{"id":3457,"date":"2026-09-22T14:55:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nownodes.io\/blog\/?p=3457"},"modified":"2026-09-22T14:55:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:55:38","slug":"quicknode-vs-infura-vs-nownodes-which-blockchain-rpc-provider-should-you-choose-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nownodes.io\/blog\/quicknode-vs-infura-vs-nownodes-which-blockchain-rpc-provider-should-you-choose-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"QuickNode vs. Infura vs. NOWNodes: Which Blockchain RPC Provider Should You Choose in 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NOWNodes, QuickNode, and Infura all solve the same starting problem \u2014 connecting an application to a blockchain without running a node yourself \u2014 but each one scopes and prices that access differently. NOWNodes covers 120+ networks, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other non-EVM chains, under a flat monthly request quota. QuickNode covers roughly 79 chains and 135+ networks through a credit system built around Solana tooling and real-time data pipelines, while Infura concentrates almost entirely on Ethereum and its rollups, billed through daily credits that reset every 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a team building across more than one chain, or anyone who wants to know their bill before the month starts, NOWNodes’ combination of broad coverage and flat pricing tends to be the simplest starting point. QuickNode and Infura earn their narrower, more variable pricing only when a project genuinely needs what each one bundles on top of raw RPC access \u2014 Solana-specific tooling on one side, deep MetaMask ecosystem fit on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n

What Are NOWNodes, QuickNode, and Infura, 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

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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

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Infura is a Consensys product that has powered Ethereum infrastructure since 2016, best known as the default RPC connection built into MetaMask. It’s now bundled into “MetaMask Developer,” pairing node access with MetaMask’s own SDK under one dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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 \u2014 QuickNode co-founder Auston Bunsen put it plainly in an interview with Sacra<\/a>: “You have to deal with server upgrades, protocol upgrades, etc… The London Hard Fork, the Berlin Hard Fork, the merge, etc.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A provider takes that work off your plate. You get an authenticated endpoint, the provider keeps the client software current, and your team spends its time on application logic instead of server operations. Mohammad Zahwy, Chief Business Development Officer at NOWNodes, framed the underlying goal 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, QuickNode’s credit system, or Infura’s daily-reset credits \u2014 only the pricing mechanics and the bundled tooling differ.<\/p>\n\n\n

Who Actually Uses NOWNodes, QuickNode, and Infura?<\/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

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. Infura’s biggest user is MetaMask itself, which ships with Infura configured as its default Ethereum connection across millions of installs, pulling in wallet and dApp developers who want an endpoint already proven at that scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhen Yong, co-founder of Web3Auth, summed up Infura’s appeal in a testimonial featured on Infura’s own site: “We chose it for the reliability, speed, and transparency of the technology.” That kind of ecosystem trust is Infura’s real pitch \u2014 less a unique feature, more the infrastructure MetaMask itself runs on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use case<\/th>NOWNodes<\/th>QuickNode<\/th>Infura<\/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>Needs a second provider for non-EVM chains<\/td><\/tr>
Solana-native app needing deep ecosystem tooling<\/td>Possible<\/td>Best fit \u2014 a QuickNode specialty<\/td>Not supported<\/td><\/tr>
Product built entirely on Ethereum + MetaMask ecosystem<\/td>Works fine<\/td>Works fine<\/td>Best fit \u2014 tightest ecosystem integration<\/td><\/tr>
Real-time indexing pipeline into a database<\/td>Possible, but you build the pipeline yourself<\/td>Best fit \u2014 built-in Streams product<\/td>Limited to standard webhooks<\/td><\/tr>
Trading bot needing predictable monthly cost<\/td>Best fit \u2014 flat request quota<\/td>Depends on method mix<\/td>Depends on daily credit consumption<\/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 scope is Ethereum-only<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A backend that just reads balances and sends transactions rarely touches most of what QuickNode’s or Infura’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. QuickNode currently states support for roughly 79 blockchains across 135+ networks<\/strong>, concentrated in the EVM and Solana ecosystem. Infura’s coverage is the narrowest of the three: Ethereum mainnet plus a little over a dozen additional networks \u2014 mostly EVM-compatible Layer 2s tied to the Consensys ecosystem, including Linea, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche C-Chain, Starknet, zkSync, and Blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That gap matters most for multi-asset products. An Ethereum-only dApp won’t notice much difference between QuickNode and Infura. A wallet or exchange that also needs Bitcoin, Litecoin, or a privacy coin will find those missing from both lineups \u2014 something NOWNodes’ network directory<\/a> covers under one account instead.<\/p>\n\n\n

Pricing: Flat Quotas vs. Method-Weighted Credits vs. Daily Resets<\/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

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. Infura works similarly in principle but resets on a different clock: it assigns a weighted credit cost per method, same as QuickNode, but the allowance refreshes every 24 hours according to Infura’s pricing documentation<\/a> rather than accumulating over a full month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan tier<\/th>NOWNodes (flat quota)<\/th>QuickNode (monthly credits)<\/th>Infura (daily credits)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Free<\/td>100,000 requests\/month, 1 API key<\/td>10M credits\/month, 15 RPS<\/td>3,000,000 credits\/day, 500 credits\/sec, 1 key<\/td><\/tr>
Entry paid<\/td>~\u20ac20\/month, 1M requests, 3 API keys<\/td>$49\/month, 80M credits, 50 RPS<\/td>$50\/month, 15,000,000 credits\/day, 5 keys<\/td><\/tr>
Mid tier<\/td>~\u20ac200\/month, 30M requests, 25 API keys<\/td>$499\/month, 950M credits, 250 RPS<\/td>$225\/month, 75,000,000 credits\/day, unlimited keys<\/td><\/tr>
Top published tier<\/td>~\u20ac500\/month, 100M requests, 100 API keys<\/td>$999+\/month, 2B credits, 500 RPS<\/td>Custom (Enterprise)<\/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>, QuickNode’s pricing page<\/a>, and Infura’s pricing page 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 credit bill on QuickNode or Infura shifts with whatever methods your app happens to call most \u2014 and on Infura, an unused daily allowance simply disappears at midnight rather than rolling over.<\/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