NOWNodes and Chainstack both let a team plug into a blockchain without deploying and babysitting the underlying client software, but they’re built for different buyers. NOWNodes covers 120+ networks — including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other non-EVM chains — under one flat request quota, while Chainstack focuses on roughly 70 networks with request-unit billing and a heavier compliance layer aimed at regulated enterprises. For most multi-chain products and cost-conscious teams, NOWNodes’ broader coverage and simpler pricing end up doing more with less; Chainstack earns its higher price mainly when a SOC 2 report has to sit in a vendor-review folder.
What Are NOWNodes and Chainstack, Exactly?
NOWNodes is a blockchain infrastructure provider that gives developers API access to shared and dedicated nodes across 120+ networks, from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Solana, Polygon, and privacy coins like Monero. You get an endpoint and an API key, and NOWNodes runs the actual client software behind it.
Chainstack is a managed blockchain infrastructure company, founded in 2018, that hosts endpoints across 70+ networks and layers compliance tooling — SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications — on top. Both companies solve the same underlying problem, but Chainstack leans harder into enterprise positioning than a straightforward connection to the chain.
RPC (remote procedure call) is the mechanism underneath both services: a way of asking a remote server to run a function, such as “return this address’s balance,” and getting the result back over the network. Every blockchain client exposes its data this way, which is exactly why an application can move between providers without rewriting its core logic, as ethereum.org’s JSON-RPC documentation explains.
Why Do You Need a Provider Like NOWNodes or Chainstack?
Running your own node is a real operational job, not a side task. A synced Ethereum full node currently needs roughly 650–700 GB of disk and keeps growing, and it has to be patched and resynced through every protocol upgrade the network ships.
A managed provider takes that maintenance off your plate. You get an authenticated endpoint, the provider keeps the client software current and the hardware scaled, and your team spends its time on application logic instead of server operations — whether that’s NOWNodes’ flat-rate shared plans or Chainstack’s request-unit billing.
Mohammad Zahwy, Chief Business Development Officer at NOWNodes, put the underlying goal plainly in an interview with crypto.news: the aim is to “make blockchain infrastructure simple, fast, and reliable so builders can focus on building, rather than on node maintenance, syncing, and DevOps overhead.” That’s the pitch behind both providers — the difference is how each one prices and scopes the work it takes off your hands.
Who Actually Uses NOWNodes vs. Chainstack?
NOWNodes attracts teams whose product spans several blockchains at once — wallets, exchanges, and payment platforms that need Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a dozen other chains under a single account rather than a separate vendor per network. Trading tools and monitoring systems that lean on WebSocket or gRPC streaming fit the same profile, and NOWNodes’ flat quota means the bill doesn’t move just because a workload gets heavier.
Chainstack’s customer list — Circle, Trust Wallet, Ripple, TradingView, and Anchorage Digital among them — points at a narrower kind of buyer: a regulated or larger organization that needs documented security posture alongside blockchain access, not just an API key. Its SSO, dedicated clusters, and compliance paperwork go largely unused at a smaller scale.
| Use case | Better fit with NOWNodes | Better fit with Chainstack |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-chain wallet or exchange (BTC + ETH + others) | Yes — one account, 120+ networks | Requires checking non-EVM coverage first |
| Regulated fintech needing SOC 2 / ISO 27001 documentation | Not published | Yes — certifications built into every plan |
| Trading bot needing predictable monthly cost | Yes — flat request quota | Depends on which methods you call most |
| Backend that only checks balances and broadcasts transactions | Yes — lighter, cheaper fit | Works, but pays for compliance tooling you don’t need |
| Enterprise deployment with dedicated, isolated infrastructure | Yes — dedicated nodes, no fixed RPS cap | Yes — from roughly $678/month |
A team that just needs to read balances and send transactions rarely touches the layer Chainstack charges extra for — and that gap is worth weighing before committing to the pricier option.
Pricing: Flat Quotas vs. Request Units
This is where the two diverge most. NOWNodes’ shared plans bill on a flat request-quota model: pick a monthly tier, get a fixed number of requests, and every call — light or heavy — counts the same against that number.
Chainstack bills through request units (RUs), a weight assigned to each method based on how much server-side work it takes to answer. A light call costs fewer RUs than a heavier one like a log scan, so the same nominal quota can drain at very different speeds depending on what your app actually calls.
| Plan tier | NOWNodes (shared, flat quota) | Chainstack (request units) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 100,000 requests/month, 1 API key | 3,000,000 RUs/month, 25 RPS |
| Entry paid | ~€20/month, 1M requests, 3 API keys | $49/month, 20M RUs, 250 RPS |
| Mid tier | ~€200/month, 30M requests, 25 API keys | $199/month, 80M RUs, 400 RPS |
| Enterprise | ~€500/month, 100M requests, 100 API keys | $990+/month, 400M RUs, custom RPS |
Both companies also sell dedicated, isolated infrastructure: NOWNodes configures a dedicated node per network with no fixed RPS cap, while Chainstack’s dedicated nodes start around $678 a month according to its own pricing page. Pricing changes often on both sides, so treat this table as a snapshot to re-verify before budgeting. The practical difference is predictability — a flat quota costs the same whether those requests were balance checks or heavy log scans, while an RU bill shifts with whatever methods your app happens to lean on that month.
Network and Feature Coverage
NOWNodes advertises 120+ blockchain networks, including non-EVM chains like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Monero alongside Ethereum, Solana, and other EVM chains. Chainstack lists 70+ networks, a smaller but still broad list that skews toward EVM-compatible chains plus Solana.
That gap matters more for some products than others. An EVM-only dApp won’t notice much difference in raw chain count, but a wallet or exchange that also needs Bitcoin, Litecoin, or a privacy coin will find several of those missing from Chainstack’s lineup — something NOWNodes’ node directory covers under a single account instead.
Feature-for-feature, the two overlap on the essentials, with a few real differences:
- RPC and WebSocket access — both providers support this on their major networks.
- Archive data — both offer it, gated to specific plans and networks.
- Debug and Trace APIs — available on both, for contract-execution analysis.
- gRPC streaming — NOWNodes offers multichain streaming across 25+ blockchains with sub-200ms latency on its gRPC product; Chainstack offers gRPC data delivery as well, chain-dependent.
- Compliance certifications — Chainstack publishes SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001; NOWNodes doesn’t advertise equivalent certifications on its public pages.
- Market data — a NOWNodes product covering 9,000+ cryptocurrencies and 90+ fiat assets; not part of Chainstack’s core offering.
Compliance vs. Coverage: The Real Trade-Off
Chainstack’s compliance documentation is a genuine strength for one specific buyer. A regulated fintech or custodian that needs a SOC 2 report ready for a vendor security review will find it on Chainstack’s site, and that’s not something every competitor publishes.
That layer is priced into every Chainstack plan, though, whether or not a given customer’s use case requires it. A team that doesn’t face a compliance mandate is paying for paperwork it will never open, and NOWNodes’ broader non-EVM coverage at a lower entry price is the more direct route to the same underlying access.
How Hard Is It to Switch Providers Later?
Because JSON-RPC is a standardized protocol, moving core traffic between NOWNodes and Chainstack is usually a configuration change, not a rewrite. An application built against eth_getBalance and eth_sendRawTransaction can typically point at a new endpoint with a URL and key change.
What doesn’t move as easily is provider-specific behavior: rate limits, response pagination on heavier calls, and which advanced methods — Trace, Debug, archive access — exist on one platform but not the other. Reviewing those differences before a migration takes less time than discovering them in production.
Chainstack vs. NOWNodes at a Glance
| NOWNodes | Chainstack | |
|---|---|---|
| Network coverage | 120+ blockchains, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero | 70+ blockchains, mostly EVM plus Solana |
| Pricing model | Flat request quota per plan | Request units, tiered per plan |
| Free tier | 100,000 requests/month, 1 API key | 3M RUs/month, 25 RPS, 1 node |
| Entry paid plan | ~€20/month | $49/month |
| Compliance certifications | Not published | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 |
| Market data product | Yes — 9,000+ cryptocurrencies | Not offered |
| Best fit | Multi-chain products, cost-predictable teams | Regulated enterprises needing audited compliance |
Which One Should You Choose?
Is NOWNodes better than Chainstack for a multi-chain product? Generally, yes — 120+ networks, including non-EVM chains, under a flat request quota costs less and covers more ground than Chainstack’s narrower, request-unit-billed alternative.
Is Chainstack better than NOWNodes for a regulated enterprise deployment? For that specific case, Chainstack’s published SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications save a vendor-review headache — provided the extra cost and narrower chain list fit the project.
For the large majority of teams building wallets, exchanges, trading tools, or backends that just need reliable multi-chain access, NOWNodes’ combination of broader coverage and simpler, cheaper pricing is the more practical starting point. Chainstack only pulls ahead when compliance paperwork, not raw infrastructure, is the deciding factor.
Limitations Worth Knowing Before You Commit
Chainstack’s request-unit model rewards light, simple calls and penalizes heavier ones — a workload leaning on log scans or contract traces can burn through a monthly allowance faster than the headline RU number suggests. Its narrower, EVM-heavy network list is also worth checking carefully if Bitcoin-family or privacy coins are part of the roadmap.
NOWNodes’ flat quota removes that guesswork but comes with its own ceiling: once you exceed a plan’s request allowance, you pay overage rates regardless of whether those extra requests were cheap or expensive to serve. It also doesn’t publish the compliance certifications that some enterprise buyers will require during procurement.
Neither company is a universal answer. A regulated custodian with a compliance mandate may reasonably choose Chainstack despite the cost; nearly everyone else building a multi-chain product gets more for less with NOWNodes.
Conclusion
NOWNodes and Chainstack both give you managed access to blockchain nodes, but they’re priced and scoped for different buyers. NOWNodes covers more networks — including the non-EVM chains Chainstack skips — under a flatter, cheaper pricing model, which is why it’s the more practical default for wallets, exchanges, and multi-chain backends. Chainstack earns its higher price only when a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certificate needs to exist on paper for a compliance team, a real need for some enterprises but an unnecessary cost for most. Since standard RPC calls migrate between providers with little more than a URL change, testing both against your actual traffic for a week is cheaper than guessing which one fits.
FAQ
Is NOWNodes cheaper than Chainstack?
Yes, at the entry level — NOWNodes’ paid tier starts around €20 a month against Chainstack’s $49 Growth plan for a broadly comparable request volume. NOWNodes’ flat quota also keeps costs predictable regardless of which methods you call, while Chainstack’s request-unit pricing can climb quickly for heavier calls.
Does Chainstack support Bitcoin?
Chainstack’s 70+ chains skew toward EVM-compatible networks and Solana, and it doesn’t cover Bitcoin, Litecoin, or privacy coins like Monero the way a broader multi-chain provider such as NOWNodes does. Check Chainstack’s current network list before assuming coverage for a specific non-EVM chain.
Is Chainstack worth it for a small team or side project?
Usually not. Most of Chainstack’s differentiation — SOC 2 documentation, dedicated clusters, SSO — goes unused at that scale, and a flatter-priced, broader-coverage provider typically covers the same core need for less.
Can I use NOWNodes and Chainstack together?
Yes. Running two providers side by side — one as primary, one as failover, or split by chain — is a common production pattern that limits how much a single provider’s outage or rate-limit spike can affect your app.
How is Chainstack different from NOWNodes on features?
Chainstack differentiates mainly on compliance certifications and dedicated infrastructure for a narrower set of chains. NOWNodes differentiates on network breadth, flat pricing, and additional products like market data and multichain gRPC streaming.
