OrbitFlare vs Helius
A Solana-first RPC vs a Solana-first RPC.
Helius is one of the most popular Solana RPC providers and a strong all-rounder. OrbitFlare differentiates with Shredstream-optimized transaction routing, dedicated Apex transaction landing, and ultra-low-latency Jetstream gRPC for trading workloads, at typically lower price points for high-throughput plans.
Visit HeliusFeature comparison
Side-by-side breakdown of capabilities that matter for production Solana workloads.
| Feature | OrbitFlare | Helius |
|---|---|---|
| Shredstream raw shred delivery | ||
| Yellowstone (full data) gRPC | ||
| Jetstream (low-latency) gRPC | ||
| Dedicated transaction landing service | Apex | Sender / Stake-Weighted RPC |
| Webhook subscriptions | ||
| NFT API | ||
| Historical data since genesis | ||
| Devnet endpoints included | ||
| WebSocket subscriptions | ||
| Solana validator (own stake) | ||
| 99.99% uptime SLA | ||
| Global regions | 11 | Multi-region |
Pricing comparison
Headline pricing across the most common tiers. Always check each provider's pricing page for the latest details.
OrbitFlare pricing
- Free tier10 RPS · $0
- Developer tier50 RPS · $49/mo
- Growth tier200 RPS · $399/mo
- Pro tier600 RPS · $999/mo
- Dedicated nodesFrom $2,500/mo
- gRPC streamingFrom $500/mo (shared)
- ShredstreamFrom $500/mo standard / $1,000/mo premium
Helius pricing
- Free tier10 RPS · $0
- Developer tier50 RPS · ~$49/mo
- Growth tier200 RPS · ~$499/mo
- Pro tier500 RPS · ~$999/mo
- Dedicated nodesFrom $2,500/mo
- gRPC streamingIncluded on higher tiers
- ShredstreamNot offered
Where Helius shines
- Mature, well-documented developer experience and SDKs
- First-class webhooks and notification primitives
- Strong NFT and DAS API offerings
- Brand recognition and large ecosystem footprint
Where Helius falls short
- No Shredstream, so you cannot tap shreds before they reach validators
- Higher price-per-RPS at growth and pro tiers
- No dedicated low-latency Jetstream gRPC variant
- Shared infrastructure on lower tiers can mean noisy-neighbor effects
Bottom line
Helius is excellent if you want broad SDK coverage, webhooks, and a friendly developer experience. Choose OrbitFlare when you need the absolute lowest-latency Solana access: Shredstream-routed transactions, Jetstream gRPC at the Turbine layer, and dedicated nodes that don't share resources with thousands of other apps. For trading bots, market makers, and HFT-style workloads, the Shredstream + Apex combination usually wins on transaction landing rate and time-to-confirmation. For general-purpose dApps, both are solid; pick on price for your projected RPS.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. OrbitFlare exposes the standard Solana JSON-RPC interface and Yellowstone gRPC, so most migrations are a single endpoint and API key swap. If you use Helius webhooks or DAS, you will need to wire those to alternative implementations.
For the workloads where it matters — sniping new pools, MEV bots, and liquidation engines — yes. Shredstream delivers raw UDP shreds from a top-of-turbine validator, so you see transactions before any RPC server can. For typical CRUD workloads, ultra-fast RPC is sufficient.
Yes. The free tier includes 10 RPS, devnet access, and is suitable for prototypes and small projects.
OrbitFlare's Apex transaction landing service combines Shredstream-routed submission with Jito bundle support and stake-weighted QoS to maximize landing rate during congestion. Helius offers their own Sender / Stake-Weighted RPC for similar use cases.
Ready to test OrbitFlare?
Spin up a free RPC endpoint in seconds — no credit card required.