GetBlock's Solana RPC infrastructure is one of the fastest in the industry – but as a multi-chain provider, it’s often overlooked when builders evaluate Solana-native options like Helius. In practice, GetBlock and Helius serve many of the same builders who need low-latency RPC and production-grade reliability.

We evaluate both Solana API providers head-to-head across the metrics that matter for development: up-to-date RPC performance benchmarks, pricing, developer tooling, and customer support responsiveness. 

Solana-only infrastructure optimized for ecosystem depth, or multi-chain flexibility without sacrificing Solana performance? This detailed comparison gives you the data to decide.

GetBlock or Helius? Key takeaways

In summary, Helius optimizes for developer workflows on Solana, and GetBlock optimizes for performance at scale. 

The sections below break down pricing, performance benchmarks, and tooling in detail for both providers. Or skip ahead: if GetBlock's approach aligns with your needs, explore our Solana infrastructure. 

What is GetBlock?

Founded in 2019, GetBlock is an enterprise-grade RPC and node infrastructure provider built for teams that require predictable performance and bespoke setups. Beyond its existing catalog of 100+ protocols, GetBlock supports ecosystem growth by adding emerging chains and giving builders early access to new protocols.

The platform offers flexible service options, from free-tier shared infrastructure for individual developers to dedicated nodes for institutional clients and performance-sensitive applications.

GetBlock operates a global infrastructure footprint across North America, Asia, and Europe, designed to reduce latency and deliver consistent throughput for trading systems, wallets, and large-scale dApps.

A substantive part of the company’s offering is bespoke infrastructure: hands-on engineering support for complex configurations and bespoke infrastructure design, full node parametrization, and node clustering solutions with managed load distribution.

What is Helius?

Helius is a Web3 infrastructure company founded in 2022 that provides Solana development tools for builders, traders, and enterprises.

Source: Helius

The platform offers high-performance Solana RPC endpoints with multi-region redundancy powered by staked connections – a stake-weighted routing feature aimed to improve transaction delivery during congestion. 

Alongside its standard infrastructure offerings, Helius places strong emphasis on developer-first solutions, offering APIs and data streaming infrastructure to meet the needs of applications built on the Solana network.

The platform has established itself as a reliable Solana-centric infrastructure provider widely adopted within the ecosystem and the network's largest validator, staking over 15 million SOL. The company has backing from Solana Ventures and other major VCs, reinforcing its strong community standing.

Helius vs GetBlock RPC: Key features comparison 

Helius is a leading Solana-only provider embedded in the ecosystem, with deep domain expertise, broad developer-facing data services, and comprehensive documentation. 

GetBlock’s differentiator is its extensive multi-chain coverage, performance-tuned RPC infrastructure, strong customer support, and bespoke deployments that go beyond off-the-shelf node access.

The table below provides a side-by-side comparison of their pricing, performance metrics, and core service offerings. 

In the sections below, we'll unpack what these differences actually mean in the context of leading Solana RPC providers in Web3. 

GetBlock pricing vs Helius pricing – Core RPC services

GetBlock pricing vs Helius pricing – Core RPC services

GetBlock and Helius both offer ​​Shared node services as a core product – plug-and-play RPC endpoints run by a provider with monthly subscription plans. 

GetBlock’s shared plans are billed around a CU (Compute Unit) model. There’s a free tier and several paid tiers – $49, $199, $499, $999 monthly. Free users get geo-selectable endpoints and MEV protection; paid tiers add much larger CU quotas, higher RPS limits, archive query access, and team accounts.

GetBlock Shared RPC Pricing / Source: GetBlock

Helius’ standard plans bill usage in “credits”. The free tier includes Websocket connections, Webhooks, and archive data. Paid tiers – $49 / $499 / $999 monthly – raise credit quotas, RPS limits, unlock direct support, staked connections, and advanced streaming features.

Helius Shared RPC Pricing / Source: Helius

Below is a direct side-by-side comparison of how much GetBlock and Helius shared plans cost, with resource and RPS limits at each tier. 

In short:

Note that GetBlock uses Compute Units (CU) while Helius uses credits. These aren't directly comparable without knowing your specific method mix, as different workloads consume different amounts of each unit.

Free tier: Limits & included tools

Both providers offer genuinely usable free tiers:

GetBlock's free tier is suitable for development work, with direct support, anonymous sign-ups, built-in MEV protection, and geo control. Features like archive queries, team accounts, SLAs, and priority support will need an upgrade. 

Helius gives free tier users features like archive data and WebHooks, but at a more constrained performance. Expect to upgrade for better performance, support, the flagship staked connections feature, and auto-routing across global regions. 

Dedicated node services & pricing

If you need an isolated server (or a cluster) instead of a shared endpoint, both Helius and GetBlock offer dedicated node services – but they solve slightly different problems.

Helius’ dedicated Solana nodes are deployments specialized for low-latency streaming and lightweight queries with a free optional Geyser plugin.

Helius notes their dedicated nodes aren’t intended as a full replacement for a complete RPC stack, i.e.:

Helius Dedicated Node Setup / Source: Helius Dashboard

GetBlock’s Dedicated node service is designed for customers who need an isolated, high-performance blockchain node with full RPC functionality. Users can:

GetBlock Solana Dedicated Node Setup / Source: GetBlock Dashboard

For Solana specifically, dedicated nodes come with the free Yellowstone gRPC add-on and can be customized further to match specific workloads. 

Bottom line: pick a dedicated Solana node provider by features and operational fit, not price alone. 

Helius is slightly cheaper on paper, but optimized for one specific thing and needs a shared plan ($49-$999/mo) for full platform features, which will increase the total cost significantly. Customizations and enterprise configurations are part of an Enterprise plan with custom pricing. 

GetBlock’s dedicated nodes are sufficient as a core infra component, highly customizable, and designed to support the full development lifecycle.

Build a dedicated node tailored to your stack.

Configure a production-ready Solana node in minutes via the GetBlock dashboard, or talk directly with GetBlock engineers to design a custom setup optimized for your workload.

RPC speed comparison: Helius vs GetBlock

Let's cut to the chase with actual numbers.

Recent performance tracking by CompareNodes confirms that GetBlock achieves some of the lowest latencies for Solana RPC:

Solana Mainnet Global Latencies across providers, Data as of 21 Jan 2026 07:39 UTC / Source: CompareNodes

For standard RPC services, Helius claims its infrastructure delivers sub-100ms latency globally in optimal conditions. 

Transaction speeds are difficult to compare directly. For standard Solana API services:

The table below breaks down Helius and GetBlock latency benchmarks based on Solana Mainnet RPC performance.

Note: These metrics come from different sources: GetBlock latencies are reported by CompareNodes (data as of Jan 21, 2026, 07:39 UTC); Helius data is mainly self-reported or sourced from its Solana Ping dashboard. Treat them as reference points rather than direct comparisons. 

See GetBlock's low-latency Solana RPC in action. Just connect with your wallet and get started – deploy your first endpoint to test.  

Geographic coverage and latency impact

Region and routing are often the dominant factors in real-world RPC latency.

Helius operates a wide multi-region footprint:

On shared plans, Helius automatically routes requests to the region it determines to be optimal. Users have less control over exact server placements unless they use specialized services such as LaserStream, dedicated nodes, or enterprise configurations.

There are no publicly available benchmarks specifically measuring Helius's latency variance across different regions.

GetBlock provides robust coverage in the same regions: 

In the case of GetBlock, users themselves configure the region when setting up shared RPC endpoints or deploying dedicated nodes.  

For Solana RPC in particular, GetBlock delivers verifiable low latency in its covered regions, with the fastest average RTT in Europe (21.8ms), Africa and the Middle East (103 ms). 

Latency optimization tooling

Both providers offer several specialized tools to push latency even lower. 

On top of its core RPC service, Helius provides:

For Solana RPC specifically, GetBlock offers similar tools:

Functionally, these tools target the same goals: faster on-chain events visibility and faster transaction landing in a block.

Customer support

GetBlock’s customer support is the most underrated competitive advantage: free users get ticketed help (~24-hour response target) and paid customers get fast priority support: a 4-hour response time across all paid plans – that's the same support responsiveness competitors reserve for enterprise contracts. 

Helius free users rely on community help, while SLA-backed support is a paid perk and plan-dependent, with the strongest support guarantees for Enterprise customers.

Note: GetBlock response times shown above reflect our current operating standard. Helius response times are based on their published support SLAs – actual response time may be faster. 

We'll be direct: GetBlock's support is exceptional, and we're proud of it.

The best way to evaluate our support? Contact us with a question. Ask about your infra needs, migration assistance, custom solutions, and anything else about GetBlock's infrastructure.

Developer tools: APIs, SDKs, add-ons

As a Solana-centric provider, Helius provides a set of useful developer tools: high-level data APIs (DAS, Enhanced Transactions), archival endpoints and helpers, staked connections and Sender to improve send reliability. All of these tools are well-documented and available to paid tiers, some on free plans with tiered limits. Helius also provides official SDKs for Node.js and Rust.

On a more premium side, there is the LaserStream tool for realtime data streaming built on top of the gRPC protocol – often offered as an alternative to Helius dedicated nodes, included in a $999/mo plan or in a separate paid add-on bundled with Enhanced Websockets.  

As a multichain provider, GetBlock offers more plug-in and modular tooling. For Solana specifically, multiple third-party integrations and custom products are available:

Most of these are add-ons that the user can enable alongside their dedicated node. Customers choose the specific extras they need or request custom integrations when standard tooling isn’t enough. 

Don't see what you need? Let's talk custom integrations. 

Many of GetBlock’s current add-ons started as custom requests from customers with specific needs. If you think your integration needs are too niche or complex, we've likely solved similar problems. Schedule a call with our dedicated team focused on Solana performance optimizations. 

Extra services

Beyond RPC services, GetBlock offers developer utilities, such as explorers and faucets, and offers AppChain deployment services relevant for teams launching custom chains. Flexibility is a product of its own: GetBlock can onboard new blockchains into its infrastructure and operate the required nodes for customers.

Helius operates a Solana blockchain explorer, validator, and a liquid-staking product and offers Validator-as-a-Service for institutions that want a managed, production-grade validator.

Security

Helius achieved SOC 2 Type II certification in June 2025, audited by Sensiba LLP. GetBlock has initiated the SOC 2 audit process in 2025 and is working through the required control implementation and observation period. The formal attestation is expected in 2026.

SOC 2 status matters more for production deployments where procurement, compliance, and risk reviews are involved.

Wrapping up

Helius goes all-in on Solana with deep ecosystem integration. GetBlock takes a different approach to RPC services: multi-chain breadth without compromising on performance.

You shouldn't have to choose between multi-chain support and Solana expertise – GetBlock proves you can have both. Our Solana infrastructure ranks among the fastest globally, and this didn't happen by accident. We've invested heavily in optimizing our Solana nodes – dedicated engineering work, infrastructure tuning, and rigorous performance testing – to ensure our multi-chain platform delivers the same speed and reliability that Solana specialists offer.

Start with our free tier to benchmark performance from your region, explore our deployment options, or contact us directly for guidance on the right setup for your project.