Software · head to head
Phantom vs Alchemy
The short version
- They diverge on capability: Phantom covers Wallet, Alchemy covers Node APIs.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Phantom 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 Phantom
- Wallet
- NFT Gallery
- Token Swaps
- Staking
- dApp Browser
- Solana
- Ethereum
- Polygon
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.
Phantom
- Walletsnot Alchemy
- Solananot Alchemy
- Nftnot Alchemy
Alchemy
- Hosted blockchain node access across mainnets and testnetsnot Phantom
- Backing a production web3 application without running nodesnot Phantom
- Webhook-driven notifications for on-chain eventsnot Phantom
- Scaling read throughput beyond self-hosted node limitsnot Phantom
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Phantom
Nothing recorded yet. See the Phantom review.
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
Phantom
Free- FreeFree
- Multi-chain wallet
- NFT gallery
- Swaps
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 Phantom if
- You need wallet.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Chrome, Firefox, Ios, Android.
- You also want nft gallery.
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 Phantom or Alchemy better?
- Neither clearly leads. Phantom 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, Phantom or Alchemy?
- Phantom starts at Free and Alchemy at Free.
- Does Phantom or Alchemy run on more platforms?
- Phantom runs on Chrome, Firefox, Ios, Android. Alchemy runs on Api, Web.
- Can I use Phantom for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Phantom best used for?
- Phantom is most often used for wallets, solana, nft. Of those, wallets and solana are not what Alchemy is typically brought in for.
- What can Phantom do that Alchemy cannot?
- Phantom covers Wallet, NFT Gallery, Token Swaps, Staking. Alchemy covers Node APIs, Enhanced APIs, NFT API, Webhooks.