Clusters and Public RPC Endpoints
The Solana blockchain has several different groups of validators, known as Clusters. Each serving different purposes within the overall ecosystem and containing dedicated API nodes to fulfill JSON-RPC requests for their respective Cluster.
The individual nodes within a Cluster are owned and operated by third parties, with a public endpoint available for each.
Solana public RPC endpoints #
The Solana Labs organization operates a public RPC endpoint for each Cluster. Each of these public endpoints are subject to rate limits, but are available for users and developers to interact with the Solana blockchain.
Public endpoint rate limits are subject to change. The specific rate limits listed on this document are not guaranteed to be the most up-to-date.
Using explorers with different Clusters #
Many of the popular Solana blockchain explorers support selecting any of the Clusters, often allowing advanced users to add a custom/private RPC endpoint as well.
An example of some of these Solana blockchain explorers include:
- http://explorer.solana.com/.
- http://solana.fm/.
- http://solscan.io/.
- http://solanabeach.io/.
- http://validators.app/.
On a high level #
- Mainnet: Live production environment for deployed applications.
- Devnet: Testing with public accessibility for developers experimenting with their applications.
- Testnet: Stress-testing for network upgrades and validator performance.
Example use cases: You may want to debug a new program on Devnet or verify performance metrics on Testnet before Mainnet deployment.
| Cluster | Endpoint | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mainnet | https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com | Live production environment | Requires SOL for transactions |
| Devnet | https://api.devnet.solana.com | Public testing and development | Free SOL airdrop for testing |
| Testnet | https://api.testnet.solana.com | Validator and stress testing | May have intermittent downtime |
Devnet #
Devnet serves as a playground for anyone who wants to take Solana for a test drive, as a user, token holder, app developer, or validator.
- Application developers should target Devnet.
- Potential validators should first target Devnet.
- Key differences between Devnet and Mainnet Beta:
- Devnet tokens are not real
- Devnet includes a token faucet for airdrops for application testing
- Devnet may be subject to ledger resets
- Devnet typically runs the same software release branch version as Mainnet Beta, but may run a newer minor release version than Mainnet Beta.
- Gossip entrypoint for Devnet:
entrypoint.devnet.solana.com:8001
Devnet endpoint #
https://api.devnet.solana.com- single Solana Labs hosted API node; rate-limited
Example solana command-line configuration #
To connect to the devnet Cluster using the Solana CLI:
solana config set --url https://api.devnet.solana.comDevnet rate limits #
- Maximum number of requests per 10 seconds per IP: 100
- Maximum number of requests per 10 seconds per IP for a single RPC: 40
- Maximum concurrent connections per IP: 40
- Maximum connection rate per 10 seconds per IP: 40
- Maximum amount of data per 30 second: 100 MB
Testnet #
Testnet is where the Solana core contributors stress test recent release features on a live cluster, particularly focused on network performance, stability and validator behavior.
- Testnet tokens are not real
- Testnet may be subject to ledger resets.
- Testnet includes a token faucet for airdrops for application testing
- Testnet typically runs a newer software release branch than both Devnet and Mainnet Beta
- Gossip entrypoint for Testnet:
entrypoint.testnet.solana.com:8001
Testnet endpoint #
https://api.testnet.solana.com- single Solana Labs API node; rate-limited
Example solana command-line configuration #
To connect to the testnet Cluster using the Solana CLI:
solana config set --url https://api.testnet.solana.comTestnet rate limits #
- Maximum number of requests per 10 seconds per IP: 100
- Maximum number of requests per 10 seconds per IP for a single RPC: 40
- Maximum concurrent connections per IP: 40
- Maximum connection rate per 10 seconds per IP: 40
- Maximum amount of data per 30 second: 100 MB
Mainnet beta #
A permissionless, persistent cluster for Solana users, builders, validators and token holders.
- Tokens that are issued on Mainnet Beta are real SOL
- Gossip entrypoint for Mainnet Beta:
entrypoint.mainnet-beta.solana.com:8001
Mainnet beta endpoint #
https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com- Solana Labs hosted API node cluster, backed by a load balancer; rate-limited
Example solana command-line configuration #
To connect to the mainnet-beta Cluster using the Solana CLI:
solana config set --url https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.comMainnet beta rate limits #
- Maximum number of requests per 10 seconds per IP: 100
- Maximum number of requests per 10 seconds per IP for a single RPC: 40
- Maximum concurrent connections per IP: 40
- Maximum connection rate per 10 seconds per IP: 40
- Maximum amount of data per 30 seconds: 100 MB
The public RPC endpoints are not intended for production applications. Please use dedicated/private RPC servers when you launch your application, drop NFTs, etc. The public services are subject to abuse and rate limits may change without prior notice. Likewise, high-traffic websites may be blocked without prior notice.
Common HTTP Error Codes #
- 403 -- Your IP address or website has been blocked. It is time to run your own RPC server(s) or find a private service.
- 429 -- Your IP address is exceeding the rate limits. Slow down! Use the Retry-After HTTP response header to determine how long to wait before making another request.