BlockVectra as an Infura Alternative: Cycle Credits and Usage Billing

Choose BlockVectra to use a cycle CU balance for concentrated supported read tasks and pay for additional reads without a monthly RPC subscription.

Comparison

Competitor figures verified on 2026-10-08. Current BlockVectra figures are shown by the API-backed tables below.

The free-budget row compares when credits can be used, not equal monthly allowances or measured throughput. A concentrated task needs enough remaining BlockVectra CU and must fit both account and key limits. No per-credit overage price is inferred from Infura subscription fees.

Why choose BlockVectra

Method prices and free-account budget

Method weights, USD conversion and the free-account budget below come from GET /v1/plans. Chain limits come from GET /v1/chains. Compare the same chain, method, block and complete result; splitting and retries change the number of calls.

Free-account cap: up to 25 calls per second, shared across all keys in the account, all chains, and the Data API. Per-key key_defaults.cu_per_sec and burst_cu also apply. Eligible cycle refills top the free balance up to the target rather than adding a full grant. The first paid top-up stops cycle refills while preserving remaining free CU. See free plan rules.

A cycle balance for concentrated read tasks

For a hypothetical 50,000-call Ethereum eth_call task on one day, Infura needs 50,000 × 80 = 4M credits, above its 3M daily free quota. For BlockVectra, multiply the same call count by the current eth_call weight and compare the cycle budget above with your actual remaining CU. Confirm the required blocks and pacing before running the job.

Keyless trials and programmatic Agent funding

Try a listed public.methods method at the chain catalog's public.url before creating a key. For authenticated access, programmatic sign-up lets an Agent create an account and key with a wallet signature. Agent top-ups fund the same usage balance with stablecoins; read networks, tokens and minimums from top-up status. Developers and AI Agents use the same prices and limits.

Multi-chain address Push

Watch the same address set across several supported chains in one subscription, with one HTTPS receiver. This suits wallet activity and payment notifications without maintaining a socket per chain. See self-service and enterprise address capacity; contact us to enable enterprise capacity. Address-day and delivered-event charges are separate from RPC calls and are listed in Push pricing.

RPC on Robinhood Chain and HyperEVM is listed in the chain catalog. Check methods and Push support per network; use the chain-specific starter guide and HyperEVM backfill guide for the relevant workflow.

Migration steps

1. Inventory and coverage: list chains, methods, fixed blocks, log spans and subscription dependencies. Check methods.allow, methods.deny, public.methods, state_window_blocks and ws in the catalog. A null history window is unspecified, not archive coverage. A keyless public.url smoke test validates only its listed public methods.
2. Key and authentication: obtain a BlockVectra key through the console or programmatic sign-up. Keep it in your server environment. RPC accepts POST /v1/{chain}/{api_key} or POST /v1/{chain} with x-api-key; Data API uses x-api-key. This Ethereum WETH decimals() example uses the header:

if [ -z "$BLOCKVECTRA_API_KEY" ]; then
  echo "Set BLOCKVECTRA_API_KEY in your server environment"
  exit 1
fi

curl --fail-with-body -sS --max-time 15 https://api.blockvectra.com/v1/eth_mainnet \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'User-Agent: curl BlockVectraQA/1' \
  -H "x-api-key: $BLOCKVECTRA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_call","params":[{"to":"0xC02aaA39b223FE8D0A0e5C4F27eAD9083C756Cc2","data":"0x313ce567"},"latest"]}'

3. Replay before switching: replace latest with the same supported fixed block on both providers and record the block hash. Compare returned values and JSON-RPC error, even after HTTP 200. Test representative log queries, bounded retries, rate-limit recovery and cursor resume. Migrate proprietary APIs and subscriptions separately; move traffic after the required results match.

FAQ

Does a lower method price mean a lower total task cost?

Calculate max(0, sum(calls × method CU) − available_free_cu) / (pricing.units_per_usd × pricing.cu_per_unit). Include splitting, retries and any services your task uses. Existing included credits change incremental costs; compare the complete result rather than billing-unit names.

Can I migrate by changing the endpoint?

For supported standard RPC methods, update the endpoint and path key or x-api-key header, then replay fixed-block requests. Check historical state and method coverage first. Proprietary APIs, WebSocket subscriptions and Push receivers need their own migration tests; see historical state and Webhook versus WebSocket.

Use How to choose an RPC provider for a workload checklist and self-tests.