Software · head to head
Argent vs Alchemy
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Argent renamed Ready, and argent.xyz now redirects to ready.co, so the Argent name is retired; Alchemy the free tier is capped at 30M compute units a month and 25 requests per second
- They diverge on capability: Argent covers Smart Contract Wallet, Alchemy covers Node APIs.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Argent and Alchemy actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Argent
- Smart Contract Wallet
- Social Recovery
- No Seed Phrase
- Built-in DeFi
- NFT Support
- Ethereum
- zkSync
- Starknet
Only in Alchemy
- Node APIs
- Enhanced APIs
- NFT API
- Webhooks
- Mempool
- 35+ chains
- SDKs
- Api support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Argent
- Self-custodial wallet on mobilenot Alchemy
- Holding digital dollars under your own controlnot Alchemy
- Spending through a virtual card with Apple Pay or Google Paynot Alchemy
- Connecting to dapps through WalletConnectnot Alchemy
Alchemy
- Hosted blockchain node access across mainnets and testnetsnot Argent
- Backing a production web3 application without running nodesnot Argent
- Webhook-driven notifications for on-chain eventsnot Argent
- Scaling read throughput beyond self-hosted node limitsnot Argent
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Argent
- Renamed Ready, and argent.xyz now redirects to ready.co, so the Argent name is retired
- The product has shifted toward community cards and digital dollars rather than being presented purely as a crypto wallet
- Supported chains are no longer listed on the main site
Alchemy
- The free tier is capped at 30M compute units a month and 25 requests per second
- Free accounts are limited to 5 apps and 5 webhooks
- Beyond the free allowance it is $0.45 per 1M compute units for the first 300M a month
- Request cost varies by call complexity, from around 10 compute units to over 100, so spend is hard to predict from request counts alone
- Signed SLAs and priority support require an Enterprise contract
Pricing, plan by plan
Argent
Free- FreeFree
- Smart wallet
- Social recovery
- DeFi
Alchemy
Free- FreeFree
- 300M compute units
- 5 apps
- Core APIs
- Growth$49/month
- 400M compute units
- 15 apps
- Enhanced APIs
- Scale$199/month
- 1B compute units
- Unlimited apps
- Premium support
Which should you pick?
Choose Argent if
- You need smart contract wallet.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Ios, Android.
- You also want social recovery.
Choose Alchemy if
- You need node apis.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Api, Web.
- You also want enhanced apis.
Questions people ask
- Is Argent or Alchemy better?
- Neither clearly leads. Argent starts at Free and Alchemy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Argent or Alchemy?
- Argent starts at Free and Alchemy at Free.
- Does Argent or Alchemy run on more platforms?
- Argent runs on Ios, Android. Alchemy runs on Api, Web.
- Can I use Argent for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Argent best used for?
- Argent is most often used for self-custodial wallet on mobile, holding digital dollars under your own control, spending through a virtual card with apple pay or google pay, connecting to dapps through walletconnect. Of those, self-custodial wallet on mobile and holding digital dollars under your own control are not what Alchemy is typically brought in for.
- What can Argent do that Alchemy cannot?
- Argent covers Smart Contract Wallet, Social Recovery, No Seed Phrase, Built-in DeFi. Alchemy covers Node APIs, Enhanced APIs, NFT API, Webhooks.