{"id":3442,"date":"2026-09-22T14:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nownodes.io\/blog\/?p=3442"},"modified":"2026-09-22T14:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:35:13","slug":"alchemy-vs-quicknode-vs-nownodes-which-blockchain-rpc-provider-should-you-choose-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nownodes.io\/blog\/alchemy-vs-quicknode-vs-nownodes-which-blockchain-rpc-provider-should-you-choose-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Alchemy vs. QuickNode vs. NOWNodes: Which Blockchain RPC Provider Should You Choose in 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NOWNodes, Alchemy, and QuickNode all solve the same starting problem \u2014 connecting an application to a blockchain without running a node yourself \u2014 but they price and scope that access in three different ways. NOWNodes covers 120+ networks, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other non-EVM chains, under one flat monthly request quota. Alchemy focuses on 100+ chains with a deeper NFT and token API layer billed by compute unit, and QuickNode covers roughly 79 chains and 135+ networks through a credit system built around Solana tooling and real-time data pipelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most teams building across several chains, or anyone who wants to know their bill before the month starts, NOWNodes’ combination of broader coverage and flat pricing ends up the simplest starting point. Alchemy and QuickNode earn their higher, variable bills only when a project genuinely needs their specific add-on layer \u2014 NFT indexing on one side, Solana infrastructure and streaming pipelines on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n

What Are NOWNodes, Alchemy, and QuickNode, Exactly?<\/h2>\n\n\n

NOWNodes is a blockchain infrastructure provider that gives developers API-based 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 keeps the node behind it synced and running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alchemy is a Web3 development platform, founded in 2017, that operates RPC nodes on top of more than 100 chains and adds its own layer of enhanced APIs for NFT and token data, event webhooks, and a usage dashboard. QuickNode is a managed RPC provider founded in 2017 by Alex Nabutovsky, Dmitry Shklovsky, Auston Bunsen, and Manuel Kreutz, and launched publicly in 2020; it wraps its RPC layer in endpoint analytics and a marketplace of add-ons for things like real-time data streaming and gas estimation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RPC<\/strong> (remote procedure call) is the mechanism underneath all three services: a way of asking a remote server to run a function \u2014 say, “return this address’s balance” \u2014 and get the result back over the network. Every blockchain client, from Geth to Solana’s Agave, exposes its data this way, and that shared JSON-RPC standard<\/a> is exactly why an application can move between providers without rewriting its core logic.<\/p>\n\n\n

Why Do You Need a Provider Like These?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Running your own node is a genuine operational job, not a background task. A synced Ethereum full node currently needs roughly 650\u2013700 GB of disk space and keeps growing, and it has to be patched and resynced through every protocol upgrade the network ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 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. Mohammad Zahwy, Chief Business Development Officer at NOWNodes, put the underlying goal plainly in an interview with crypto.news<\/a>: 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That trade-off holds whether you pick NOWNodes’ flat-rate shared nodes, Alchemy’s compute-unit billing, or QuickNode’s credit system. Only the pricing mechanics and the bundled tooling differ.<\/p>\n\n\n

Who Actually Uses NOWNodes, Alchemy, and QuickNode?<\/h2>\n\n\n

NOWNodes tends to attract teams whose product spans several blockchains at once \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alchemy’s enhanced NFT and token APIs point at a narrower kind of team: one building a consumer-facing product where blockchain data becomes a polished screen, not just a backend value. QuickNode’s tooling \u2014 Streams, Functions, endpoint analytics \u2014 points at request-heavy, often trading-adjacent products: MEV-aware bots, NFT marketplaces during mint events, and analytics platforms piping blockchain data into a database instead of polling for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use case<\/th>NOWNodes<\/th>Alchemy<\/th>QuickNode<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Multi-chain wallet or exchange (BTC + ETH + others)<\/td>Best fit \u2014 one account, non-EVM coverage included<\/td>Requires checking chain coverage first<\/td>Requires checking chain coverage first<\/td><\/tr>
NFT marketplace needing metadata indexing<\/td>Possible, but you index it yourself<\/td>Best fit \u2014 built-in NFT API<\/td>Possible via marketplace add-ons<\/td><\/tr>
Real-time indexing pipeline into a database<\/td>Possible, but you build the pipeline yourself<\/td>Limited to webhooks<\/td>Best fit \u2014 built-in Streams product<\/td><\/tr>
Trading bot needing predictable monthly cost<\/td>Best fit \u2014 flat request quota<\/td>Depends on method mix<\/td>Depends on method mix<\/td><\/tr>
Backend that only checks balances and broadcasts transactions<\/td>Best fit \u2014 lighter, cheaper<\/td>Works, but pays for unused tooling<\/td>Works, but pays for unused tooling<\/td><\/tr>
Solana-native app needing deep ecosystem tooling<\/td>Possible<\/td>Limited<\/td>Best fit \u2014 a QuickNode specialty<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A backend that just reads balances and sends transactions rarely touches most of what Alchemy’s or QuickNode’s add-on layers offer. That unused surface area is worth weighing against a plainer, flat-priced endpoint doing the same job.<\/p>\n\n\n

Network Coverage Compared<\/h2>\n\n\n

NOWNodes advertises support for 120+ blockchain networks<\/strong>, including non-EVM chains such as Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Monero alongside Ethereum, Solana, and other EVM chains. Alchemy lists 100+ chains<\/strong>, skewing more heavily toward EVM-compatible networks and Solana. QuickNode currently states support for roughly 79 blockchains across 135+ networks<\/strong>, also concentrated in the EVM and Solana ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That gap matters most for multi-asset products. An EVM-only dApp won’t notice much difference in raw chain count between the three. A wallet or exchange that also needs Bitcoin, Litecoin, or a privacy coin will find several of those missing from both Alchemy’s and QuickNode’s lineups \u2014 something NOWNodes’ network list<\/a> covers under one account instead.<\/p>\n\n\n

Pricing: Flat Quotas vs. Compute Units vs. Credits<\/h2>\n\n\n

This is where the three providers diverge the most, and it’s the detail most likely to decide which one fits your budget. NOWNodes’ shared plans bill on a flat request-quota model: pick a monthly tier, get a fixed number of requests, and every call counts the same against that number, light or heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alchemy bills by compute unit (CU)<\/strong>, a weight assigned to each RPC method based on how much server-side work it takes to answer \u2014 a light call like eth_blockNumber<\/code> costs far less than eth_getLogs<\/code>, according to Alchemy’s compute unit reference<\/a>. QuickNode bills by API credit<\/strong>, defined in its own documentation as “Method Responses x Multipliers,” where multipliers apply only to successful, 200-status responses and vary by method in much the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan tier<\/th>NOWNodes (flat quota)<\/th>Alchemy (compute units)<\/th>QuickNode (credits)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Free<\/td>100,000 requests\/month, 1 API key<\/td>30M CUs\/month, 25 RPS<\/td>10M credits\/month, 15 RPS<\/td><\/tr>
Entry paid<\/td>~\u20ac20\/month, 1M requests, 3 API keys<\/td>$0.45 per 1M CUs (pay-as-you-go)<\/td>$49\/month, 80M credits, 50 RPS<\/td><\/tr>
Mid tier<\/td>~\u20ac200\/month, 30M requests, 25 API keys<\/td>Scales with CU consumption<\/td>$499\/month, 950M credits, 250 RPS<\/td><\/tr>
Top published tier<\/td>~\u20ac500\/month, 100M requests, 100 API keys<\/td>Custom, from 1,000 RPS<\/td>$999+\/month, 2B credits, 500 RPS<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pricing and quotas change often across all three providers \u2014 verify current numbers against NOWNodes’ pricing page<\/a>, Alchemy’s pricing page<\/a>, and QuickNode’s pricing page<\/a> before budgeting.<\/em> The practical difference is predictability. A flat quota means 1 million balance checks and 1 million log scans cost the same on NOWNodes, while a CU or credit bill on the other two shifts with whatever methods your app happens to call most that month. QuickNode’s overage runs $0.50 to $0.62 per million additional credits depending on tier, and usage past $200 on paid plans is billed immediately rather than waiting for the next cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n

Feature Comparison: Where Each Provider Adds Its Own Layer<\/h2>\n\n\n

Feature-for-feature, all three cover the RPC and WebSocket basics on their major networks, and all three gate archive data and Debug\/Trace methods to specific plans. Past that baseline, each one emphasizes something different:<\/p>\n\n\n\n