⚠️ Production Warning: Public RPC endpoints are shared and rate-limited. For production applications, use dedicated infrastructure like Alchemy or QuickNode.
Free RPC Endpoints (No API Key)
Cloudflare Ethereum Gateway
https://cloudflare-eth.com
✓ No API key required ✓ No rate limits ✓ Good for reading
Ankr Public RPC
https://rpc.ankr.com/eth
✓ No API key required ✓ 30M requests/month limit
QuickNode Public RPC
https://rpc.ankr.com/eth#
QuickNode offers public endpoints through their marketplace
Free Tier Providers (API Key Required)
Best Overall
Alchemy
20M compute units free monthly
- Free: 20M compute units/mo
- Paid: From $49/mo
- Chains: 20+ networks
- Features: Mempool, NFT API, Webhooks
Ankr
Generous free tier for developers
- Free: Unlimited (public) + 100K (API)
- Paid: From $45/mo
- Chains: 40+ networks
- Features: Easy multi-chain
QuickNode
Fast and reliable infrastructure
- Free: 50K requests/day
- Paid: From $49/mo
- Chains: 30+ networks
- Features: Global CDN, add-ons
Infura
Industry veteran
- Free: 100K requests/day
- Paid: From $225/mo
- Chains: 10+ networks
- Features: IPFS, reliable
Comparison Table
| Provider | Free Limit | Rate Limit | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Unlimited | Yes | Reading data |
| Ankr | 30M requests | Yes | Multi-chain |
| Alchemy | 20M units | No | Development |
| QuickNode | 50K/day | No | Production |
| Infura | 100K/day | No | Enterprise |
How to Use Free RPC in Your Code
Using Ethers.js
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://cloudflare-eth.com');
Using Web3.js
const web3 = new Web3('https://cloudflare-eth.com');
When to Upgrade to Paid
You should consider upgrading to a paid plan when:
- Your application goes to production
- You need guaranteed uptime (SLA)
- You're building a commercial product
- You need priority support
- Public endpoints become unreliable