Alternatives

Bitquery vs The Graph: Data You Query vs Indexers You Build

Compare Bitquery and The Graph across engineering effort, time to first query, multi-chain coverage, real-time latency and pricing.

Bitquery vs The Graph: Data You Query vs Indexers You Build

With Bitquery, 40+ chains are already decoded and indexed — no subgraph to write, deploy, sync or maintain.

How Bitquery and The Graph Differ

The Graph gives you the tools to build your own indexer. Bitquery gives you the index. With The Graph you write a subgraph, define mappings, deploy it, wait for it to sync, and own it forever — including every re-sync after a schema change. With Bitquery, the data is already decoded across 40+ chains and you write a query.

That difference cuts both ways: a subgraph is bespoke to your contracts, which is exactly what you want if your data model is unique to your protocol.

Bitquery

Bitquery is an API-first blockchain data platform covering 40+ chains through one decoded GraphQL schema, delivered over GraphQL, WebSocket, Kafka, Solana gRPC, MCP and cloud datashares.

Teams that choose Bitquery tend to prioritize:

  • •Zero indexing infrastructure — no subgraph to write, deploy, sync or re-sync
  • •First query in minutes rather than after a backfill
  • •One schema across 40+ chains including non-EVM networks like Solana, Bitcoin, Tron and XRP
  • •Sub-second streaming — under 300ms over Solana gRPC, under 500ms p95 over Kafka
  • •Cross-protocol data out of the box — 300+ DEXs, holders, prices, transfers, NFTs, MEV

The Graph

The Graph is a decentralized protocol for building and serving custom blockchain indexers called subgraphs.

The Graph could be a good fit if:

  • •Your data model is specific to contracts you deployed and no general schema fits
  • •You want complete control over indexing logic and derived entities
  • •Decentralization and protocol-level ownership are important to your architecture
  • •You have engineering capacity to build and maintain a subgraph long-term
  • •Your product is a single dApp on a supported chain, not a multi-chain data platform

For protocol-specific entities and custom derivations, a subgraph is genuinely the right tool — Bitquery does not replace that.

Detailed Feature Comparison: Bitquery vs The Graph

CapabilityBitqueryThe Graph
Setup requiredAPI key, then queryWrite, deploy and sync a subgraph
Time to first resultMinutesHours to days, depending on backfill
Ongoing maintenanceNone — Bitquery operates the indexYou maintain and re-sync the subgraph
SchemaOne decoded schema across 40+ chainsPer-subgraph schema you define
Non-EVM coverageSolana, Bitcoin, Tron, XRP, Cardano and moreVaries by supported network
Cross-protocol queriesYes — one query spans DEXs, tokens, holdersRequires a subgraph per protocol
Real-time streamingWebSocket ~1s, Kafka <500ms p95, Solana gRPC <300msQuery-based; substreams for lower latency
Mempool / pending transactionsYes — Ethereum, BNB Chain, SolanaNot offered
DEX trade coverage300+ DEXs pre-decodedWhatever your subgraph indexes
Historical backfillIncluded — no backfill job to runYou run the backfill
Custom entity logicNot customizableCore strength
DecentralizationCentralized serviceDecentralized network
Warehouse & bulk exportParquet to S3, Snowflake, BigQuery, DatabricksNot a focus
Uptime99.9%, SLA on EnterpriseDepends on indexer
Pricing model$49 / $99 / $299 per month + EnterpriseQuery fees, GRT-denominated

Choosing the Right Tool: Bitquery or The Graph

When should you choose The Graph over Bitquery?

Choose The Graph if:

  • •Your contracts are your own and you need entities only you can define
  • •You want full control over indexing and transformation logic
  • •Decentralization is an architectural or ideological requirement
  • •You have the engineering capacity to own a subgraph indefinitely
  • •Your scope is one protocol on one chain, where a bespoke index is efficient

When should you choose Bitquery over The Graph?

Choose Bitquery if you need:

  • •Data now, without building and syncing an indexer first
  • •Multi-chain coverage without writing a subgraph per chain
  • •Non-EVM chains — Solana, Bitcoin, Tron, XRP and Cardano in the same schema
  • •Cross-protocol data — 300+ DEXs, token holders, prices and transfers already decoded
  • •Sub-second streaming for live products, over Kafka, gRPC or WebSocket
  • •Mempool and pre-confirmation data
  • •No indexing team — you want to spend engineering time on the product, not the pipeline

FAQ

The Graph is infrastructure for building your own indexer; Bitquery is a ready-made index. With The Graph you write and maintain a subgraph. With Bitquery you query 40+ already-decoded chains over GraphQL, WebSocket, Kafka or gRPC.

Yes, for teams that want blockchain data without building indexing infrastructure. Bitquery removes the subgraph development, deployment, sync and maintenance cycle entirely — the data across 40+ chains is already decoded and queryable.

No. Bitquery requires no subgraph, no mappings and no deployment. You get an API key and query a schema that already covers trades, transfers, balances, holders, prices, NFTs, contract events and traces across 40+ chains.

Bitquery. First query takes minutes with an API key and the browser IDE at ide.bitquery.io. A subgraph requires writing mappings, deploying, and waiting for historical sync before it returns complete results.

Yes. Bitquery covers Solana, Bitcoin, Tron, XRP, Cardano, Litecoin, Stellar, Filecoin and Algorand alongside EVM chains, all through the same decoded schema.

Bitquery. It streams decoded data over WebSocket at roughly one second, Kafka at under 500ms p95, and Solana gRPC at under 300ms, plus pre-confirmation mempool streams. Subgraphs are queried rather than pushed.

Yes. A common pattern is a subgraph for your own protocol's bespoke entities, and Bitquery for everything else — market-wide DEX trades, prices, holders and cross-chain data you would otherwise have to index yourself.

Bitquery self-serve plans are $49/month (Personal), $99/month (Pro) and $299/month (Scale), with 20% off annually, plus custom Enterprise pricing. Every paid plan starts with a 7-day free trial including live WebSocket streaming, no card required.

Bitquery operates at 99.9% uptime and offers a committed uptime SLA on Enterprise plans, alongside SSO and dedicated support. Bitquery does not currently hold SOC or ISO certification for those controls.

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Bitquery Platform Overview

InterfaceLatencyBest for
GraphQL — graphql.bitquery.io~300ms queryAd-hoc queries, dashboards, backfills
WebSocket — streaming.bitquery.io~1s pushBrowser apps, live charts, alerts
Kafka — kafka.bitquery.io<500ms p95Pipelines, high-volume ingestion, replay
Solana gRPC — CoreCast<300msMEV, HFT, fastest terminals
MCP — mcp.bitquery.ioQuery-timeLLM agents, copilots, research
Cloud Datashares — S3, Snowflake, BigQueryBatch + deltasWarehouses, ML, petabyte backfills

Production Scale

40+

blockchains

30+

data products

300+

DEXs

10M+

tokens

1PB+

indexed blockchain data

10bn+

API calls per month

40,000+

developers

99.9%

uptime

Indexing since 2018.

Trusted by Nansen, Binance, 0x, Chainalysis, TRM Labs, Nexo, CoinMarketCap and Coin Metrics.

What Users Say

Bitquery is rated 4.6 out of 5 on G2. Reviewers repeatedly point to not having to host and index chains themselves, freeing engineering time for their own product.

Read the reviews on G2

Pricing

PlanPriceIncludes
Personal$49/mo ($39 annual)100k API points, 9 core chains, API only, personal use
Pro$99/mo ($79 annual)1M points, 100k stream-minutes, live DEX & price streams, commercial license
Scale$299/mo ($239 annual)5M points, 2M stream-minutes, all streams incl. mempool, dedicated Slack support
EnterpriseCustomComplete history across 40+ chains, unlimited streaming, Kafka, S3 Parquet, SLA, SSO
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