Shared vs Dedicated Solana RPC
Shared RPC nodes serve multiple customers from the same infrastructure. Dedicated nodes serve a single customer with isolated resources. The choice depends on your workload’s requirements for latency, throughput, and isolation.
Disclosure: This site is affiliated with Supanode. Supanode links on this page are marked. Comparison based on publicly documented provider offerings.
Comparison
| Feature | Shared RPC | Dedicated node |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $49–$200/mo typical | $500–$3,000+/mo typical |
| Rate limits | Provider-imposed | Your own limits (or none) |
| Latency | Variable (shared load) | Consistent (isolated) |
| Noisy neighbors | Yes | No |
| Custom configuration | No | Often available |
| Resource isolation | None | Full (CPU, RAM, disk) |
| Scaling | Provider manages | You manage (or provider) |
When shared is enough
Shared RPC works well for:
- dApps with moderate traffic (under 100 req/s sustained)
- Development and testing
- Read-heavy workloads (account queries, balance checks)
- Applications where occasional latency spikes are acceptable
When you need dedicated
Upgrade to dedicated when:
- Consistent latency matters: trading bots, liquidation engines, time-sensitive operations
- Rate limits are blocking you: you’ve hit the shared tier ceiling and need more throughput
- Noisy neighbor problems: your latency spikes when other customers on the same node increase their load
- Custom methods or configuration: you need specific RPC methods enabled, custom account indexes, or Geyser plugins
- Compliance: you need guaranteed data isolation for regulatory reasons
Cost-benefit analysis
A dedicated node at $1,000/mo is more expensive than a shared plan at $100/mo, but:
- Eliminating latency spikes may increase a trading bot’s profit by more than the cost difference
- No rate limits means no dropped requests during traffic spikes
- Isolation guarantees consistent performance under any network condition
FAQ
Can I start with shared and upgrade later? Yes. Most providers offer a migration path from shared to dedicated plans. Your RPC endpoint URL changes, but no code changes are needed.
Do dedicated nodes have better uptime? Not necessarily. Both shared and dedicated nodes are subject to network-level issues. Dedicated nodes eliminate noisy-neighbor-caused slowdowns but don’t prevent validator or network outages.
What about semi-dedicated options? Some providers offer “enhanced” or “priority” shared tiers with higher rate limits and better resource allocation. These are a middle ground between fully shared and fully dedicated.
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