Tenderly excels at providing deep, real-time observability and debugging for smart contract events. Its platform integrates simulation, forking, and alerting into a unified developer experience. For example, its 99.9% data freshness SLA and ability to trigger alerts based on complex, multi-contract logic (like a failed flash loan on Aave or a specific NFT sale on OpenSea) make it powerful for protocol teams needing granular, actionable insights.
LABS
Comparisons
Tenderly vs Infura Webhooks: Developer Platform Alerting
A technical analysis comparing Tenderly and Infura's webhook and alerting systems for Ethereum smart contract monitoring. We evaluate feature depth, integration complexity, and cost for engineering leaders.
Chainscore © 2026
introduction
THE ANALYSIS
Introduction
A technical breakdown of Tenderly and Infura Webhooks, two leading platforms for blockchain event monitoring and alerting.
Infura Webhooks takes a different approach by leveraging its massive, established node infrastructure to deliver reliable, high-throughput event streams. This results in a trade-off: while less feature-rich for debugging, it offers superior scalability and seamless integration for applications already built on Infura's RPC services, processing millions of requests daily for protocols like Uniswap and MetaMask.
The key trade-off: If your priority is developer velocity, complex event logic, and deep debugging within a single platform, choose Tenderly. If you prioritize infrastructure stability, massive scale, and tight integration with a proven RPC provider, choose Infura Webhooks.
tldr-summary
Tenderly vs Infura Webhooks
TL;DR: Key Differentiators
A side-by-side breakdown of core strengths and trade-offs for real-time blockchain alerting platforms.
02
Tenderly: Sophisticated Event Filtering
Multi-condition logic: Create alerts based on complex combinations of event signatures, function calls, and state changes. This matters for DeFi architects building keepers or monitoring specific liquidity pool conditions (e.g., USDC/USDT peg deviation on Curve).
04
Infura: Seamless RPC Integration
Unified platform experience: Webhooks and JSON-RPC endpoints are managed from the same dashboard with consistent API keys and billing. This matters for engineering VPs streamlining their stack, reducing vendor overhead, and teams already using Infura for their primary node service.
DEVELOPER ALERTING & MONITORING
Feature Comparison: Tenderly vs Infura Webhooks
Direct comparison of webhook capabilities, event triggers, and developer experience for blockchain monitoring.
| Metric / Feature | Tenderly Webhooks | Infura Webhooks |
|---|---|---|
Event Types Supported | Custom Smart Contract Events, Failed Transactions, Gas Estimation, Wallet Activity | Contract Events, New Blocks, Pending Transactions |
Custom Filter Logic (e.g., value > 1 ETH) | ||
Simulate Transaction Before Alert | ||
Free Tier Webhook Volume | 1,000 events/month | 500 events/month |
Max Historical Data for Setup | All-time | 128 blocks (~30 min) |
Integrated Debugging & Forking | ||
Multi-Chain Support (e.g., Arbitrum, Polygon) |
pros-cons-a
PROS AND CONS
Tenderly vs Infura Webhooks: Developer Platform Alerting
Key strengths and trade-offs for real-time blockchain event monitoring at a glance.
01
Tenderly: Advanced Debugging & Simulation
Specific advantage: Integrates alerting with a full-stack debugging environment. You can simulate transactions directly from an alert to diagnose failures before broadcasting. This matters for high-value DeFi protocols where failed transactions are costly, allowing for pre-execution risk analysis.
02
Tenderly: Granular Event Filtering
Specific advantage: Supports complex filtering on decoded event data, function calls, and state changes, not just raw logs. This matters for protocols with complex logic (e.g., Aave, Compound) where you need alerts for specific liquidity pool thresholds or governance proposal states.
03
Infura: Multi-Chain Simplicity & Scale
Specific advantage: Native webhook support across 15+ chains (Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, etc.) from a single, unified API dashboard. This matters for cross-chain dApp teams who need consistent, reliable alerting infrastructure without managing separate providers for each chain.
04
Infura: Enterprise-Grade Reliability
Specific advantage: Built on ConsenSys infrastructure with >99.9% historical uptime and dedicated support tiers. This matters for institutions and large-scale applications where alert delivery guarantees and SLAs are non-negotiable for monitoring treasury movements or oracle feeds.
05
Tenderly: Con - Vendor Lock-in Risk
Specific trade-off: The powerful simulation and debugging features are proprietary to Tenderly's platform. This matters if you prioritize infrastructure portability and want to avoid deep coupling to a single vendor's toolchain for core monitoring logic.
06
Infura: Con - Limited On-Chain Context
Specific trade-off: Webhooks are primarily based on transaction receipts and raw logs, lacking the deep execution trace analysis Tenderly provides. This matters for developers needing forensic analysis of why a transaction failed (e.g., revert reason, internal call path) directly from the alert.
pros-cons-b
PROS AND CONS
Tenderly vs Infura Webhooks: Developer Platform Alerting
Key strengths and trade-offs for real-time blockchain event monitoring at a glance.
01
Tenderly: Superior Debugging & Simulation
Integrated development environment: Real-time transaction simulation and gas profiling before broadcast. This matters for high-value DeFi operations where failed transactions cost real money. The platform's visual debugger and state diffs are unmatched for diagnosing complex smart contract logic.
02
Tenderly: Multi-Chain & Custom Alerting
Broad network support: Native alerts for 20+ EVM chains (Arbitrum, Polygon, Base) without separate configuration. This matters for protocols deploying on L2s. Offers granular filters for event signatures, contract state changes, and wallet activity, enabling alerts like "Notify on any USDC transfer > $1M".
03
Infura: Enterprise-Grade Reliability & Scale
Infrastructure pedigree: Built on ConsenSys's global node network, offering 99.9%+ SLA and direct access to archive data. This matters for mission-critical production apps requiring guaranteed uptime. Handles the scale of applications like MetaMask and Uniswap.
04
Infura: Seamless RPC Integration
Unified pipeline: Webhooks feed directly from the same RPC endpoints your dApp uses, ensuring data consistency. This matters for teams already on Infura's RPC service wanting to minimize vendor complexity. Setup is streamlined within the existing dashboard.
05
Tenderly: Cost for Advanced Features
Pricing complexity: The free tier is generous for debugging but advanced alerting, high volume, and team features require paid plans. This matters for bootstrapped projects or solo devs who may hit limits on monitored contracts or alert volume quickly.
06
Infura: Less Flexible Development Tooling
Alert-centric focus: Lacks the deep simulation, forking, and debugging suite of Tenderly. This matters for teams that need to prototype, test, and monitor in one place. You'll need separate tools (e.g., Hardhat, Foundry) for the full dev lifecycle.
CHOOSE YOUR PRIORITY
When to Choose Tenderly vs Infura
Tenderly for Developers
Verdict: The superior choice for building, debugging, and monitoring complex smart contract systems. Strengths:
- Advanced Debugging: Step-through debugger with call traces, state diffs, and gas profiling. Essential for protocols like Aave or Uniswap V3.
- Simulation & Forking: Test transactions on a forked mainnet before broadcasting. Critical for safe DeFi integrations and MEV strategy testing.
- Custom Alerting: Create precise webhooks based on contract events, function calls, or state changes (e.g.,
balanceOf()below a threshold). Weakness: Not a primary RPC provider; you'll still need Infura, Alchemy, or a direct node for live network requests.
Infura for Developers
Verdict: The foundational choice for reliable, scalable blockchain connectivity and core event monitoring. Strengths:
- Core Infrastructure: High-availability RPC endpoints for Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, and other major chains. The backbone for dApp frontends.
- Standard Webhooks: Reliable notifications for on-chain events (logs, mined transactions). Perfect for basic dApp backends and wallet activity tracking.
- Enterprise SLAs: Guaranteed uptime and support, crucial for production applications with high user counts. Weakness: Lacks the deep execution inspection and simulation environment that Tenderly provides for smart contract work.
verdict
THE ANALYSIS
Final Verdict and Decision Framework
A data-driven breakdown to help CTOs choose the right alerting platform based on their team's priorities and technical stack.
Tenderly excels at providing deep, actionable insights directly within its developer suite because it integrates simulation, debugging, and alerting into a single pane of glass. For example, its 99.9% data accuracy SLA on state diffs and its ability to trigger alerts based on complex contract logic—like a specific function call with particular arguments—make it indispensable for teams building complex DeFi protocols like Aave or Uniswap V3 that require precision monitoring beyond simple event emissions.
Infura takes a different approach by leveraging its massive node infrastructure to offer a robust, network-level alerting system. This results in a trade-off: while you get exceptional reliability from one of the largest RPC providers (with >99.9% uptime), the alerting is more foundational, focusing on core blockchain events like transactions, logs, and mined blocks. It's a scalable choice for applications that need to monitor high-volume, generic on-chain activity across multiple chains supported by Infura's suite.
The key architectural difference is scope: Tenderly is a contract-centric observability platform where alerts are a feature, while Infura offers infrastructure-centric webhooks as an extension of its core RPC service. This means Tenderly provides richer context for debugging failed alerts, whereas Infura offers tighter integration with its own transaction submission and gas estimation services.
Consider Tenderly if your priority is sophisticated, logic-based alerting for smart contract operations and your team values an integrated debugger to immediately diagnose why an alert fired. It's the clear choice for protocol teams where contract state changes are critical.
Choose Infura when your primary need is reliable, high-throughput notification of standard blockchain events (e.g., new ETH deposits) and you are already deeply invested in the Infura ecosystem for RPC and node services, seeking to minimize vendor fragmentation.
ENQUIRY
Get In Touch
today.
Our experts will offer a free quote and a 30min call to discuss your project.
NDA Protected
Confidentiality24h Response
Time to ValueDirectly to Engineering Team
No Sales Fluff10+
Protocols Shipped
$20M+
TVL Overall