Helius is a Solana developer platform with fast RPC, unified DAS asset APIs (NFTs, Token-22), Priority Fee estimates, and low-latency webhooks/streams. See features, pricing, and setup steps for reliable, real-time apps.
About Helius
Helius is a Solana-first developer platform providing high-performance RPC, real-time streaming, and enriched APIs for tokens, NFTs, and transactions.
Builders use it to send reliable transactions, estimate priority fees, decode activity, and subscribe to on-chain events with webhooks or gRPC streams.
DAS (Digital Asset Standard) endpoints unify metadata and ownership across regular and compressed NFTs as well as SPL/Token-22 tokens, which helps apps index assets without running their own infra.
What makes Helius special?
Helius focuses on production-grade delivery and data quality: staked connections target higher landing rates for time-sensitive transactions, while LaserStream (gRPC) distributes streams across regions for resilient, low-latency event delivery.
On the data side, DAS standardizes asset queries across NFTs (regular and compressed) and fungible tokens—including Token-22—so teams can fetch holdings and metadata consistently without bespoke indexers.
The combination of Priority Fee API plus sending guides gives practical controls to balance speed and cost during network congestion.
Pricing
Discover the pricing options available for Helius
Freemium
Helius uses plan tiers with a credit-based system and rate limits. Public pages list options from Free to Developer, Business, and Professional, with credits, requests-per-second, and sendTransaction limits shown per tier.
Example marketing pages list:
Free ($0)
Developer ($49/mo)
Business ($499/mo)
Professional ($999/mo)
Dedicated nodes and add-ons (e.g., large streaming quotas) are available for higher-throughput needs.
Always confirm current limits and inclusions in the dashboard, as features and allocation can change.
How to get started with Helius
Set up an account, create an API key, and plug it into your app in minutes.
1
Create an account & pick a plan
2 minutes
Easy
Start with Free to test, or choose a paid tier if you need higher limits.
2
Create an API key
2 minutes
Easy
From the dashboard, generate a key for RPC and API calls (DAS, Priority Fee, webhooks).
3
Configure RPC & endpoints
2 minutes
Easy
Point your SDK (e.g., web3.js) at the Helius RPC URL; add DAS and Priority Fee endpoints as needed.
4
Enable real-time updates
2 minutes
Easy
Set up webhooks for accounts/programs or use LaserStream/gRPC for streaming data.
5
Ship transactions reliably
2 minutes
Easy
Apply the sending/optimization guidelines to tune priority fees and confirmation behavior.
Pro Tips
Tip 1
Use the Priority Fee API to set just-enough fees instead of hard-coding lamports—especially during congestion.
Tip 2
For trading or bots, route via staked connections to improve landing rates and reduce re-sends.
Tip 3
Follow Helius’ sending optimization guide (compute units, retries, commitment) to lower confirmation latency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to the most common questions about this tool
What is Helius?
Helius is a developer platform designed to simplify building on the Solana blockchain by providing optimized RPC nodes, APIs, and webhooks. It offers tools to streamline application development and enhance performance.
How does Helius work?
Helius provides globally distributed RPC nodes for low-latency interactions with the Solana network, along with APIs for efficient data retrieval and webhooks for real-time event notifications.
These services enable developers to build and scale applications on Solana more effectively.
What types of APIs does Helius provide?
Helius offers APIs for NFTs, tokens, and transactions, allowing developers to access comprehensive data and streamline application development on Solana.
How does Helius ensure low latency and high reliability?
Helius utilizes globally distributed RPC nodes to minimize latency and provides 24/7 technical support to ensure high reliability for developers building on Solana.
What can I build with Helius?
Anything from wallets and explorers to trading bots and NFT apps—use RPC for core reads/writes, DAS for assets/metadata, Priority Fee for fee selection, and webhooks/streams for real-time UX.
Does DAS support Token-22 and compressed NFTs?
Yes. DAS covers SPL tokens, Token-22 (and extensions), regular NFTs, and compressed NFTs with unified queries.
