Compare · NOWNodes

NOWNodes alternative with pricing and Bitcoin API compared

NOWNodes sells shared node and block explorer access across 100+ networks, from 20 euros a month for 1,000,000 requests. For raw RPC across many chains it is cheap.

If Bitcoin is the business and the job is answering questions, you need SQL. We priced both on 26 September 2026.

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REST API · SQL · dashboards · address history since the 2009 genesis block

Query Console

BTC address or sample query

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informational on-chain data · not financial advice

REST API · SQL · dashboards, one indexed dataset. Reading the chain ...

NOWNodes leads on price per raw request and on breadth, shared nodes plus Blockbook explorers across 100+ networks, while BitcoinDatabase indexes only Bitcoin so a balance, a flow or a join across addresses is one SQL query instead of a paging loop.

Side by side

NOWNodes vs BitcoinDatabase, honestly

A fair look at what each does well. Both are capable tools. Here is where they differ.

What matters	BitcoinDatabase	NOWNodes
What you buy	A Bitcoin data index: REST, SQL and exports	Shared full nodes plus Blockbook block explorer APIs, 100+ networks
Entry paid plan	Developer, $49 a month, 500,000 API credits, 10 requests a second	Pro, 20 euros a month, 1,000,000 requests, 3 API keys, no overage option
Higher plans	Growth $199 adds SQL, Scale $799 adds bulk CSV, labels and webhooks	Pro Plus 90 euros (10M), Business 200 euros (30M), Business Plus 300 euros (50M), Enterprise 500 euros (100M)
Overage	None: a spent pool returns HTTP 402, and a 429 costs no credits	5 euros per 100k on Pro Plus, 1 euro on Business tiers, 0.5 euro on Enterprise
Free tier	No free plan, a one-time demo query on the site	Start: 100,000 requests, 15 requests a second, any 5 networks, one month only
Bitcoin address history	One year on Developer; full history on Growth and Scale	Blockbook address endpoint, up to 1,000 transactions a page, from and to block heights
Balance at a past point	One SQL query at a block height, from Growth	Blockbook balance history, bounded by Unix timestamps, grouped by interval
SQL across addresses	Yes, POST /v1/sql from Growth	Not offered; RPC, REST, WebSocket and gRPC
Raw RPC and many chains	Not offered	Yes, the core product
Call without a key	HTTP 401 with a JSON error body	Blockbook: 401 "Unknown API_key"; node RPC: 422 "Missing api-key header", both plain text
Best suited for	Bitcoin exchanges, custodians, auditors and analysts who need numbers they can prove	Multi-chain apps and wallets that want cheap node access on many networks

Comparison reflects general, publicly understood positioning. Capabilities change, so check each product for the latest.

Why teams pick BitcoinDatabase

The fully indexed Bitcoin blockchain, queryable by REST, SQL and dashboards

What NOWNodes costs, read from its pricing page

We read nownodes.io/pricing on 26 September 2026. Shared plans are priced in euros. Start is free for one month only, with 100,000 requests, 15 requests a second and any 5 networks. Pro is 20 euros a month for 1,000,000 requests and 3 API keys, with no overage line, so the quota is a wall. Pro Plus is 90 euros for 10,000,000 requests with overage at 5 euros per 100,000. Business is 200 euros for 30,000,000, Business Plus 300 euros for 50,000,000, both with overage at 1 euro per 100,000 and 25 keys. Enterprise is 500 euros for 100,000,000 requests, 0.5 euro per 100,000 over and 100 keys. Annual billing takes 10% off. WebSocket access is not included on Start or Pro. Per raw request, that is among the cheapest lists we have read.

Its Bitcoin API is Blockbook, and that is a good thing

On the Bitcoin side NOWNodes exposes a node over JSON-RPC and a Blockbook explorer. Blockbook is the open-source indexer Trezor maintains, and its address endpoint is strong: up to 1,000 transactions a page, with from and to block heights to bound the walk. Paging the whole history of the exchange hot wallet we track, 2,337,746 transactions on 26 September 2026, is about 2,338 requests, a rounding error inside a 1,000,000 request Pro plan. We say that plainly. Where it stops is aggregation. Blockbook returns transactions for one address or one xpub. A net flow across a set of addresses, a balance for 10,000 addresses at the same height, or every output of a script type in a block range is still a loop you write, run and reconcile.

The period-end question of timestamps versus heights

Blockbook offers a balance history endpoint whose from and to bounds are Unix timestamps, grouped into intervals that default to one hour. That is fine for a chart. For an audit or a fund close it has a catch: block timestamps are not monotonic. When we measured the 2025 year-end cutoff, the last block before midnight Eastern was ambiguous by two blocks and 8,821 transactions, because blocks 930,372 and 930,373 carry timestamps before midnight after a block stamped later. A time-bounded query inherits that ambiguity silently. Pinning the balance to a named block height removes it, and that is what a query over outputs and inputs at a height does.

Where NOWNodes is the better buy

If you run a multi-chain wallet or app and need node access on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin and a hundred other networks, NOWNodes at 20 to 500 euros a month is hard to beat, and nothing here replaces raw RPC. Its free month is enough to prototype, and its Business tiers carry 25 keys for separate environments. BitcoinDatabase is the better fit when Bitcoin is the business and the output is a number someone will check: a balance at a period-end block, net flow through an exchange cluster over a window, fee rates your withdrawals actually paid, or a join across every output in a block range. Growth at $199 a month is where SQL starts, and Scale at $799 adds bulk CSV exports and entity labels.

Good questions

NOWNodes vs BitcoinDatabase, answered

On 26 September 2026 NOWNodes listed Pro at 20 euros a month for 1,000,000 requests, Pro Plus at 90 euros for 10,000,000, Business at 200 euros for 30,000,000, Business Plus at 300 euros for 50,000,000 and Enterprise at 500 euros for 100,000,000. Annual billing is 10% off, and overage runs from 5 euros down to 0.5 euro per 100,000 requests.

It has a Start plan: 100,000 requests, 15 requests a second and any 5 networks, for one month only. After the month you move to a paid plan. It suits a prototype, not a production integration.

It depends on what you do with the data. If you need raw node access on many chains, another node provider is the like-for-like swap. If Bitcoin is the whole business and you need balances at a block height, flows across many addresses or joins over the chain, a Bitcoin-only SQL index fits better. BitcoinDatabase offers REST from $49 a month and SQL from $199.

Yes. It exposes a Bitcoin node over JSON-RPC and a Blockbook block explorer API. Blockbook returns address details, up to 1,000 transactions a page with block height bounds, UTXOs, xpub data, fee estimates and balance history. Both require an API key on every call.

You sign up on nownodes.io and create keys in the account dashboard: 1 key on Start, 3 on Pro and Pro Plus, 25 on Business tiers and 100 on Enterprise. Without a key, on 26 September 2026 its Blockbook host answered HTTP 401 Unknown API_key and its Bitcoin RPC host answered HTTP 422 Missing api-key header, both in plain text.

The free Start plan lists 15 requests a second. Paid shared plans are sold by monthly request quota rather than a published requests-per-second figure, and Pro has no overage line, so the monthly quota is the limit. Check the current plan page before sizing a batch job. BitcoinDatabase publishes 10, 50 and 250 requests a second by plan, and a 429 costs no credits.

Its Blockbook balance history endpoint returns balance points between two Unix timestamps, grouped by an interval that defaults to one hour. Because Bitcoin block timestamps are not strictly increasing, a time cutoff can include or exclude a block unexpectedly. For audits, pin the cutoff to a block height. BitcoinDatabase answers balance at a height with one SQL query from Growth.

Per raw request, no. NOWNodes Pro is 20 euros for 1,000,000 requests against our $49 Developer plan with 500,000 credits. The comparison changes when the work is aggregation: a balance for thousands of addresses at one height, or a net flow over a window, is one SQL call on our Growth plan instead of thousands of paged requests plus your own reconciliation.

No. BitcoinDatabase provides informational on-chain data and analytics only. It is not investment, financial or legal advice. Vendor facts on this page were read directly on 26 September 2026, and prices, quotas or endpoints may change after that date. NOWNodes is a trademark of its owner.

Explore the data

The Bitcoin data you can query here

Bitcoin node API

JSON-RPC style access to blocks, transactions and balances, with no Bitcoin Core to run.

Explore

Bitcoin address labels

Attach exchange, miner and service labels to addresses, so raw hashes read as entities.

Explore

Bitcoin address balance history API

What an address held on any past date, not just what it holds now.

Explore

On-chain metrics

Active addresses, realized cap, SOPR, HODL waves and exchange flows.

Explore

More comparisons

See how BitcoinDatabase compares

vs Glassnode

Glassnode alternative

Raw queryable Bitcoin data over REST, SQL and dashboards, not just curated charts.

vs Dune

Dune alternative

Bitcoin-only and fully-indexed, with a REST API too, not just cross-chain SQL.

vs Blockchair

Blockchair alternative

Bitcoin-deep with every UTXO, entity labels, metrics, SQL and dashboards.

vs Chainalysis

Chainalysis alternative

Developer-first, self-serve on-chain data with compliance tooling to support your own review.

vs BlockCypher

BlockCypher alternative

Bitcoin-native depth with SQL and dashboards, not just a multi-chain REST API.

vs Chainstack

Chainstack alternative

Indexed Bitcoin data over REST and SQL, not raw RPC nodes you still have to query.

vs Blockchain.com

Blockchain.com API alternative

Production-grade indexed Bitcoin data over REST and SQL, not a rate-capped free explorer API.

vs Mempool.space

Mempool.space alternative

Indexed address, balance and history data over REST and SQL, alongside mempool and fees, on production plans.

vs CoinAPI

CoinAPI alternative

On-chain Bitcoin data: addresses, balances, UTXOs and labels, not cross-asset market prices.

vs TRM Labs

TRM Labs alternative

Bitcoin-native on-chain data and screening signals over REST and SQL, not a full multi-chain investigations suite.

vs Whale Alert

Whale Alert alternative

Query large bitcoin transactions on your own thresholds from the fully-indexed chain, not just a fixed real-time feed.

vs CoinGecko

CoinGecko alternative

Raw on-chain Bitcoin data over REST and SQL, not market prices across thousands of coins.

vs CoinMarketCap

CoinMarketCap alternative

On-chain Bitcoin data over REST and SQL, where CoinMarketCap serves market prices.

vs Blockdaemon

Blockdaemon alternative

A query-first indexed Bitcoin database over REST and SQL, not raw node RPC infrastructure.

vs Xverse

Xverse alternative

Query indexed ordinals, inscriptions, BRC-20 and Runes data over REST and SQL, not just wallet and minting endpoints.

vs BigQuery

BigQuery alternative

Balances, entity labels and fund flows already indexed, without per-terabyte scan billing.

vs Bitquery

Bitquery alternative

Bitcoin-only depth over REST and SQL, billed on calls rather than on points that move with query shape.

vs TimechainIndex

TimechainIndex alternative

Bitcoin-only like TimechainIndex, with published pricing and a commercial REST API.

vs CryptoQuant

CryptoQuant alternative

API access on the entry plan and the raw chain underneath, not day-resolution metrics.

vs Alchemy

Alchemy alternative

An indexed Bitcoin database you query by address, not a Bitcoin Core JSON-RPC passthrough.

vs QuickNode

QuickNode alternative

An indexed Bitcoin database you query by address, not a managed Core node with the address-capable calls switched off.

vs Hiro

Hiro alternative

Hiro retired its Bitcoin Layer 1 APIs. The endpoints now answer HTTP 410 Gone, and the migration link inside that answer is itself dead.

vs Amberdata

Amberdata alternative

Amberdata belongs to Kaiko as of June 2026. Its pricing page loads but publishes no number, and its API answers a missing key three different ways.

vs Elliptic

Elliptic alternative

Elliptic publishes no pricing and sells its screening API only on a negotiated contract. We measured its endpoints, and the OFAC list underneath it, on 4 September 2026.

vs Merkle Science

Merkle Science alternative

Merkle Science publishes no pricing and gates every product behind a demo. We measured its site, its API documentation and its blockchain coverage on 6 September 2026.

vs Coin Metrics

Coin Metrics alternative

Coin Metrics is now Talos and its pricing page is gone. We measured the redirects, the free community API and the exact metrics it withholds on 8 September 2026.

vs CoinGlass

CoinGlass alternative

CoinGlass publishes exchange balances per wallet address, hourly and rounded, from $29 a month with no free tier. We measured its plans, its documented precision and its Bitcoin gaps on 10 September 2026.

vs Crypto APIs

Crypto APIs alternative

Crypto APIs covers 35+ networks from $49 a month. For Bitcoin fee rates, balances and history, we measured where a Bitcoin-only index does the job better and where it does not.

vs Tatum

Tatum alternative

Tatum covers 130+ blockchains from $49 a month. For Bitcoin history, balances at a past block and fee rates, we priced its plans and measured the Bitcoin side on 22 Sep 2026.

vs GetBlock

GetBlock alternative

GetBlock sells shared nodes on 130+ chains, priced in compute units, from $49 a month. We read its plan table and CU rules and probed its Bitcoin endpoints on 27 Sep 2026.

vs Arkham

Arkham Intelligence alternative

Arkham names wallets across seven networks and grants its API by application. We read its access terms and probed its API on 28 Sep 2026.

vs Santiment

Santiment alternative

Santiment sells 1,000+ metrics across 2,800 assets over GraphQL. We read its plans and tested its Bitcoin balance query against the chain on 29 Sep 2026.

vs Nansen

Nansen alternative

Nansen labels wallets across 38 chains, and Bitcoin is one of them. We read its API docs, credit table and pay-per-call terms on 30 Sep 2026.

vs Allium

Allium alternative

Allium sells enterprise blockchain data across dozens of chains, Bitcoin included. We read its docs, unit tables and keyless pricing on 1 Oct 2026.

vs Flipside

Flipside alternative

Flipside sold its blockchain data business to SonarX in May 2026 and its old domain now redirects to an enterprise AI product. We checked what is left on 2 Oct 2026.

vs SonarX

SonarX alternative

SonarX ships Bitcoin as Snowflake shares, file dumps and Kafka streams, and turns on Bitcoin balances and REST on request. We read its Bitcoin page and checked its pricing URL on 5 Oct 2026.

vs GoldRush

GoldRush alternative

GoldRush, the API formerly sold as Covalent, covers 100 plus chains and gives Bitcoin three endpoints. We read its Bitcoin docs and pricing page on 6 Oct 2026.

vs Scorechain

Scorechain alternative

Scorechain is a Luxembourg blockchain analytics firm covering 25 plus chains. We read its site, its QuickNode add-on docs and pricing on 7 Oct 2026.

vs AMLBot

AMLBot alternative

AMLBot sells wallet checks, KYT monitoring and KYC to crypto businesses across many chains. We read its site and plan guide on 8 Oct 2026.

See everything BitcoinDatabase can query

Query the whole Bitcoin blockchain in one place

An address in, structured on-chain data out. BitcoinDatabase serves balances, UTXOs, transactions, entity labels and fund flows, with address history back to the 2009 genesis block over REST, and SQL and dashboards over the indexed chain. No node to run.

See pricing

REST + SQL + dashboards · new blocks within seconds · informational on-chain data only