Alchemy vs. Quicknode: Web3 Node Provider Comparison

Written by Alchemy

Reviewed by Logan Ross

Published on August 12, 20229 min read

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Alchemy's blockchain development platform provides RPC nodes with more accurate and reliable blockchain data, and more web3 tools and APIs compared to Quicknode.

Companies building web3 products have two choices:

1. Run web3 infrastructure by themselves

2. Use a web3 infrastructure provider

Because running your own nodes can incur significant maintenance, operational, and opportunity costs, many companies elect to use web3 infrastructure providers.

To evaluate web3 infra providers, it is important to assess companies on a range of performance metrics including latency, accuracy, and reliability.

This article will help you choose the best provider by comparing Alchemy and Quicknode, two of the leading web3 developer platforms across nine categories

1. Node Latency

2. Data Accuracy

3. Node Reliability

4. Enhanced APIs

5. Developer Tools

6. Supported Blockchains

7. User Experience

8. Customer Support

9. Pricing

Alchemy vs. Quicknode Comparison

Alchemy and Quicknode are two blockchain node providers that assist web3 startups in building dapps without the need to self-host their own nodes, which can be a costly alternative due to the ongoing resources required for maintenance.

With a thorough understanding of these characteristics, you can decide which node provider will work best for your dapp.

What is Alchemy?

Alchemy is an industry-leading multichain node provider whose revolutionary Supernode technology enables the largest applications in web3, like OpenSea, Trust Wallet, and Hop, to interact with public blockchains through a single endpoint that combines the power of multiple independent distributed systems. Alchemy was founded by Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau, two Stanford University graduates, in 2017, and today is a Series C, San Francisco-based web3 startup valued at over $10 billion.

What is Quicknode?

Quicknode is a multichain node provider and blockchain development platform founded by Alex Nabutovsky, Dmitry Shklovsky, Manuel Kreutz, and Auston Bunsen in 2017. Quicknode raised $60 million during their Series B round in January of 2023 at an $800M valuation.

1. Node Latency

There are two types of blockchain latency to understand: block discovery latency is the amount of time a node provider uses to discover a new block has been added to the blockchain, and request latency is the time difference between sending a blockchain request to the network and receiving a response.

Latency Test

During the second week of August 2022, we queried eth_blockNumber and measured the time between the origination of the request and the receipt of the response on the Ethereum mainnet for Alchemy and Quicknode. We then aggregated and averaged this number across approximately 250 total queries, each at 15-minute intervals for Alchemy and Quicknode.

The results of this test showed that Alchemy averaged 39.2 ms and Quicknode averaged 26.3 ms for the US East location over the course of a week. Quicknode's request latency is 49% lower than Alchemy's in this experiment. One reason why latency is higher for Alchemy in this test is because of Alchemy's secondary infrastructure, which provides web3 developers with improved data accuracy.

In addition to US-East, Quicknode has nodes in the US-West, UK, Europe, India, Singapore, and Sydney.

2. Data Accuracy

Blockchain data accuracy is a measure of how many requests to the blockchain returned correct and consistent data. Incorrect data can occur because nodes recieve new information at different times, and don't always have the same view of the network as the newest blocks propagate across the network.

While low request latency is important, it becomes less significant if the information returned by blockchain nodes is incorrect. Without accurate data, your dapp may experience several issues, such as:

1. Requests return different answers to the same question

2. Dapps may retrieve incorrect transaction nonces

3. Users have a poor experience when tokens and NFTs appear incorrectly

Data Accuracy Test

Using a web3 data accuracy benchmarking tool, we tested a Quicknode Ethereum Mainnet node against Alchemy’s Ethereum Mainnet node to measure how many responses were incorrect over the course of a 24-hour period. The benchmark sends repeated eth_blockNumber calls to each node, looking for failed calls. Below are the results of Alchemy vs. Quicknode.

After more than 1 million eth_blocknumber queries in 24 hours, the results showed that Quicknode returned 712 inaccurate block numbers compared to Alchemy which returned zero incorrect block numbers.

While 712 inaccurate block numbers out of approximately 1,000,000, or 0.07%, may seem small, it still represents over 700 instances per day where a user or dapp could receive false information from the blockchain. Although Quicknode has lower latency, the tradeoff of delivering data quickly at the expense of sending incorrect information is something developers need to consider carefully.

3. Node Reliability

Node reliability is a measure of uptime, and it is an important category to compare when choosing a node provider because it directly impacts an application's ability to serve customers at any time of the day.

Alchemy and Quicknode both have highly reliable systems. The node reliability status page shows the following comparisons for the Polygon Mainnet from January 2022 to July 2022.

• January - Alchemy (100%) vs. Quicknode (100%)

• February - Alchemy (100%) vs. Quicknode (100%)

• March - Alchemy (99.84%) vs. Quicknode (95.97%)

• April - Alchemy (99.94%) vs. Quicknode (99.98%)

• May - Alchemy (100%) vs. Quicknode (100%)

• June - Alchemy (99.99%) vs. Quicknode (100%)

• July - Alchemy (100%) vs. Quicknode (100%)

The distributed systems of Alchemy’s Supernode ensure that there is always a redundant backup in the event of a failure in part of your node’s functionality. These systems have the same power at scale as those used by companies like Facebook and Amazon, allowing your dapp to maintain its functionality even as it grows.`

Quicknode uses 5+ different bare-metal server providers to help them avoid a single point of failure allowing uptimes that are guaranteed through Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

4. Enhanced APIs and SDKs

In addition to core RPC services, Alchemy and Quicknode offer APIs to expand your dapp's functionality. Rather than writing complex code to use APIs and SDKs, ship improved functionality faster. Some of the core APIs and tools that Alchemy offers that Quicknode does not offer include: Gas Manager API and Bundler API, Reinforced Transactions, and Transaction Simulations.

The APIs and SDKs offered by Quicknode include:‍

NFT API Comparison

Both Alchemy and Quicknode offer an NFT API with helpful endpoints such as:

• getNFTs

• isHolderOfCollection

• getNFTsForCollection

• getContractMetadata

• getNFTSales

However, Alchemy's NFT API offers over a dozen additional endpoints compared to Quicknode's NFT API.

Alchemy NFT API

The Alchemy NFT API supports methods usable on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base and more. For more information, check out the detailed documentation of all available Alchemy NFT methods.

In addition to the endpoints mentioned above, Alchemy offers the following NFT API endpoints for Ethereum:

• getOwnersForCollection

• getNFTMetadata

• getOwnersForToken

• getOwnersForCollection

• getSpamContracts

• isSpamContracts

• reingestContract

• getFloorPrice

• computeRarity

• summarizeNFTAttributes

• reportSpam

All of these endpoints are unique to Alchemy's API, and are not possible with Quicknode.

Quicknode NFT API

Quicknode offers its own NFT API that supports six methods, with one method, qn_fetchNFTsByCreator, exclusive to Solana.

Quicknode also acquired the Icy Tools company in May 2022, which gives users access to other NFT API methods supported by Icy Tools' GraphQL NFT API.

There are no Quicknode NFT API endpoints that Alchemy does not offer.

Alcehmy's Web3 SDK (Software Development Kit)

Alchemy has recently released a powerful new Web3 SDK. With the Alchemy SDK, developers can now use all standard ether.js methods and all of Alchemy’s Enhanced APIs from a simplified SDK.

With the new SDK, developers gain a consolidated tool for making all their dapp's API requests. From your {alchemy} object, fetch NFT data, find token balances, and view transaction history–after adding just two lines of code!

Alchemy's Account Abstraction SDK

The Account Abstraction SDK can be used to simplify the interaction with account abstraction primitives (user operations and bundlers).

It's a complete solution that implements an EIP-1193 provider, handling gas estimation, signing the tx, and fetching paymaster data (if you use one) with one method call. If you're using eth_sendTransaction, the SDK converts that into a user operation for you and sends it along.

5. Developer Tools

In addition to node services and API endpoints, web3 developers choosing a developer platform should evaluate the tools that make the development process easier to manage.

Alchemy Developer Tools

Alchemy offers an extensive suite of developer tools, including:

• Alchemy AI - generate web3 code quickly to supercharge your development cycle

• Explorer - see historical request information to quickly identify patterns

• Mempool Visualizer - monitor the current status of confirmed, stuck, and dropped transactions

• Composer - troubleshoot RPC requests, replay failed transactions for easier debugging

• Debug Toolkit - scan recent requests and quickly detect errors while debugging

• Dashboard - get high-level analytics on your dapp performance

• Usage Analytics - get dapp’s usage over different timeframes, app versions, and individual methods. 

• Command Center - get high-level app health, requests per second, response times, and error rates

• User Insights - get geographic usage, traffic, and activity data, all without compromising user privacy or data security

• Alerts & Digests - get automated alerts of error points, and a daily digest reporting all key health metrics of your dapp

• Faucets - Alchemy provides multiple testnet faucets, including Sepolia faucet and Mumbai faucet

Alchemy's developer tools provide an extremely robust control center for guaranteeing you control your dapp's behavior every step of the way.

Quicknode Developer Tools

Quicknode offers developers a set of tools covering a similar functionality for dapps using their node services. However, Quicknode’s developer tools do not cover all the same uses as Alchemy’s.

Quicknode developer tooling includes:

• EtherFlow - easily compose RPC calls and test nodes

• Node Metrics - get a graphical representation of node usage, latest blocks, number of method calls used, and more

• Security - customize the security of your endpoint

• Webhook (add-on) - efficiently monitor real-time changes to application data

6. Supported Blockchains

Alchemy and Quicknode support different layer 1 blockchains, sidechains, and layer 2 blockchains.

Alchemy

The blockchains supported by Alchemy include:

• Ethereum

• Optimism

• Arbitrum

• Polygon PoS

• Starknet

• Solana

• Polygon zkEVM

• Base

• Astar (Polkadot)

Alchemy supports the following testnets:

• Goerli (Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum)

• Sepolia (Ethereum)

• Mumbai (Polygon)

Quicknode

The blockchains that Quicknode supports in addition to the list Alchemy supports include:

• Bitcoin 

• Arbitrum Nova

• Avalanche

• Aptos

• Gnosis

• Fantom

• Celo

• BNB Chain

• Polkadot

• Stacks

Overall, Quicknode supports more unique blockchains than Alchemy, however, both companies serve the primary web3 developer ecosystems. When deciding between Alchemy and Quicknode, it's important first to consider the blockchains you're planning to build on and any chains you may want to expand to in the future.

7. User Experience

When deciding between Alchemy and Quicknode, it’s important to consider the developer experience, as it’s a tool that will be used frequently. Some aspects of the user experience (UX) to compare include:

1. User interface design

2. Product design

3. Onboarding flow

4. Documentation

5. Discord channels

6. Educational resources

7. Tutorials

8. Guides

Alchemy and Quicknode feature modern user interfaces, are designed for simplicity, and provide educational content. Two distinctions include documentation and tooling.

Alchemy recently updated its documentation to improve the user experience, increase page speeds, and use the OpenAPI specification. Additionally, Alchemy's additional tooling makes the developer platform easy to navigate and not crowded.

8. Customer Support

Support for both Alchemy and Quicknode varies based on your membership tier, ranging from community Discord support to custom Service Level Agreements and VIP support via Telegram.

In the free tier, Alchemy developers get 24/7 support through Discord. In the Growth tier, users are upgraded to 24/7 Discord support by a dedicated team. 24/7 VIP support is provided to all dapp development teams through Telegram and/or Slack in the highest tier.

Quicknode's platform and documentation should be sufficient to answer most questions, but their support team is available as a final line of defense against user issues. Support differs between community support, 24-hour response times, and at best, 8-12 hour response times for enterprise clients.

9. Pricing

Price is an important consideration when choosing either Alchemy or Quicknode. Alchemy and Quicknode both support a free, growth, and enterprise tier.

Alchemy Free Tier ($0/month)

Alchemy has four main pricing tiers: Free, Growth, Scale, and Enterprise.

• 300 million compute units (CUs)/month

• 330 compute units per second (CUPS)

• All developer tools

• Enhanced APIs and SDK
  

• Full archive data

• Multichain mainnets and testnets

• No daily request limits

• 5 apps

• 24/7 Discord Support

Quicknode Discover ($0/month)

• 10 million API Credits/month

• 25 requests / sec

• 1 endpoint

• Single region

• Community support

• NFT API

Which platform offers the best free tier - Alchemy or Quicknode?

Alchemy offers the best free blockchain node provider tier.

Alchemy and Quicknode use two usage scales: Compute Units (CUs) and API Credits. We can compare the two scales by calculating the total number of requests that can be made for standard RPC requests.

• eth_call - 30 million transactions (Alchemy) vs. 10 million transactions (Quicknode)

• eth_getLogs - 15 million transactions (Alchemy) vs. 5 million transactions (Quicknode)

• eth_sendRawTransaction - 3.45 million transactions (Alchemy) vs. 1.67 million transactions (Quicknode)

If you are a new web3 developer looking to build a minimum viable product, see exactly why Alchemy offers the best free tier compared to Quicknode in our in-depth overview.

Alchemy Growth Tier ($49/month)

In addition to everything included in Alchemy's free version, growth tier customers receive:

• 400 million compute units (CUs)/month

• Auto-scaling compute units at $1.2 per 1 million additional CUs

• Parity Trace and gETH debug

• Enhanced transaction propagation

• 2x higher throughput (660 CUPS)

• 15 apps

• 24/7 dedicated Discord support

Quicknode Build Tier ($49/month)

• 20 million API Credits/month

• Auto scaling at $20 / additional million API Credits

• 100 requests / sec

• 10 endpoints

• Debug / Trace API

• Multiple Regions

• 24hrs support response time

Alchemy Scale Tier ($199/month billed annually)‍

For teams with big goals who want to move quickly, the new Scale tier provides Alchemy's best products and prices at the click of a button.

• 1.5 billion compute units (CUs)/month

• 3,000 compute units per second

• Auto-scaling compute units at $1 per 1 million additional CUs.

• Ability to purchase discounted additional CUs at $0.7 per 1 million on the annual plan.

• 30 apps

• 24/7 dedicated Discord support

Quicknode Scale Tier ($299/month)

• 120 million API Credits/month

• Auto scaling at $10 / additional million API credits

• 600 requests / sec

• 20 endpoints

• Global Regions

• 8-12hrs Support response time. 

• Debug / Trace API

Enterprise Tiers

• Committed use discounts

• Custom SLAs

• Pay with crypto

• Custom throughput

• Unlimited apps

• 24/7 VIP support

Beyond the above three tiers, Quicknode offers an Enterprise level, where service is customized for dapps requiring tremendous scale.

Which blockchain node provider is better - Alchemy or Quicknode?

Alchemy's blockchain development platform provides RPC nodes with more accurate and reliable blockchain data, and more web3 tools and APIs compared to Quicknode. The main differences between Alchemy and Quicknode can be found in their latency, reliability, developer tooling, free tier, and customer support. 

To decide which multichain node provider is the right choice, determine the non-negotiable areas of your project (e.g., blockchains) and test both options to choose the one that works best.

With the most powerful free tier, web3 startups would be wise to bootstrap on Alchemy to gain access to an extensive set of developer tools and APIs.