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Cryptocurrency & Blockchain · head to head

Ledger Live vs Alchemy

Ledger Live logo

Ledger Live

Cryptocurrency & Blockchain

Manage your crypto securely

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Alchemy logo

Alchemy

Cryptocurrency & Blockchain

The web3 development platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Ledger Live ledger Live is designed to work with a physical Ledger hardware wallet plugged into the device by USB and does not function as a standalone software wallet; Alchemy the free tier is capped at 30M compute units a month and 25 requests per second
  • They diverge on capability: Ledger Live covers Portfolio Management, Alchemy covers Node APIs.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ledger Live and Alchemy actually diverge.

Attributes where Ledger Live and Alchemy differ
AttributeLedger LiveAlchemy
Pricing modelfreefreemium
PlatformsDesktop, Ios, AndroidApi, Web
Founded20142017

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cryptocurrency & Blockchain).

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 Ledger Live

  • Portfolio Management
  • Buy/Sell Crypto
  • Staking
  • Swap
  • NFT Gallery
  • Ledger hardware wallets
  • DeFi apps
  • Desktop support

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.

Ledger Live

  • Managing crypto assets and viewing balances alongside a Ledger hardware walletnot Alchemy
  • Signing transactions offline through a connected hardware devicenot Alchemy

Alchemy

  • Hosted blockchain node access across mainnets and testnetsnot Ledger Live
  • Backing a production web3 application without running nodesnot Ledger Live
  • Webhook-driven notifications for on-chain eventsnot Ledger Live
  • Scaling read throughput beyond self-hosted node limitsnot Ledger Live

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Ledger Live

  • Ledger Live is designed to work with a physical Ledger hardware wallet plugged into the device by USB and does not function as a standalone software wallet

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

Ledger Live

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Portfolio tracking
    • Buy/Sell
    • Staking

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 Ledger Live if

  • You need portfolio management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Desktop, Ios, Android.
  • You also want buy/sell crypto.
Ledger Live review

Choose Alchemy if

  • You need node apis.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Api, Web.
  • You also want enhanced apis.
Alchemy review

Questions people ask

Is Ledger Live or Alchemy better?
Neither clearly leads. Ledger Live 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, Ledger Live or Alchemy?
Ledger Live starts at Free and Alchemy at Free.
Does Ledger Live or Alchemy run on more platforms?
Ledger Live runs on Desktop, Ios, Android. Alchemy runs on Api, Web.
Can I use Ledger Live for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Ledger Live best used for?
Ledger Live is most often used for managing crypto assets and viewing balances alongside a ledger hardware wallet, signing transactions offline through a connected hardware device. Of those, managing crypto assets and viewing balances alongside a ledger hardware wallet and signing transactions offline through a connected hardware device are not what Alchemy is typically brought in for.
What can Ledger Live do that Alchemy cannot?
Ledger Live covers Portfolio Management, Buy/Sell Crypto, Staking, Swap. Alchemy covers Node APIs, Enhanced APIs, NFT API, Webhooks.
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