Cost guide
The cheapest Solana data providers, by workload
Updated November 2026
Short answer
The cheapest Solana data provider depends on how often you read the data. For a few lookups, free or entry-tier RPC is cheapest. For exploration, a SQL platform's entry tier is. For history you scan repeatedly, a one-time dataset purchase is, because re-reads cost nothing. datastore.sh charges $200 to $2,000 per dataset.
Key facts
- The cost of historical blockchain data depends more on the billing unit than on the list price: per request, per query credit, per subscription period, or per dataset.
- Per-request and per-query billing charge again every time the same history is read. A one-time dataset purchase charges once, and later reads cost only your own compute.
- datastore.sh prices every dataset the same way: $200 for the latest month, $500 for six months, $1,000 for twelve months, and $2,000 for full history, with every table in the dataset included.
- Solana's public RPC endpoints are free but rate limited, and are not intended for production applications.
Cheapest is the wrong question until the workload is known. A provider that costs almost nothing for ten lookups a day can be the most expensive option for a backtest that reads two years of a DEX program every night, and the reverse is also true. What decides the total is the billing unit, how many times the same history gets read, and the engineering each option leaves to you.
This guide compares Solana data providers by how they charge and what that means for common workloads. It states datastore.sh prices because they are ours to state and are read directly from our checkout configuration. It does not quote other vendors' prices, which change without notice; each provider's own pages are linked in the sources instead.
How each kind of Solana data provider charges
The column that matters most is the fourth: what it costs to read the same history again. That is where totals diverge.
| Provider type | Examples | Billing unit | Reading the same history again | Cheapest when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public RPC | Solana public endpoints | Free, rate limited | Free, but slow at any scale | Testing and occasional lookups |
| RPC providers | Helius, QuickNode, Triton One | Plans with request or credit limits | Billed again | Live applications and address lookups |
| SQL platforms | Dune | Plans and query credits | Another query | Occasional exploration by a few analysts |
| APIs and streams | Bitquery, Chainbase | Plans with request or credit limits | Billed again | Application traffic |
| Bulk exports | Bitquery Data Store | Fixed price per dataset | Free after download | Normalized multi-chain history |
| Enterprise platforms | Allium, SonarX | Enterprise agreements | Your warehouse compute | Many chains, continuously |
| Hosted indexers | Goldsky | Platform plans | Another backfill run | Live, app-specific views |
| Build in-house | Your own pipeline | Infrastructure and salaries | Your own compute | Coverage nobody sells |
| Dataset delivery | datastore.sh | Fixed price per dataset and window | Free after delivery | Repeated scans of Solana program history |
datastore.sh prices
Every dataset in the catalog is priced the same way, per coverage window. One purchase includes every table in the dataset, delivered as Parquet you keep.
| Coverage window | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Latest month | $200 | The most recent month of history |
| Last 6 months | $500 | The most recent six months of history |
| Last 12 months | $1,000 | The most recent year of history |
| Full history | $2,000 | All history listed for this dataset |
- Every table in the dataset: one purchase covers them all
- Partitioned, versioned Parquet files for the selected window
- Per-table manifests with schema, lineage, and checksums
- Corrections republished as new versions for the purchased window
Work out your own break-even
Suppose a team backtests a strategy on twelve months of one DEX program and reruns it weekly. With request-billed or query-billed access, every run pays to read the year again, so cost grows with the number of runs. With a twelve-month dataset at $1,000, the first run costs $1,000 and every later run costs only local compute.
To compare honestly, price one full read of your range on the metered option, using that vendor's current pricing page, then divide the one-time dataset price by it. The result is the number of full reads after which the one-time purchase is cheaper. Add the engineering hours each option needs, because those often outweigh the data bill.
The hidden costs that decide the total
List prices leave out most of what historical data actually costs. These are the items that usually decide which option is cheapest in practice.
- Decoding: raw RPC output needs a decoder per program version before it is usable.
- Re-running history: any change to decoding logic means paying to process the range again.
- Rate-limit time: an archive crawl that runs for days has a calendar cost as well as a bill.
- Gap checking: someone has to prove a crawled range is complete.
- Warehouse compute: a datashare is cheap to attach and costs compute on every scan.
- Exit: access that ends when a subscription ends must be copied out in advance.
When datastore.sh is not the cheapest
A fixed price is only cheaper when the history gets used. For these workloads, another option costs less.
- A handful of lookups a day. Free or entry-tier RPC is cheaper.
- A one-off question answered in SQL. A SQL platform's entry tier is cheaper.
- Live data for an application. The datastore.sh catalog is historical.
- One small window of one address. An RPC call costs less than any dataset.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Solana data provider?
The cheapest Solana data provider depends on how often you read the data. For a few lookups, free or entry-tier RPC is cheapest. For exploration, a SQL platform's entry tier is. For history you scan repeatedly, a one-time dataset purchase is, because re-reads cost nothing. datastore.sh charges $200 to $2,000 per dataset.
Is there free historical Solana data?
Solana's public RPC endpoints are free but rate limited and not intended for production, so they suit testing rather than archive work. Provider free tiers have similar limits. datastore.sh publishes free 100-row samples where shown, which is enough to validate schemas and integration before paying for history.
How much does datastore.sh cost?
Every dataset is priced per coverage window: $200 for the latest month, $500 for six months, $1,000 for twelve months, and $2,000 for full history. One purchase includes every table in the dataset as partitioned Parquet with manifests and checksums, and the files stay yours, so reading them again costs nothing.
Why is API data expensive for Solana backtesting?
Because the billing unit does not match the access pattern. A backtest reads the same large range on every run, and request-billed or query-billed access charges for each read. The cost grows with the number of runs. A one-time purchase of the range turns every later run into local compute.
Is building my own Solana pipeline cheaper?
Rarely, once the second year is counted. Ledger access, decoders per program version, reconciliation, and backfills are ongoing costs, and every program upgrade reopens them. Building is cheaper only when the coverage you need is not sold anywhere, or when data cannot leave your perimeter.
Sources
Vendor descriptions follow each vendor's own public pages, checked November 2026. Other vendors' prices are not quoted because they change without notice. Product names indicate neither partnership nor endorsement.
Related reading
Start with the data
Skip the indexing project. Run the query.
Browse documented datasets or send the exact protocol, tables, and historical coverage your team needs.