dRPC vs Chainstack: which should you pick in 2026?
Head-to-head on the facts that decide the purchase: real prices in the provider's own unit, minimum, KYC, proof, payment and terms - every number sourced in the linked reviews.
Short answer: Chainstack wins overall (7.7/10 vs 7.2/10). dRPC is the better pick if you care most about economics. Facts checked 2026-09-24.
| dRPC | Chainstack | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score (0-10) | 7.2 | 7.7 |
| Vertical | RPC / nodes | RPC / nodes |
| Type | RPC provider | RPC provider |
| Price from | $0 per month | $49 per month |
| Minimum | unknown | unknown |
| KYC | not documented | not documented |
| Proof | none published | partial |
| Payment | fiat | fiat |
| Contract term | unknown | unknown |
| Maintenance / fee | unknown | unknown |
| Operator | dRPC | Chainstack |
| Facts checked | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-24 |
// Score breakdown
dRPC leads on economics (+1) · Chainstack leads on transparency (+2.5), track record (+1.5).
why 7.2/10?
why 7.7/10?
// dRPC at a glance
One of the cheapest and clearest RPC price models in the set ($6 per 1M requests, flat CU, free tier) with card payment as the norm, but the entity is hidden behind a Cayman address and billing is prepaid non-refundable.
++ What works
- Flat $6 per 1M requests with all methods at 20 CU (including debug/trace/archive)
- Free tier of 210M CU/month on public nodes
- 130+ chains across 229 networks, 5,000 rps on Growth
- Card payment is the default; crypto accepted as a bonus
- Open-source self-hosted gateway (NodeCore, MIT) reduces lock-in
- Public status page
-- What to watch
- No registered company name published; legal address is in the Cayman Islands
- Prepaid and non-refundable, with cooling-off waived
- Identity verification may be required for payments
- Independent benchmark shows dRPC ~20 ms behind PublicNode on WebSocket head latency
- Headline comparison widget is dRPC's own (vendor self-comparison)
// Chainstack at a glance
A transparent, well-established Singapore-run RPC provider with named entity, certifications and published pricing, but the uptime SLA is Enterprise-only and independent tests report a latency gap versus marketing claims.
++ What works
- Named Singapore legal entity with a full public legal index
- Free tier plus clear self-serve subscription tiers and 16% annual discount
- Published request-unit rules (archive = 2 RU) and overage rates
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, Security Scorecard, public status page and performance dashboard
- Card payment standard; crypto top-up available as a feature
- Dedicated Node billed hourly (compute + storage) rather than locked-in
-- What to watch
- Uptime SLA gated to the Enterprise plan
- Archive requests cost 2 RU; add-ons (Unlimited Node, gRPC, support) are extra
- Independent tests report 200-350 ms p50 versus <50 ms marketing claims
- Accepted crypto coins and KYC policy not published
- Refund terms unclear
// FAQ
Which is cheaper, dRPC or Chainstack?
dRPC is cheaper at $0 per month versus $49 per month.
Which is more verifiable, dRPC or Chainstack?
Chainstack publishes the stronger proof signal; dRPC relies more on operator claims.
Which needs less KYC, dRPC or Chainstack?
At least one provider does not document its KYC policy - treat it as unknown, not as "no KYC".
Which has the longer track record?
Chainstack has the longer track record (since 2018).
Scores and facts: meta-reviews with dated sources - dRPC · Chainstack. Method: how we verify. More: all providers compared.