TON Center API vs Chainstack: TON RPC and free limits
TON Center API and Chainstack both serve TON Mainnet and Testnet over HTTP APIs. TON Center is the provider the TON docs call official, with v2, v3, streaming and emulation APIs; Chainstack serves TON API v2, v3 and v4 next to many other chains. The main differences are how you get a key, how you pay and which API versions you get.
| TON Center API | Chainstack | |
|---|---|---|
| Chains |  TON |  Ethereum  Base  Arbitrum  Polygon  Solana  BNB  Avalanche  Stellar  Sui  Aptos  XRPL TON |
| Best for | Hosted TON RPC and indexer APIs from toncenter.com, with a free API key | Shared and dedicated nodes with a free developer plan |
| Confirmed features | JSON-RPC over HTTPS · WebSocket subscriptions · Archive or full-history data · Testnet endpoints · Webhooks or event streams · Enhanced APIs (tokens, NFTs, balances) · Free tier with no card · Self-hostable / open source | JSON-RPC over HTTPS · WebSocket subscriptions · Archive or full-history data · Trace or debug APIs · Dedicated nodes · Testnet endpoints · Multi-region or load balancing · Webhooks or event streams · Free tier with no card · Uptime SLA · Self-hostable / open source |
| Free option | 1 request/sec without a key; a free key gives 10 requests/sec (1 key per network). Paid from Plus: 25 requests/sec for 2.5 GRAM/month, bought through the @toncenter Telegram bot. Source: TON Center API free option | Free Developer plan with 3M requests a month at 25 requests/sec. Paid from $49/mo (Growth), which adds archive data. Source: Chainstack free option |
| Price | Free: 1 request/sec with no key, 10/sec with a free API key; paid from 2.5 GRAM/mo | Free Developer plan (3M RU/mo); paid from $49/mo (Growth) |
| Maker | TON Center | Chainstack |
| Last checked | Oct 25, 2026 (source: TON Center API listing) | Oct 24, 2026 (source: Chainstack listing) |
| Try it | Visit TON Center API | Visit Chainstack Affiliate link |
Pick TON Center API if…
You want the official TON API with the Streaming API (SSE or WebSocket) and the Emulation API for simulating transactions, and you are fine managing keys and plans in Telegram. Its v2 and v3 services are open source, so you can self-host the same API later.
Pick Chainstack if…
You want fiat billing and one dashboard for TON and other chains, or your code uses TonClient4 from @ton/ton: Chainstack serves TON API v4 (block-pinned reads) as well as v2 and v3. Calls that read history count as archive at 2 request units, and native ADNL access is on Dedicated Nodes.
Our verdicts
TON Center API
TON Center provides hosted HTTP APIs for TON, including direct liteserver access, an indexer for transactions, Jettons and NFTs, message emulation and streaming subscriptions, on both mainnet and testnet. A free key gives 10 requests per second, and paid plans start at 2.5 GRAM per month for 25 requests per second. Keys and plan upgrades are handled only through a Telegram bot, with prices listed in GRAM rather than fiat.
Chainstack
Shared and dedicated nodes with a free Developer plan; archive data starts on the paid Growth plan and dedicated nodes on Pro. Its protocol list names the major EVM chains, Solana, the XRP Ledger and Stellar. Hedera is dedicated-node-by-request only, so we don't count it; no Algorand or Xahau. Its XRP Ledger nodes keep a window of recent ledgers, not full history. It also names Sui, Aptos and TON; NEAR isn't on its protocol list. Chainstack plans to retire its Trader Nodes on December 1, 2026.
See every pick in Infrastructure & RPC. Prices change often, so confirm on each maker's site before you buy.
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