How to get a Solana RPC endpoint in 2025

Nikita Ilin

July 17, 2025 in Tech

This guide helps you pick the right Solana RPC setup for your stack, covering node types, protocol tradeoffs (HTTPS vs. WebSocket), and how to build for throughput and reliability from day one.

Introduction

Building on Solana begins with one small detail: the URL that connects your app to the chain. In this guide, you will learn what an RPC endpoint is, when you might need one, the importance of choosing the proper protocol (HTTPS vs. WebSocket), and how to secure a production-ready endpoint on Chainstack within minutes.

Why do you need a reliable RPC endpoint

Solana exposes every piece of on-chain data: account balances, token mints, and program logs through a JSON-RPC interface. Your client sends a structured request, and any Solana node that runs the RPC service answers. Without that URL, your wallet cannot fetch balances, your indexer cannot stream blocks, and your app cannot push transactions.

Because the network is fast, the number of requests can explode quickly. A bot that monitors new slots may fire 10+ requests per second; a browser wallet may create bursts during token swaps; an analytics job may replay the last 50 million slots overnight (archive data). Each scenario starts with the same question: which endpoint are we going to call, and can it handle the load?

Common use cases

Wallet connectivity – End-users need a reliable, always-up endpoint. Almost every wallet allows advanced users to paste a custom URL for increased reliability and privacy.
Development & testing – Devs need flexibility: quick spin-up, reasonable rate limits with free tier, and testnet support are the way to go. Chainstack’s Developer plan offers 3 million free requests per month which can be enough for most side projects.
Production apps and trading bots – At scale, priorities shift to throughput, dedicated capacity, and observability. Your backend must handle Solana Mainnet traffic spikes and stay within strict SLOs.

The endpoint you choose and the transport protocol you enable should reflect the most demanding of these workloads, not the easiest one.

Full node or archive Solana node?

Node mode	What it stores	When it shines
Full node	Current state plus ~2–3 days of recent slots	real-time wallets, games, trading bots
Archive node	Every slot since genesis and historical state queries	block explorers, analytics, compliance, ML models

Archive nodes consume more storage and bandwidth, so providers usually charge extra. If you never need to query slot 100, you can safely start with a full Solana RPC node and upgrade later.

Public endpoint or private endpoint?

A public (shared) endpoint is pooled across many tenants. You pay (or don’t pay) a fraction of the cost but inherit rate limits. A private RPC endpoint eliminating “noisy neighbor” issues and enabling higher sustained throughput and reliability via geo-balanced Solana nodes at Chainstack.

Prototype with public; migrate to private once you hit either:

consistent throttling (HTTP 429) during peaks, or
security requirements that forbid multi-tenant infrastructure.

HTTPS vs. Websockets

Solana’s RPC service speaks both HTTPS (request/response) and WebSocket (bi-directional stream). Choosing the right protocol affects latency, bandwidth, and even feature availability.

Feature	HTTPS	WebSocket
Transport style	stateless request/response	stateful, bi-directional
Real-time subscriptions (`accountSubscribe, logsSubscribe`)	polling every N ms	native push, < 50 ms latency
Firewall-friendly	✅ (port 443)	sometimes blocked on corp networks
Easy to cache & retry	✅	harder, connection-oriented
Mobile data usage	higher (headers per call)	lower (single handshake)
Supported by Trader node Warp tx	✅	❌ (HTTP only)
CLI default (`solana config set`)	HTTPS plus inferred WSS URL‍*	WSS must be set manually via `--ws`

Tip: The Solana CLI auto-derives a WebSocket URL from the HTTPS endpoint, but the computed value may be wrong on custom hosts. Always override with --ws if you need live streams.

When to favor HTTPS

Simple scripts that query state once per minute;
RESTful backends behind HTTP load balancers;
environments that block long-lived sockets.

When to favor WebSocket

wallets showing live token balances;
trading engines reacting to slot leaders;
dashboards that stream logsSubscribe without polling.

Most serious builds expose both URLs and let the client pick based on context.

How to choose the best Solana RPC provider in 2025

The Solana ecosystem now handles billions of JSON-RPC calls each day, and the difference between a good endpoint and a great one is measured in lost trades, stalled user experiences, and unexpected invoices.

In other words, your RPC provider has become part of your application’s core logic. Before you copy-paste the first URL you find in a tutorial, step back and weigh the qualities that will keep your wallet, bot, or dApp competitive:

multi-region footprint – latency matters when you race solana-validators.
burst handling – can the pool absorb 10× traffic for a minute?
add-ons – debug & trace APIs, Unlimited Node flat-fee tiers, or Warp transactions for MEV-sensitive bots.
observability – per-method stats, logs, and alerts.
a real SLA – credits for downtime.

Chainstack checks all boxes and adds global elastic nodes, archive mode on demand, and an Unlimited Node add-on that swaps pay-per-request for a fixed monthly bill.

Best practices for happy endpoints

cache non-critical calls (getBalance, getEpochInfo) to cut billable requests;
batch reads with getMultipleAccounts where possible;
rotate through multiple regions (Chainstack Global Nodes) for resilience;
protect private endpoints with access rules (IP allow-list or Origin filter) to stop abuse;
monitor RPS and errors: Chainstack exposes per-method stats in the console;
pin transaction volume: Trader nodes accelerate sendTransaction but still respect overall rate limits.