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              3 minutes

              The Graph vs. Self Hosting

              The Graph’s decentralized network has been engineered and refined to create a robust indexing and querying experience—and it’s getting better every day thanks to thousands of contributors around the world.

              The benefits of this decentralized protocol cannot be replicated by running a graph-node locally. The Graph Network is more reliable, more efficient, and less expensive.

              Here is an analysis:

              Why You Should Use The Graph Network

              • Significantly lower monthly costs
              • $0 infrastructure setup costs
              • Superior uptime
              • Access to hundreds of independent Indexers around the world
              • 24/7 technical support by global community

              The Benefits Explained

              Lower & more Flexible Cost Structure

              No contracts. No monthly fees. Only pay for the queries you use—with an average cost-per-query of $20 per million queries (~$0.00002 per query). Queries are priced in USD and paid in GRT or credit card.

              Query costs may vary; the quoted cost is the average at time of publication (March 2024).

              Low Volume User (less than 100,000 queries per month)

              Cost ComparisonSelf HostedThe Graph Network
              Monthly server cost*$350 per month$0
              Query costs$0+$0 per month
              Engineering time†$400 per monthNone, built into the network with globally distributed Indexers
              Queries per monthLimited to infra capabilities100,000 (Free Plan)
              Cost per query$0$0‡
              InfrastructureCentralizedDecentralized
              Geographic redundancy$750+ per additional nodeIncluded
              UptimeVaries99.9%+
              Total Monthly Costs$750+$0

              Medium Volume User (~3M queries per month)

              Cost ComparisonSelf HostedThe Graph Network
              Monthly server cost*$350 per month$0
              Query costs$500 per month$120 per month
              Engineering time†$800 per monthNone, built into the network with globally distributed Indexers
              Queries per monthLimited to infra capabilities~3,000,000
              Cost per query$0$0.00002
              InfrastructureCentralizedDecentralized
              Engineering expense$200 per hourIncluded
              Geographic redundancy$1,200 in total costs per additional nodeIncluded
              UptimeVaries99.9%+
              Total Monthly Costs $1,650+$120

              High Volume User (~30M queries per month)

              Cost ComparisonSelf HostedThe Graph Network
              Monthly server cost*$1100 per month, per node$0
              Query costs$4000$1,200 per month
              Number of nodes needed10Not applicable
              Engineering time†$6,000 or more per monthNone, built into the network with globally distributed Indexers
              Queries per monthLimited to infra capabilities~30,000,000
              Cost per query$0$0.00002
              InfrastructureCentralizedDecentralized
              Geographic redundancy$1,200 in total costs per additional nodeIncluded
              UptimeVaries99.9%+
              Total Monthly Costs $11,000+$1,200

              *including costs for backup: $50-$100 per month

              †Engineering time based on $200 per hour assumption

              ‡Reflects cost for data consumer. Query fees are still paid to Indexers for Free Plan queries.

              Estimated costs are only for Ethereum Mainnet Subgraphs — costs are even higher when self hosting a graph-node on other networks. Some users may need to update their Subgraph to a new version. Due to Ethereum gas fees, an update costs ~$50 at time of writing. Note that gas fees on Arbitrum are substantially lower than Ethereum mainnet.

              Curating signal on a Subgraph is an optional one-time, net-zero cost (e.g., $1k in signal can be curated on a Subgraph, and later withdrawn—with potential to earn returns in the process).

              No Setup Costs & Greater Operational Efficiency

              Zero setup fees. Get started immediately with no setup or overhead costs. No hardware requirements. No outages due to centralized infrastructure, and more time to concentrate on your core product . No need for backup servers, troubleshooting, or expensive engineering resources.

              Reliability & Resiliency

              The Graph’s decentralized network gives users access to geographic redundancy that does not exist when self-hosting a graph-node. Queries are served reliably thanks to 99.9%+ uptime, achieved by hundreds of independent Indexers securing the network globally.

              Bottom line: The Graph Network is less expensive, easier to use, and produces superior results compared to running a graph-node locally.

              Start using The Graph Network today, and learn how to publish your Subgraph to The Graph’s decentralized network.

              ⁠Edit on GitHub⁠

              TokenomicsDelegating
              On this page
              • Why You Should Use The Graph Network
              • The Benefits Explained
              • Lower & more Flexible Cost Structure
              • Low Volume User (less than 100,000 queries per month)
              • Medium Volume User (~3M queries per month)
              • High Volume User (~30M queries per month)
              • No Setup Costs & Greater Operational Efficiency
              • Reliability & Resiliency
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