40 CUs (~$18/1M), cheaper than Quicknode’s 2x paid trace rate (~$24.80/1M on Build overage).

Infura: Core $0 at 3M credits/day; Developer $50 at 15M/day; Team $225 at 75M/day. eth_call is 80 credits, eth_getLogs 255, debug_traceTransaction 1,000 (15,000 traces/day on Developer). Extra credits $200 for 55M.

Real-world monthly cost (read-heavy eth_call)

• 500K: Quicknode $0 during 1-month trial, then $49 Build; Alchemy $0; Infura $0

• 5M: Quicknode ~$61; Alchemy ~$59; Infura $50

• 25M: Quicknode ~$277; Alchemy ~$275; Infura $225

• 100M: Quicknode $999 Business; Alchemy ~$1,055; Infura Enterprise

• 500M: Quicknode Enterprise / Flat Rate RPS; Alchemy ~$5,200; Infura Enterprise

Log-heavy apps pay more on Alchemy. Trace-heavy apps often pay less on Alchemy than Quicknode. Infura traces still exhaust a Developer day fast. Streams destinations are webhook, S3, PostgreSQL, Azure Blob, and Kafka.

Beyond raw RPC

• Alchemy has the broadest first-party APIs (Token, NFT, Transfers, Portfolio, Prices, Wallet, Paymaster, Bundler) plus webhooks. Subgraphs sunset December 8, 2025.

• Infura wins on MetaMask proximity, a Gas API, and DIN failover. No Streams equivalent. IPFS is restricted to pre-qualified customers.

• Quicknode bundles Streams, Webhooks, SQL Explorer, Marketplace add-ons, Yellowstone gRPC, Hyperliquid gRPC, IPFS, and x402/MPP.

성능

In Quicknode’s public QuickLee dashboards (eth_getBalance every 10 seconds, five regions), Quicknode has published ~29ms average and ~45ms p95 with zero failed calls across ~148K requests. Treat QuickLee as a live dataset, not a universal ranking.

Which provider should you choose?

• DeFi and trading bots: Quicknode, plus Flat Rate RPS to remove overage on continuous polling.

• Enterprise and regulated apps: Quicknode. Full SOC 1, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 plus 99.99% uptime. Alchemy publishes SOC 2 Type II; Infura does not publish SOC or ISO.

• Ethereum-only / MetaMask: Infura. Early-stage teams also fit Alchemy’s ongoing 30M free CUs or the Quicknode Startup Program.

• API-heavy prototyping: Alchemy. Ongoing free tier, 79 chains, and first-party Token/NFT/Transfers APIs.

• Multi-chain and AI agents: Quicknode. 80+ chains, plus x402/MPP and an MCP server.

자주 묻는 질문

Does Quicknode have a free plan?

Quicknode offers a 1-month free trial with 10M API credits and 15 rps. It is not an ongoing free tier. Alchemy’s 30M CU/mo and Infura’s 3M credits/day remain available month after month. After the trial, paid plans start at $49/mo on Build.

How many chains does each provider support?

As of August 2026, Quicknode supports 80+ chains across 135+ networks. Alchemy lists 79 chains on alchemy.com/rpc; the “100+ networks” headline counts testnets. Infura covers roughly 24 chains and 40+ networks.

Which providers are SOC 2 certified?

Quicknode (SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001) and Alchemy (SOC 2 Type II) publish certifications. Infura does not. Quicknode is the only provider here with all three.

Ready to build? Create a free Quicknode account or compare plans on the pricing page.