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SQD vs Helius

SQD vs Helius: Solana RPC or the Solana ledger itself?

Consensus-finalized Solana · From genesis, decoded · 225+ chains, self-host

Helius and SQD both serve Solana, but at different layers. Helius is a Solana RPC and write-path specialist: nodes, transaction landing, and the DAS API for token and NFT metadata. SQD serves the consensus-finalized Solana ledger as decoded, queryable tables from genesis, in the same API as 225+ other chains, and you can self-host it. For reading Solana at depth, or reading beyond Solana, SQD is the data layer; for Solana RPC and sending transactions, Helius is purpose-built.

Try the Portal Read Docs

Pick SQD if

  • → You need the full decoded Solana ledger: instructions, CPIs, balance deltas, rewards, logs
  • → You need data beyond Solana, kept in one multi-chain API
  • → You want to self-host or run on a decentralized, validated network

Pick Helius if

  • → You are Solana-only and want best-in-class Solana RPC
  • → You need transaction landing, Sender, or staked connections
  • → You rely on the Solana DAS API for token and NFT metadata

Specialist vs network

Where SQD and Helius sit in your data stack

Helius sits close to Solana validators: RPC nodes, transaction submission, and Solana-native data services. SQD sits in read-side infrastructure: a decentralized data lake that serves the decoded, consensus-finalized ledger across many chains, Solana among them, for any tool to consume. They overlap on reading Solana data; they diverge on chain breadth, the write path, how deep the read side goes, and whether you can run it yourself.

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  4. Indexed data
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  5. Our focus
    Read-side infrastructure
    SQD decentralized, validated, multi-chain at source
  6. Node providers
    Alchemy QuickNode Helius· Comparison coming soon Comparison coming soon

SQD optimizes for

  • ✓The complete, consensus-finalized Solana ledger as decoded, queryable tables
  • ✓Chain breadth: 225+ networks across EVM, Solana, Substrate, Bitcoin, Hyperliquid
  • ✓Full history from genesis without running an archive validator
  • ✓Sub-second real-time data in the same API as historical
  • ✓Open source and self-hostable, served over a decentralized, validated network

Helius optimizes for

  • ✓Best-in-class Solana RPC from a dedicated bare-metal fleet
  • ✓Transaction landing: Sender, staked connections, priority-fee guidance
  • ✓The Solana DAS API for standardized token and NFT data
  • ✓Solana-native low-latency streaming with LaserStream

Solana, at the source

SQD serves the consensus-finalized Solana ledger, not RPC responses

This is the core difference. Helius reads Solana through RPC and the DAS metadata standard. SQD indexes the canonical Solana ledger and serves the consensus-finalized view, decoded into six tables, from genesis. You get a finalized stream that never forks alongside a real-time stream, and because SQD serves the whole ledger rather than a sampled RPC view, consensus-level data is first-class: the full inner-instruction tree of every transaction, SOL and token balance deltas, and validator staking and voting rewards.

The decoded ledger: 6 tables

  • transactions

    Signatures, account keys, fee, success/error, recent blockhash

  • instructions

    program_id, accounts, data, and the inner_instructions (CPI) tree

  • balances

    Pre and post SOL balance for every account touched

  • token_balances

    Pre/post SPL token amounts with mint, owner, and decimals

  • rewards

    Validator staking and voting rewards: pubkey, lamports, reward_type, commission

  • logs

    Program log messages with program_id, instruction address, and kind

What you query in the Portal

  • →Filter instructions by program_id, by native or Anchor discriminator (d1, d2, d4, d8), by account at a given index, or by fee payer
  • →Pull the inner instructions (CPIs), SOL and token balance deltas, validator rewards, and program logs for the matching set in one query
  • →Read a year of decoded history as a filtered slot range over streaming HTTP, not thousands of paginated RPC calls
  • →Run the same query shape across the SVM family (Solana mainnet and devnet, SOON, SVM-BNB) and 220+ other chains

Helius is the better tool when the job is talking to a Solana node: serving RPC, landing transactions, or fetching token and NFT metadata through DAS. SQD is the better tool when the job is reading the Solana ledger itself, in bulk, in depth, or alongside other chains. Both are cited in Sources.

At a glance

Side-by-side comparison

Dimension SQD Helius
Scope & sourcing
Ecosystem scope Helius states it focuses exclusively on Solana: "We focus exclusively on Solana to deliver the best RPC experience." EVM, Solana, Substrate, Bitcoin, Hyperliquid (225+) Solana only (mainnet + devnet)
SVM coverage SQD indexes the wider SVM family under one schema, so the same query and handler code runs across Solana (mainnet and devnet), SOON, and SVM-BNB. Helius is Solana-only. Solana mainnet + devnet, plus SOON and SVM-BNB Solana mainnet + devnet
Solana data served SQD decodes the Solana ledger into transactions, instructions, balances, token_balances, rewards, and logs. Helius serves Solana through JSON-RPC and the Digital Asset Standard (DAS) for token and NFT data. The consensus-finalized ledger, decoded into 6 tables Solana JSON-RPC + DAS API + enhanced/stream APIs
History depth SQD docs state Solana on Portal is available from genesis. From genesis (slot 0) Archival RPC + DAS
Finality model SQD serves a finalized stream that never forks alongside a real-time stream. Helius exposes Solana commitment levels through RPC and low-latency streaming. Finalized stream (consensus-confirmed) + real-time processed / confirmed / finalized via RPC
Data completeness
Inner instructions (CPIs) SQD captures the inner_instructions tree per instruction and supports nested access. Helius returns inner instructions in parsed and enhanced transaction responses. ✓ ✓
SOL + token balance deltas SQD exposes pre/post SOL balances and pre/post SPL token balances (mint, owner, decimals) as tables. Helius surfaces balance changes via RPC and enhanced transactions. ✓ ✓
Validator + voting rewards SQD exposes a rewards table (pubkey, lamports, reward_type, commission), including validator staking and voting rewards, as a queryable table. First-class rewards table Via getBlock RPC
Program log decoding ✓ ✓
Query model
Filter Solana data by SQD filters the ledger by program, by native or Anchor discriminator, and by account position, returning inner instructions, balances, rewards, and logs inline. Helius is queried through Solana JSON-RPC methods and DAS endpoints. program_id, discriminator (d1/d2/d4/d8), account index, fee payer JSON-RPC methods; DAS getAsset / getAssetsByOwner
Bulk historical pulls SQD serves filtered ranges of the ledger over a streaming HTTP API. Rebuilding the same history over RPC means paginating signature and block calls under rate limits. Filtered slot ranges over streaming HTTP RPC pagination (getSignaturesForAddress, getBlock)
Architecture & openness
Self-hostable Helius runs a managed fleet of bare-metal Solana nodes across 11 regions; the core infrastructure is not self-hostable. ✓ ✗
Open source Helius open-sources client SDKs and tools, and DAS is an open specification, but the RPC fleet and indexer are proprietary and hosted. Squid SDK GPLv3, Portal AGPL-3.0 SDKs + DAS spec open; core infra proprietary
Decentralized + validated SQD data is served from a decentralized network whose workers independently decode and cross-check data before it is finalized. Helius is a centrally operated managed service. ✓ ✗
Real-time & write path
Real-time streaming Helius reports LaserStream delivers preprocessed transactions roughly 8ms ahead of the processed commitment level, with 24-hour replay. Sub-second Portal hot path LaserStream gRPC + webhooks
Transaction submission Helius offers transaction-landing services (Sender, staked connections). SQD is read-side data infrastructure and does not submit transactions. ✗ ✓
Economics
Free tier Helius Free plan: 1M monthly credits and 10 requests/sec (Helius pricing, June 2026). Public Portal (no key, no card) 1M credits/mo, 10 req/s
Paid pricing model Helius tiers (June 2026): Developer $49/mo (10M credits), Business $499/mo (100M), Professional $999/mo (200M), Enterprise custom. 1 standard RPC call = 1 credit. Network-based monthly tiers Credit-based subscriptions

Facts verified June 2026 against Helius's public docs and pricing and SQD's published Solana dataset docs. Every cell value is cited in the Sources section at the bottom of this page.

Decision framework

Choose based on your workload

When SQD is the better choice

  • →You need the full decoded Solana ledger: every instruction, the CPI tree, balance deltas, rewards, and logs.
  • →You analyse or backfill Solana history from genesis without standing up an archive validator.
  • →Your roadmap reaches beyond Solana and you want one data layer for every chain.
  • →You want decoded data in your own warehouse, or to self-host on a decentralized network.
  • →You are building read-heavy products: analytics, wallets, agents, or pipelines.

When Helius is the better choice

  • →You are Solana-only and want a dedicated, low-latency Solana RPC.
  • →You need to land transactions reliably: Sender, staked connections, priority fees.
  • →You depend on the Solana DAS API for token and NFT metadata.
  • →You need the absolute fastest pre-finalization hot path: LaserStream ahead of processed.

Plenty of Solana teams use Helius for RPC and transaction landing, and SQD for the read side: deep ledger queries, historical coverage, and the other chains they touch.

The full SQD toolkit

What you get with SQD

SQD offers four products that share the same underlying data lake. Pick the layer that fits your workload.

Product What it does Best for
Portal API Sub-second multi-chain query API Real-time apps, trading, agents
Squid SDK TypeScript indexer framework Custom data products, GraphQL APIs
Pipes SDK Streaming ETL pipelines Warehouses, analytics, batch loads
SQD Network Decentralized data lake Open access, no vendor lock

Need a custom API? Build it with SQD. When a fixed, hosted endpoint doesn't fit, the Squid SDK and Pipes SDK let you build your own indexer or streaming pipeline in TypeScript over any of 225+ chains, shaped to your schema. The Squid SDK deploys to SQD Cloud, or self-host either.

225+

Networks indexed

Genesis

Solana history depth

$0

Free tier, no card

+215 more

Frequently asked questions

Is SQD a Helius alternative?
For reading Solana data, yes. Helius is a Solana specialist for the RPC and write path: nodes, transaction landing, and the DAS API for token and NFT metadata. SQD serves the consensus-finalized Solana ledger as decoded, queryable tables, in the same API as 225+ other chains, and you can self-host it. SQD is the Helius alternative when you need the full Solana ledger at depth, multi-chain coverage, or to own the data layer. For Solana RPC and sending transactions, Helius is purpose-built and SQD is not a like-for-like replacement. Many teams use both: Helius for the write path, SQD for read-side data.
Where does SQD's Solana data come from?
SQD indexes the canonical Solana ledger and serves the consensus-finalized view: a finalized stream that never forks, plus a real-time stream. The data is decoded into six tables (transactions, instructions, balances, token_balances, rewards, logs) and is available from genesis (slot 0). Because SQD serves the complete ledger rather than a sampled RPC view, consensus-level data is first-class, including validator staking and voting rewards and the full inner-instruction (CPI) tree of every transaction. Helius, by contrast, exposes Solana through RPC and the DAS metadata standard.
What can I query in the SQD Portal for Solana?
You filter the ledger directly. Select instructions by program_id, by native or Anchor discriminator (d1, d2, d4, d8), by account at a specific index, or by fee payer, and pull the inner instructions (CPIs), SOL and token balance deltas, validator rewards, and program logs for the matching set in one query. Ranges are served over a streaming HTTP API, so a year of decoded history is a filtered range request, not thousands of paginated RPC calls. The same query shape works across the SVM family (Solana, SOON, SVM-BNB) and the other 220+ chains SQD indexes.
Does SQD cover more chains than Helius?
Yes. Helius focuses exclusively on Solana. SQD covers 225+ networks across EVM, Solana, Substrate, Bitcoin, and Hyperliquid through one Portal endpoint. On the SVM side it indexes Solana mainnet and devnet plus the wider SVM family (SOON, SVM-BNB), all under one schema, so the same query and handler code runs across them. If your roadmap reaches beyond Solana, SQD keeps it in a single data layer instead of one provider per ecosystem.
Is Helius open source or self-hostable?
Partly. Helius open-sources its client SDKs and tooling, and the Digital Asset Standard it serves is an open specification. The core infrastructure, a managed fleet of bare-metal Solana nodes, is proprietary and not self-hostable. SQD's Squid SDK (GPLv3) and Portal node software (AGPL-3.0) are open source and self-hostable, and the data is served over a decentralized network whose workers cross-check each other.
Does SQD do transaction landing like Helius Sender?
No. SQD is read-side data infrastructure: it serves decoded, validated blockchain data for reading, not a service for submitting transactions. Helius offers transaction-landing services such as Sender and staked connections for getting Solana transactions confirmed. If you need both, use Helius (or another RPC) for the write path and SQD for multi-chain read-side data.
How does SQD pricing compare to Helius?
Helius uses credit-based subscriptions: Free (1M credits/mo), Developer $49/mo (10M), Business $499/mo (100M), Professional $999/mo (200M), and Enterprise, where a standard RPC call costs one credit. SQD's Portal has a free public tier with no API key or card, and paid tiers are network-based rather than per-call metered. Final SQD pricing has not been published. The models are not directly comparable: one prices Solana RPC calls, the other prices multi-chain read-side data.
Sources & methodology (15 citations, verified June 2026)

Statements about Helius are anchored to Helius's own public documentation and pricing; statements about SQD's Solana data are anchored to SQD's published dataset docs. Spotted something stale? Let us know.

SQD Solana data depth

Helius Solana focus & products

Real-time & write path

Economics

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Self-host, no vendor lock

The Solana ledger, decoded and yours

Free public Portal, open-source SDK, and 225+ chains incl. Solana from genesis, all in one API you can self-host.

Try the Portal Read Docs

Building across Solana and other chains, or need a dedicated portal? Talk to sales.