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Goldsky vs The Graph

A practical and comprehensive comparison of subgraph indexing, streaming, chain coverage, pricing, and production operations.

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Goldsky vs The Graph: the verdict

Choose The Graph when decentralized, open-source infrastructure is the priority. Choose Goldsky when you want managed subgraph performance and real-time streaming into infrastructure you control.

Compare products, platform capabilities, and performance

At the subgraph layer, Goldsky and The Graph share the same foundation: the open-source Graph Node. Their streaming systems are distinct: The Graph has Substreams, while Goldsky has Turbo. Goldsky also includes Edge, a complete RPC product, and Compose, a framework for onchain automation.

Quick comparison of The Graph and Goldsky across key dimensions
FeatureThe GraphGoldsky
Platform
ArchitectureDecentralized Indexer protocol incentivized by GRT; query access and Indexer payments are mediated by the Edge & Node-operated gateway[2][3]Fully managed service with an autoscaling query layer[7]
Subgraph compatibility100% Graph Protocol compatible100% Graph Protocol compatible, plus subgraph webhooks and Turbo data streams into your infrastructure[7][8]
Supported chains57 chains[1]163 chains[6]
Performance
Subgraph indexing speedVaries by IndexerUp to 10× faster[13]
Streaming to your infrastructureYes, Substreams lists 9 officially supported sink implementations[9]Yes, 11 managed sink types[8]
Ownership & cost
Data ownershipData on decentralized Indexer nodes; self-hosted option gives full ownershipData in Goldsky-managed infra, or streamed to your systems via Turbo
Pricing model100K queries/month free; then $2 per 100K queries[4]$100 Starter credit; usage metered by active worker-hours and stored entities[14]

Subgraph hosting and data streaming

Both platforms serve GraphQL APIs from subgraph deployments. The Graph is the canonical source. It defined the subgraph manifest, schema, and mapping format that has become the industry standard.

Goldsky Subgraphs is a fully managed service that extends the subgraph standard while remaining compatible with it. Existing subgraph.yaml, schema, and AssemblyScript mappings work without changes.

Where they diverge is in the developer experience and support for building and managing subgraphs. Goldsky Subgraphs provides a more streamlined developer experience with features like instant subgraphs from ABI, tags for versioning, and webhooks for real-time event notifications. It also includes detailed metrics including handler timing and eth_call counts.

For common dataset-to-database jobs, Turbo keeps sources, transforms, and sinks in one YAML definition.[10] Substreams is typically a deeper engineering project: define Protobuf output types, write transformations in Rust, configure a manifest, compile to WASM, and bundle an .spkg package.[11] Even SQL output needs a dedicated Substreams SQL sink CLI or a provider to host it.[12]

Beyond indexing

Goldsky extends beyond indexing and streaming into areas The Graph doesn’t cover: Edge RPC for low-latency multi-region read access, and Compose for onchain automation. If your team needs to write onchain, not only read and stream onchain data, Goldsky is the more complete platform.

Chain support

Using each platform’s production support catalog and excluding testnets, Goldsky supports 163 chains.[6] The Graph supports 57 chains.[1] Goldsky’s non-EVM coverage is stronger, including networks like HyperCore, Sui, and Canton.

Pricing

Goldsky: New accounts receive $100 in free credit. Subgraph workers cost $0.05 per hour (about $36.50 per month), while Turbo pipeline workers cost $0.10 per hour (about $73 per month).[14]

The Graph: The first 100,000 queries each month are free, then queries cost $2 per 100,000.[4] Substreams includes the first 1 TB free, then costs $25 per TB.[5]

Teams with moderate or growing query volume may find Goldsky’s model easier to predict: query traffic itself is not metered, so traffic spikes do not directly increase the bill. Review the current Goldsky pricing page before you estimate total cost.

Customer results

Results from teams that moved indexing from The Graph to Goldsky.

When to choose Goldsky, and when to choose The Graph

Choose The Graph if:

  • You need decentralized, token-incentivized subgraph queries
  • You want to use an existing Substreams package instead of writing your own
  • You want lower-level control over parallel streaming modules

Choose Goldsky if:

  • You want fully managed performance and reliability with human support
  • You need turnkey streaming into common databases and data platforms
  • You need RPC access and onchain automation, not just read-only data

Migrate from The Graph in three steps

If you have an existing subgraph deployed on The Graph, install and authenticate the CLI, then deploy the subgraph to Goldsky with one command.

1

Install the CLI

2

Authenticate

3

Migrate your subgraph from The Graph

Terminal
$ curl https://goldsky.com | sh
$ goldsky login
$ goldsky subgraph deploy my-subgraph/v1 --from-url <the-graph-subgraph-url>

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Frequently asked questions

Choose The Graph when decentralization and open-source infrastructure are the priority. Choose Goldsky when you want managed subgraphs and streaming pipelines with one operational partner.
Yes. Some teams use The Graph for decentralized production queries and Goldsky for analytics, warehousing, or streaming into internal databases. The two platforms complement each other well.
Yes. Goldsky is compatible with the Graph Protocol subgraph format. You can deploy your existing subgraph manifests, schemas, and mappings without changes.
The Graph shut down its hosted service as part of the Sunrise migration. Projects that used it can migrate to The Graph’s decentralized network, Goldsky, or another provider. See the sources below for The Graph’s official notice.
No. Turbo takes a different approach: managed pipelines with SQL and TypeScript transforms that push data into your own systems, with no Rust to write and no infrastructure to run.
It depends on whether you’re query-heavy or entity-heavy. The Graph prices queries, while Goldsky meters active workers and stored entities. If you also need data in Snowflake or Postgres, include the cost of separate streaming or ETL infrastructure in your comparison. See the current pricing sources below.

Sources

All sources were checked on August 19, 2026. Customer results describe that customer’s workload and do not promise the same result for every project.

  1. Supported Networks. The Graph Docs.abc
  2. Indexing overview. The Graph Docs.^
  3. Developer FAQ. The Graph Docs.^
  4. Subgraph Studio pricing. The Graph.ab
  5. Substreams. The Graph.^
  6. Supported chains. Goldsky.ab
  7. Index onchain data with Subgraphs. Goldsky Docs.^
  8. Turbo supported sinks. Goldsky Docs.ab
  9. Sink your Substreams. The Graph Docs.ab
  10. Turbo pipeline configuration. Goldsky Docs.^
  11. Substreams CLI reference. StreamingFast Docs.^
  12. Substreams SQL sink. StreamingFast Docs.^
  13. How Koi Finance unlocked faster indexing and querying. Goldsky case study.ab
  14. Pricing summary. Goldsky Docs.ab
  15. The road to sunsetting the hosted service. The Graph.^

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