Alchemy is the OG Ethereum RPC provider. They added Solana support in 2024, and it's solid — but it's not their core focus, and that shows.
What you get
- Standard Solana RPC over HTTPS and WebSockets
- Basic NFT and token APIs
- Same dashboard you may already use for Ethereum/Arbitrum/Optimism/Base
Pricing
Generous free tier (300M Compute Units/mo). Paid plans start at $49/month. The CU model is well-understood if you're already on Alchemy for EVM.
When Alchemy is right
- Already on Alchemy for EVM. Adding Solana is one signup away.
- Free-tier-heavy use cases. The free CU allowance is generous for small-to-medium volume.
When Alchemy is wrong
- You need DAS / compressed NFTs. Alchemy's Solana DAS is supported but lags Helius in feature parity.
- Solana-specific support. Alchemy's support team is fantastic on EVM, less seasoned on Solana edge cases.
- Latency-sensitive apps. Same shared-infra latency profile as QuickNode — fine for most things, not great for MEV.
Bottom line
Pick Alchemy if your team is already there. Don't pick it as your first Solana provider — Helius is better at the Solana-specific bits.