Alchemy

Alchemy typical implementation process:

• Sign up for an Alchemy account and create a workspace from the dashboard; this usually takes only a few minutes.​

• Generate an API key for your target chain (e.g., Ethereum, Polygon, Solana) and configure basic app settings in the console; expect 5–15 minutes.​

• Make your first RPC or Data API request (via cURL, SDK, or viem) to verify connectivity and responses; most teams complete this smoke test within an hour.​

• Integrate the Alchemy SDK or RPC endpoint into your backend/frontend (set network, API key, and basic read/write calls); simple dApps often reach a working prototype in 1–3 days.​​

• Add higher-level features (webhooks, smart wallets, gasless transactions, portfolio or token APIs) and basic monitoring/logging to reach a production-ready integration, which typically takes 1–2 weeks depending on app complexity and team size.​

Alchemy can be customized quite extensively to fit specific business and enterprise needs across infrastructure, wallets, UX, and operations. Key customization levers include:​

• Custom chains and rollups: Launch a dedicated rollup (OP Stack, Arbitrum Orbit, ZK stacks) with control over transaction speed, fees, data availability layers, and even custom precompiles for bespoke logic.​

• White‑glove enterprise tailoring: Enterprise customers can get custom SLAs, uptime guarantees, escalation paths, and architecture guidance for vertical-specific use cases (finance, gaming, healthcare, etc.).​

• Wallet UX and branding: Smart Wallets offer pre-built React UI components whose themes, colors, and layout can be adapted to match app branding, plus hooks to build fully custom auth and transaction UIs if desired.​

• Flexible authentication and security: Support for SSO, MFA, role-based access control, and KMS-backed key management allows organizations to align access control and secrets handling with internal security policies.​

• Configurable infra choices: Ability to run on multiple clouds (AWS, GCP, Cloudflare) and to tune throughput, rate limits, and scaling behavior through plan selection and enterprise contracts.​

• Modular product adoption: Teams can selectively adopt only RPC, Data APIs, Rollups, or Wallets and compose them with their own stacks, rather than using the entire platform opinionatively.​

• Pricing and capacity customization: Growth, Scale, and Enterprise pricing tiers allow custom allocations of compute units, throughput, and support levels to map to different traffic and cost profiles.​

• Workflow and integration flexibility: Alchemy’s APIs integrate with existing backends, CI/CD, and observability stacks, and can be wired into bespoke workflows via SDKs, webhooks, and third-party automation tools.​

Alchemy does not charge separate setup or platform fees on its standard self-serve plans; instead, costs are almost entirely usage-based, measured in compute units (CUs) tied to API activity. The Free tier is $0 with no setup charge and includes a base CU allocation, apps, webhooks, and standard support, while the Pay As You Go plan has no minimums or commitments and bills monthly only for the CUs consumed at published per‑million-CU rates. There are no distinct “maintenance” fees; ongoing infrastructure, upgrades, and core support are included in the CU-based pricing, though certain features, such as Gas Manager on mainnet,s apply an 8% admin fe,e and gas sponsorship has a configurable base limit that can introduce additional spend as usage grows. For Enterprise customers, pricing (including any enhanced support, custom SLAs, or dedicated engineering engagement) is negotiated case by case, so large organizations may see additional contracted costs tied to premium support and guaranteed throughput rather than flat setup fees.​

Alchemy offers a mix of self-serve education, structured learning programs, and multi-tier support so new users can onboard quickly and get help as they scale.​

Onboarding docs and quickstarts

Alchemy maintains a comprehensive documentation hub with API references, conceptual guides, and network-specific docs that walk new users through setting up keys, making their first request, and integrating SDKs. A dedicated Quickstart Guide outlines step‑by‑step tasks—creating an API key, sending a first RPC/Data call, wiring Alchemy into viem or other libraries, and then moving into practical tutorials like sending transactions or deploying a “Hello World” smart contract.​

• Tutorials and education resources: New users can choose from curated “Choose your starting point” tracks that route them to the right docs and examples depending on whether they are building dApps, wallets, rollups, or data products. Alchemy also provides Web3 education via Alchemy University and curated lists of the best Web3 tutorials and learning resources, including free multi-week bootcamps covering Ethereum, JavaScript, NFTs, and account abstraction concepts.​

• Support hub and ticketing: The Alchemy Support Hub groups FAQs and knowledge-base articles by category (getting started, billing, errors, etc.) and explains best practices for opening tickets and getting faster resolutions. New users can search the knowledge base for common issues, then escalate via support channels when documentation is insufficient, ensuring both self-serve and assisted paths are available from day one.​

• Developer-focused help and tooling: Alchemy’s SDKs and open-source clients (such as the Alchemy Web3 client) include usage examples, configuration patterns, and GitHub issues that function as living documentation for how to integrate Alchemy with custom codebases. Video content like “Getting Started with the Alchemy SDK” walks developers through dashboard login, API key creation, local project setup, and first SDK calls, offering a guided, visual onboarding experience.​​

• Enterprise and 24/7 support: For larger or mission-critical projects, Alchemy’s Enterprise offering includes 24/7 access to a global engineering team, custom SLAs, and strategic architecture consultations so the support function operates as an extension of the customer’s Web3 team. Enterprise customers can work with Alchemy on capacity planning, incident response, and best-practice reviews, aligning training and support closely with their specific security, compliance, and reliability requirements.

Alchemy secures data with layered technical, operational, and cloud controls designed for enterprise-grade Web3 workloads.​

• Data security: Alchemy encrypts all API traffic using TLS, protecting the integrity and confidentiality of requests between your applications and its infrastructure. The platform performs regular internal security testing and annual third‑party penetration tests, and uses industry-standard DDoS protection systems to defend against large-scale attacks.​

• Operational security: Employees receive ongoing security training, including how to spot and report phishing, and access is restricted via Single Sign-On with multi-factor authentication and role-based access control, so staff only see the resources they need. Company endpoints (like laptops) are continuously monitored for suspicious behavior, and all third-party vendors are security-assessed before being trusted with data or infrastructure access.​

• Cloud and key management: Alchemy runs on SOC 2–audited providers, including AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Cloudflare, and uses cloud-native secrets management to store internal secrets and keys securely. Its cloud environment is continuously monitored for anomalous activity, and the Alchemy Firewall stack enforces compliance controls and “military-grade” encryption across infrastructure to align with strict regulatory requirements.

Alchemy ships updates continuously, with changes rolled out frequently across its node infrastructure, developer experience, SDKs, and the Cortex engine, then documented in a central changelog and supporting playbooks.​

• Release frequency: Alchemy maintains an active changelog that shows multiple entries per month covering node upgrades, new chain support, dashboard improvements, and docs reorganizations, reflecting an ongoing, continuous-release model rather than rare big-bang versions. Recent entries include back-to-back updates for Polygon, Base, World Chain, Tron, and rollup environments, indicating that production infrastructure is refreshed and tuned on a weekly to multi-week cadence as upstream clients and networks evolve.​

• How updates are managed: Node updates follow an internal upgrade playbook that explains when and how Ethereum (and other) nodes are updated—for critical bug fixes, security patches, and new features—with careful staging, replication, and failover to avoid downtime. Cortex-powered infra uses GitOps-style routing configuration, regional failovers, and an isolated emergency backup stack to roll out changes safely, while the public changelog, SDK change logs, and blog posts keep developers informed about new capabilities and deprecations (for example, legacy endpoint shutdown timelines).​

Alchemy’s policy is that customers retain ownership of their own data while granting Alchemy a limited license to process it for providing and improving the service, and customers can export or move that data as needed.​

• Data ownership: As set out in Alchemy’s legal terms, “as between you and Alchemy, you own and retain all right, title, and interest in and to all Your Data,” meaning application data and content you send through or store with the service remains yours. Alchemy, in turn, owns its platform, tools, and any aggregate or derived metrics produced from broad usage where individuals are no longer identifiable, but this does not transfer ownership of your underlying datasets.​

• License to process and improve: To operate the platform, you grant Alchemy a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, host, reproduce, display, perform, and modify your data solely for hosting, providing, operating, and improving its services and related technologies, or as required by law. This language is standard SaaS practice and is scoped to service delivery and improvement rather than selling customer data or using it for unrelated third-party marketing.​

• Portability and control: Because data remains under your ownership, you are free to export and move it. On—chain data is inherently portable, and any off-chain usage or logs you store via Alchemy’s APIs can be fetched through those APIs and migrated to other systems at any time during the service term. The legal terms also align with modern privacy frameworks by allowing customers to control their own account data and by limiting Alchemy’s processing to defined service-related purposes, which supports portability in the sense that ending the relationship does not restrict reuse of your own data in other stacks.​

Alchemy uses subscription-style terms with automatic renewals for contracted customers, flexible cancellation for self-serve tiers, and defined rights for termination for cause.​

Renewal structure

For customers on an Order Form (e.g., Enterprise, committed contracts), the agreement has an Initial Term defined in the Order Form and then automatically renews for successive one‑year Renewal Terms unless either party gives written non‑renewal notice at least 90 days before the end of the then-current term. If you have no Order Form (i.e., you’re purely self‑serve), the term runs from the effective date until terminated under the termination clauses, without a fixed multi‑year commitment.​

Cancellation by the customer

If you subscribed via a cloud marketplace or hosting provider, you can terminate by unsubscribing through that marketplace’s standard procedures. If you contracted directly with Alchemy on an Order Form, you may terminate (i.e., choose not to renew) by giving at least 90 days’ written notice before the end of the Initial or current Renewal Term, with termination effective at the end of that contract year.​

For self‑serve tiers without an Order Form:

• Free tier users can terminate at any time simply by stopping use of the services.​

• Pay As You Go users can terminate effective at the end of the month in which they terminate, but remain responsible for all fees incurred up to the effective termination date.​

Termination for breach or by Alchemy

Either party may terminate the agreement if the other materially breaches it and fails to cure within 30 days after receiving written notice of the breach. Separately, Alchemy may terminate the agreement by giving 14 days’ written notice and refunding a prorated portion of any prepaid fees for the remaining term.​

Effect of termination and payment obligations

On expiration or termination, the license rights to use Alchemy’s services end, and you must return or destroy all Alchemy confidential information and, on request, certify that you have done so. No expiration or termination affects your obligation to pay all outstanding fees through the effective date of termination, and except for the specific 14‑day-notice scenario where Alchemy initiates termination and prorates, you are generally not entitled to refunds of amounts already paid.​

Alchemy’s Web3 platform is built on top of infrastructure and controls that align with recognized security and compliance frameworks, with a particular emphasis on SOC 2 and major privacy/financial regulations.​

• SOC 2 and cloud compliance: Alchemy states that its infrastructure rigorously adheres to SOC 2 standards, focusing on secure handling of data and robust internal controls. It also relies on cloud providers such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Cloudflare, all of which are independently SOC 2 certified, so the underlying hosting environment meets audited security, availability, and confidentiality criteria.​

• Regulatory and privacy controls: Within its Alchemy Firewall and enterprise offerings, the platform highlights strict compliance with OFAC sanctions rules and GDPR, applying these controls at the country, transaction, address, and payment levels. Partners used for payments and related services are described as PCI/SOC 2–compliant, which helps enterprises align with financial and data-protection expectations when running regulated or high-sensitivity workloads on Alchemy.