In the Web3 world, your RPC provider is the quiet backbone, moving every on‑chain read and write between your app and the networks you support.
Whether you’re shipping a dApp, running an analytics pipeline, or powering a wallet, providers like Ankr give you production endpoints, multi‑chain coverage, and performance.
Ankr offers: a global RPC platform, Node API for standard JSON‑RPC, Advanced API for pre‑indexed, multi‑chain queries, WebSockets and gRPC options and per‑method, pay‑as‑you‑go pricing via API credits. Premium unlocks higher limits, private endpoints, debug/trace, and whitelisting. If you prefer granular usage billing and want indexed endpoints in the same console, Ankr is a solid fit, just keep an eye on method mix and rate limits.
Brief history of Ankr
Ankr has been around since 2017 as a Web3 infrastructure company focused on node access, APIs, and related services. Today it positions its network as a DePIN. It’s a decentralized physical infrastructure network, serving billions of requests daily across 30+ regions.
Core Ankr RPC products & services
- Service plans. You choose among Public, Freemium, Premium, and Enterprise. Public gives free, rate‑limited endpoints; Freemium adds 200M monthly API credits while still using Public rate limits; Premium unlocks private endpoints and higher limits.
- Coverage & features by plan. Ankr lists 40+ chains on Public, 65+ on Freemium, and 80+ on Premium. All tiers include full and archive data. Premium adds debug and trace namespaces, WebSockets, team accounts, and multi‑project stats.
- Node API. Standard JSON‑RPC access across EVM and non‑EVM chains with both HTTPS and WSS on paid plans.
- Advanced API. A curated set of pre‑indexed JSON‑RPC methods with SDKs for JS/Python and React hooks. Useful when you’d rather query ready‑made endpoints than stitch raw RPC.
- Global footprint. Ankr markets a globally distributed, bare‑metal‑heavy footprint and highlights 30+ global regions as part of its DePIN.
Ankr pricing profile
Ankr uses a per-method pricing model based on API credits rather than simple request counts. Different RPC methods consume different amounts of credits, and WebSocket subscriptions and event notifications are also metered.
Ankr offers Freemium and Premium tiers, as well as prepaid “Deal” credit bundles. In practice, this means costs depend heavily on your method mix and event volume, especially if your workload includes logs, filters, or high-frequency calls.
The example below shows how a typical workload translates into API credit usage and monthly cost compared to request-based pricing.
| Metric | Chainstack | Ankr |
|---|---|---|
| Plan used in example | Pro | Premium (Deal) |
| Included usage | 80M Request Units | 6B API Credits |
| Workload equivalent | 73.5M method calls | 73.5M method calls |
| Credit usage (example workload) | Fits in included usage | ~14.7B API Credits |
| Plan price | $199 | $500 |
| Overage charges | $0 | $870 |
| Total monthly cost | $199 | $1370 |
In this example, the same workload that fits within Chainstack’s included usage generates significant API credit consumption on Ankr, resulting in additional overage charges on top of the subscription plan.
For smaller workloads, credit-based pricing can work well and scale gradually. However, for production workloads with heavy reads, logs, filters, or WebSocket events, forecasting costs becomes more difficult because pricing depends on method-level credit consumption rather than request volume.
Strengths vs potential weaknesses
| Strengths | Potential Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Broad chain coverage on Premium with both HTTPS and WebSockets support | Per-method, usage-based pricing can cause cost drift if method mix or event volume changes |
| Offers Advanced API with pre-indexed, multi-chain endpoints | Many useful features sit behind Premium |
| Strong global footprint with 30+ regions and emphasis on bare-metal deployments | Published RPS/RPM numbers vary and depend on real-world load, requires your own benchmarking |
| Team accounts, IP/domain/contract whitelisting, and multi-project stats improve governance | Freemium rate limits are restrictive; Advanced API limits are much lower without Premium |
Ankr vs Chainstack
Both aim to deliver high‑performance, multichain RPC with enterprise‑minded features. Here are the practical differences most teams care about:
- Pricing model
- Ankr: per‑method, usage‑based pricing via API credits; optional monthly “Deal” packs (pre‑purchased credits). Good if you want granular costs that scale linearly with calls.
- Chainstack: classic request‑unit plans and an Unlimited Node add‑on offering flat monthly fees by RPS tier, no per‑request charges. It’s useful when you want absolute cost predictability under sustained load.
- Features & tooling
- Ankr: Premium unlocks debug/trace, WSS, whitelisting, and multi‑project stats; Advanced API gives indexed, cross‑chain data in the same console.
- Chainstack: offers Global Node, Dedicated Node, and Unlimited Node; supports debug/trace and publishes docs and tooling for it; provides access rules.
- Coverage & footprint
- Ankr: lists 80+ chains on Premium and markets 30+ regions with bare‑metal presence.
- Chainstack: advertises support for 70+ chains across products and provides options like archive data and Solana gRPC streaming.
Start building with Chainstack
If predictable spend is your priority, turn any node into an Unlimited Node and pay a flat monthly fee by RPS tier, no per‑request billing, including archive and debug/trace. It’s a clean way to de‑risk cost while you scale.
FAQ
Sign in to the Web3 API console, pick Freemium/Premium, create a Project to generate your API key, optionally add IP/domain/contract whitelists, then point your app at the private endpoint (HTTPS/WSS).
Public shows 40+, Freemium 65+, and Premium 80+ chains. Support varies by chain, but Premium unlocks debug and trace for EVM families, with both HTTPS and WSS.
It’s per‑request and per‑event by method. Batch where possible and prune WSS subscriptions to stay efficient.