QuickNode

Quicknode (also written QuickNode) is a company that runs blockchain nodes so that app builders do not have to. You sign up, pick a chain, and get a private web address called an RPC endpoint. Your app uses it to read data from the chain and to send transactions.

Quicknode started in 2017 and now covers more than 80 chains, Solana among them. On Solana it sells RPC access, live data feeds and extra APIs. It also runs a validator that takes no cut of staking rewards. There is a free plan, and paid plans start at USD 49 a month. Quicknode is a private company and has no token.

How Quicknode's Solana RPC endpoints work

A Quicknode endpoint is a URL with a secret token inside it. Your app sends standard Solana JSON-RPC requests to that URL, over HTTPS or WebSocket, and Quicknode's servers answer from nodes it runs around the world. You never touch the hardware.

Quicknode's Solana docs list four networks: mainnet-beta, devnet, testnet and the Alpenglow testnet. Mainnet has full archive data with no pruning, so you can look up old transactions and blocks. Devnet and testnet keep a limited window of history.

Usage is counted in API credits. Each plan includes a monthly credit allowance and a cap on requests per second, and going over the allowance is billed per million credits.

Because the token sits in the URL, anyone who gets the URL can spend your credits. Quicknode's endpoint security docs list the fixes. You can send the token in a header, use signed tokens (JWTs), lock the endpoint to your own website, and set rate limits for each method. The free plan has the basic token and simple rate limits only. The rest starts at the Build plan.

Quicknode pricing: is it free, and how much does it cost?

Quicknode has a free plan that needs no credit card, and paid plans from USD 49 a month. The free plan suits testing and small projects. Anything with real traffic will need a paid tier.

These are the self-serve plans on Quicknode's pricing page as of October 2026. Annual billing is 15% cheaper.

Above Business there are larger Business+ tiers and custom Enterprise contracts with dedicated clusters, single sign-on and a premium support SLA.

Two details matter for Solana teams. Solana gRPC streaming is included from the Scale plan up and is a paid add-on on Build and Accelerate. And overage is not capped by default: extra credits cost between USD 0.50 and USD 0.62 per million depending on plan, and the pricing page says overages above USD 200 are billed straight away. If your app has a traffic spike or a runaway loop, the bill follows it.

Solana gRPC, Streams and Webhooks for real-time data

Quicknode offers three ways to get Solana data pushed to you instead of asking for it over and over. Which one you want depends on how fast you need it and how much plumbing you are willing to run.

Solana gRPC is the fastest. It follows Yellowstone, the common format for streaming data straight out of a Solana node. It sends blocks, accounts, transactions and slot updates as the node sees them. Quicknode aims it at trading bots and other work where a few milliseconds matter. You get it as an add-on or on a node rented just for you.

Streams is a managed data feed. You point it at a network and set filters. Quicknode then sends the result to your server, your data warehouse or an analytics tool. It can also replay old blocks. Streams is billed in API credits by the number of blocks it handles.

Webhooks is the simple option. You describe an on-chain event, and Quicknode calls your server when it happens. Streams and Webhooks come with every plan, the free one too.

Solana add-ons: Priority Fee API, Jito bundles and DAS

Quicknode sells extra Solana APIs as add-ons that you switch on for an endpoint. The Solana add-ons list includes:

• the Priority Fee API, which estimates the fee needed for a transaction to land quickly;
• Lil' JIT, which sends transactions and bundles through Jito JTO$0.482+8.8%;
• Solana gRPC;
• third-party tools such as Covalent's GoldRush Wallet API.

Quicknode also serves the Metaplex MPLX$0.066+34.6% DAS API. DAS is the usual way to look up NFTs and tokens on Solana without reading raw accounts yourself. In June 2026 DAS began to index on-chain AI agents across the big RPC providers.

Two tools shipped in October 2026. Quicknode Observability went live on 2 October 2026. It shows which methods use your credits and where failed requests come from. It also shows whether the transactions you sent landed on-chain, and Solana is one of six chains with that view at launch. On 6 October 2026 Quicknode added Terraform and OpenTofu support. You can now keep endpoints, security rules, rate limits and Streams in code.

Paying per request with x402, for AI agents

Quicknode lets software pay for RPC calls directly from a crypto wallet, with no account and no API key. It uses x402, a protocol that revives the web's old "402 Payment Required" status code: the server asks for payment, the client pays in stablecoins, and the request goes through.

Per Quicknode's x402 docs, you can pay in USDC on Solana, Base or Polygon, and call any network Quicknode supports regardless of which chain you paid on. Pay-per-request costs USD 0.001 a call. Buying credits in bulk costs USD 10 per million credits. Each wallet gets one million free credits a month.

This is built for AI agents and scripts that need chain data without a human signing up first. For a normal app with a team behind it, a regular plan is simpler and cheaper per call at volume.

Quicknode's Solana validator and staking

Quicknode runs a Solana validator that takes no fee. It keeps none of the staking rewards and passes on all of its Jito tips, so the full reward goes to you. You stake from your own wallet at stake.quicknode.com and keep your keys the whole time. You can unstake or move your stake later under Solana's normal rules.

Quicknode's staking docs say the validator runs Jito's BAM software. They also claim perfect uptime and no skipped slots. Treat those as Quicknode's own figures, and check them. You can compare it with other validators by commission and uptime on our list, or look it up on any explorer.

The vote account is 5s3vajJvaAbabQvxFdiMfg14y23b2jvK6K2Mw4PYcYK.

A zero fee is a business choice and can change. Solana lets a validator raise its fee, so check it from time to time. Disclosure: Solana Compass runs its own validator and liquid staking token. Both compete with Quicknode's validator for stake.

Is Quicknode fast? Solana RPC benchmarks

Quicknode sits near the top of public Solana RPC speed tests for reading data. Most of the write-ups come from RPC firms themselves, so read them with care. The neutral place to look is the Solana Foundation's live RPC dashboard. It tests the big providers the same way from several regions.

Quicknode's own study of that data came out on 6 October 2026. It covers 82 days and 12 read methods, and says Quicknode beat Alchemy in about 91% of head-to-head tests. Quicknode notes that the study leaves out sending transactions, price, rate limits and extra APIs.

A rival gives a second view. Helius hSOL$125.10+2.1% runs an open benchmark. When we checked on 11 October 2026, it ranked Quicknode second, behind Helius itself. Both sources have a stake in the result. Before you commit, test your own busiest methods from where your servers run.

On uptime, Quicknode's Solana page promises 99.99%, and pays service credits if it falls short.

Who Quicknode is for

Quicknode fits teams that build on Solana and other chains at once. They get one supplier, one dashboard and one bill. A wallet or exchange that needs Solana, Ethereum, Base and a dozen more can run them all from the same account, with the same security settings.

It also suits large firms that need audit paperwork. Quicknode holds SOC and ISO certificates and rents out private clusters. And it suits small projects that want to start free and move to a paid plan later.

It is a weaker fit if you build only on Solana and want the deepest Solana tools, such as ready-parsed transaction history. Solana-first providers put more of their effort there. If you run a Solana trading bot that needs gRPC, budget for the Scale plan or the gRPC add-on. The cheaper plans do not include it.

Is Quicknode safe and legit? Risks to know

Quicknode is a real and long-running company. It has traded since 2017 and has raised money from well-known venture funds. Its security page lists SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 certificates. Quicknode gives the reports to customers on request, so we have not read them.

Quicknode never holds your funds. An RPC provider only passes on transactions you have already signed. Staking with its validator leaves the SOL under your wallet's control.

The real risks are about running your app:

• Quicknode is one company. If your app uses a single endpoint and Quicknode goes down, your app stops. Serious apps keep a second provider as a backup.
• An RPC provider can see the requests you send, such as wallet addresses and your users' IP addresses. You also trust it to return correct chain data.
• A leaked endpoint URL lets others spend your credits, and the stronger locks are not on the free plan.
• Overage billing can make costs jump in a busy month.

Quicknode posts outages on its status page. On 11 October 2026 the page showed all systems working. Our listing records no Quicknode programs on Solana, so there is no contract code to audit. There is no Quicknode token either. Anything sold as one is not from the company.

Quicknode vs Helius, Alchemy and Triton One

The short version: pick Quicknode or Alchemy if you build on many chains, and look at Helius first if Solana is your whole business. The Solana Foundation dashboard tests Quicknode, Alchemy, Helius and Triton One side by side, so you can check raw speed for yourself.

Quicknode and Alchemy both cover many chains. Quicknode's edge is breadth: more than 80 chains, a store of add-ons and its Streams data feed. Helius builds only for Solana and puts its effort into Solana-only APIs and tools.

Price is hard to compare at a glance, because each provider counts usage in its own way. Quicknode counts in credits. Work out what your own mix of traffic would cost on each provider's pricing page.

Company, funding and the Solana Developer Platform

Quicknode was founded in 2017 by Alex Nabutovsky, Dmitry Shklovsky and Manuel Kreutz. Nabutovsky is chief executive, per the about page.

In January 2023 Quicknode raised USD 60 million in a round led by 10T Holdings. The deal valued the company at USD 800 million, as TechCrunch reported. Earlier backers include Tiger Global, 776 and SoftBank.

In March 2026 Quicknode became a launch partner of the Solana Developer Platform, or SDP. SDP is the Solana Foundation's single API for banks and payment firms that build on Solana. Quicknode supplies RPC, Streams, Webhooks, gRPC and staking beneath it.

Quicknode is one of several providers in SDP, and more have joined since. Its launch post names Mastercard, Worldpay and Western Union as early users. We covered the SDP launch in June 2026.