Ankr is a Web3 infrastructure provider — running since 2017 and now structured as a DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure) node network — that gives developers RPC and API access to 80+ blockchains. It serves a trillion-plus requests per month across 30+ regions, so instead of operating your own nodes you point your app at an Ankr endpoint. It also offers an Advanced indexed API for multi-chain data and has achieved SOC 2 Type 2 compliance.

There's a genuinely usable free path. Public endpoints are free and rate-limited (40+ chains), and Freemium adds 200M monthly API credits (65+ chains) while keeping Public rate limits — enough to prototype and run small apps. For production you move to Premium, which unlocks private endpoints, higher RPS, archive data, and debug/trace, billed pay-as-you-go.

How does Ankr's pricing actually work?

Premium is pay-as-you-go in API credits at roughly $0.10 per 1M credits — but different methods cost different amounts of credits, so the headline number understates real cost. A heavy method like eth_call can cost on the order of 200 credits per call, which pushes the effective rate on call-heavy workloads well above the simple per-credit price. Estimate your method mix to get a true cost, rather than assuming flat per-request pricing.

What's the Advanced API?

The Advanced API is Ankr's pre-indexed, multi-chain query layer — balances, token transfers, NFTs, and more across many chains via JavaScript/Python SDKs. It saves you from building and maintaining your own indexer for common queries, which for many multi-chain apps is the single biggest time-saver Ankr offers beyond raw RPC.

Is Ankr a good RPC provider in 2026?

It's one of the most established and broadly-supported options — 80+ chains on Premium, a trillion-plus requests a month, SOC 2 Type 2, and latency tests that put it among the fastest in the Americas. It's a strong default for multi-chain apps that want one provider, a real free tier, and transparent pricing. If you need the absolute lowest p99 latency in a single region, benchmark it against a specialist there first.

How does Ankr compare to Alchemy, Infura, or QuickNode?

Alchemy and QuickNode are premium, developer-tooling-rich providers often favoured for deep single-chain features; Infura is the long-standing default, especially for Ethereum. Ankr's edge is breadth (80+ chains under one account), a usable free tier, transparent credit pricing, and its DePIN/decentralized angle. For multi-chain breadth and value it's compelling; for the richest single-chain tooling, compare the specialists.

Ankr RPC Review (2026): Multi-Chain Web3 Infrastructure, In Depth

If you're building anything on-chain, you need reliable RPC — and running your own nodes across a dozen chains is a full-time job you don't want. Ankr is one of the longest-running answers: 80+ chains, a trillion-plus requests a month, a genuinely usable free tier, an indexed API, and transparent pay-as-you-go pricing, now with SOC 2 Type 2 compliance. For multi-chain apps that want one dependable provider it's a strong default — but the pricing has nuance worth understanding before you commit.

What is Ankr?

Ankr is a Web3 infrastructure provider — running since 2017 and now structured as a decentralized (DePIN) node network — that gives developers RPC and API access to 80+ blockchains. Last verified: 2026-06-14. It serves a trillion-plus requests per month across 30+ regions, so instead of operating nodes you point your app at an Ankr endpoint and ship. Beyond raw RPC it offers an Advanced indexed API, WebSockets/gRPC, and — increasingly relevant for serious teams — SOC 2 Type 2 compliance.

The four plans (and what each unlocks)

Ankr's tiering is unusually clean, and the chain coverage scales with the plan:

Plan	Cost	Chains	Key unlocks
Public	Free	40+	Shared, rate-limited endpoints — test instantly
Freemium	Free (account)	65+	200M monthly API credits, still on Public rate limits
Premium	Pay-as-you-go	80+	Private endpoints, up to 1,500 RPS, archive data, debug/trace, WebSockets, team accounts, multi-project stats
Enterprise	Custom	80+	SLAs, dedicated capacity, support

The headline is that the free path is real: Public lets you test immediately, and Freemium's 200M monthly credits is enough to prototype and run small production apps before paying a cent. You only graduate to Premium when you need private endpoints (no noisy-neighbour rate limits), higher throughput, or archive/trace data.

The pricing math nobody spells out

Here's the nuance that catches teams off guard. Premium is pay-as-you-go in API credits at ~$0.10 per 1M credits — which sounds incredibly cheap. But methods cost different numbers of credits, and the heavy ones cost a lot:

A simple call might be a handful of credits; a heavy method like eth_call can cost ~200 credits. So a call-heavy workload — common for apps that read contract state constantly — has an effective rate closer to ~$20 per 1M actual requests, not the headline $0.10/1M credits.

The takeaway: don't price Ankr (or any credit-based provider) off the headline credit rate. Estimate your real method mix — how many cheap reads vs heavy eth_call/trace calls — and compute credits from that. Monthly subscription options add ~20% bonus credits if your usage is steady. Credit pricing is still transparent (you can see the per-method cost), which is more than some "compute unit" competitors offer — you just have to do the multiplication.

The Advanced API — the real time-saver

For many multi-chain apps, the single biggest reason to use Ankr isn't raw RPC at all — it's the Advanced API, a pre-indexed, multi-chain query layer for balances, token transfers, NFTs, and more, via JavaScript/Python SDKs. Building and maintaining your own indexer across a dozen chains is a serious engineering burden; the Advanced API lets you skip it for common queries. If your app needs "show me this wallet's tokens across 8 chains," that's one API call instead of an indexing pipeline.

Ankr vs the specialists

	Ankr	Alchemy / QuickNode	Infura
Chains	80+ under one account	Many, premium tooling	Fewer, Ethereum-first
Free tier	Real (Public + 200M credits)	Generous free tiers	Free tier
Pricing	Transparent credits ($0.10/1M)	Compute-unit/credit models	Request-based
Edge	Breadth + value + DePIN	Richest single-chain tooling	The long-standing default
Indexed data	Advanced API	Enhanced APIs/Subgraphs	Limited

The honest read: for the richest single-chain developer tooling, Alchemy and QuickNode often lead; for the Ethereum default, Infura. Ankr wins on breadth, value, a usable free tier, and its decentralized angle — see our full best RPC providers comparison for the field.

Who it's for / who should skip it

Good for: multi-chain apps, bots, and dashboards that want one reliable provider with a real free tier, indexed data, and transparent pricing.
Skip if: you only touch a single chain and need the absolute lowest p99 latency in one region (benchmark a specialist there), or you need a specific enhanced API a competitor offers that Ankr doesn't.

Risks & things to verify

Effective cost ≠ headline. Model your method mix; heavy eth_call/trace workloads cost far more than the per-credit rate implies.
Regional latency varies. Ankr benchmarks among the fastest in the Americas; test your target region and workload before committing.
Single-provider risk. Any provider can have an incident — always configure a fallback endpoint for redundancy, regardless of who you use.

How to start

Test on a Public endpoint to confirm your chains and methods are supported.
Create an account for Freemium (200M credits) to prototype.
Upgrade to Premium for private endpoints and production throughput — after modelling your credit cost.
Add the Advanced API for multi-chain indexed data, and configure a fallback.

Final verdict

Ankr is one of the safest defaults in Web3 infrastructure: 80+ chains, a trillion-plus requests a month, SOC 2 Type 2, a genuinely usable free tier, the Advanced indexed API, and transparent pay-as-you-go pricing. For multi-chain apps that want to consolidate on one dependable provider, it's an easy recommendation — just model your real credit cost (heavy methods aren't cheap) and benchmark regional latency first. Start on the free tier, then scale into Premium as traffic grows. For the wider field, see our best RPC providers guide.