The Graph's Substreams excels at raw, high-throughput data streaming directly from the blockchain's execution layer. Its architecture, built on a Firehose-based ingestion pipeline, is optimized for low-latency, lossless data delivery. For example, it can process and stream data for chains like Ethereum and Arbitrum at speeds exceeding 10,000 blocks per second, making it the go-to for protocol-grade indexing services like Uniswap's analytics or Aave's risk monitoring that require the most granular, real-time state changes.
LABS
Comparisons
The Graph's Substreams vs SubQuery's Substreams: Streaming Architecture
A technical comparison for CTOs and architects evaluating high-throughput, real-time data pipelines. We analyze core architecture, performance benchmarks, ecosystem lock-in, and total cost of ownership to inform your infrastructure decision.
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introduction
THE ANALYSIS
Introduction: The Battle for Real-Time Data Pipelines
A technical breakdown of The Graph's Substreams and SubQuery's Substreams, two high-performance streaming architectures for blockchain data.
SubQuery's Substreams takes a different approach by layering developer experience and multi-chain flexibility on top of the streaming core. This results in a trade-off: while it leverages a similar high-performance Rust-based engine, its primary strength is an integrated ecosystem with a managed RPC service, a graphical data transformation layer, and native support for over 100+ networks. This makes it exceptionally fast to deploy a production-ready data pipeline for applications like cross-chain NFT marketplaces or multi-chain portfolio dashboards without managing low-level infrastructure.
The key trade-off: If your priority is maximizing performance and control for a single, high-value chain and you have the engineering resources to manage the pipeline, choose The Graph's Substreams. If you prioritize developer velocity and need to aggregate or transform data across multiple ecosystems quickly, choose SubQuery's Substreams for its turnkey tooling and broader chain compatibility.
tldr-summary
The Graph vs SubQuery: Streaming Architecture
TL;DR: Core Differentiators at a Glance
Key strengths and trade-offs for Substreams implementations. Choose based on ecosystem maturity, developer experience, and deployment flexibility.
01
The Graph: Ecosystem & Network Maturity
Proven Decentralized Network: Leverages The Graph's established network of 600+ Indexers and 100,000+ Delegators securing over $2B in stake. This matters for mission-critical dApps requiring censorship resistance and verifiable data integrity, like Uniswap or Aave.
600+
Indexers
$2B+
Secured Stake
02
The Graph: Substreams Standardization
Native Blockchain Integration: Substreams are a core, low-level primitive for The Graph Network, offering deterministic, parallelized data streams directly from nodes (e.g., Firehose). This matters for building high-performance, real-time data pipelines that need to process every block with minimal latency.
03
SubQuery: Developer Flexibility & Multi-Chain
Unified SDK & Managed Service: SubQuery provides a single, polished SDK for both streaming and traditional indexing, coupled with a fully managed RPC and hosting service. This matters for teams prioritizing rapid development and deployment across 100+ supported networks (EVM, Cosmos, Polkadot, etc.) without managing infrastructure.
100+
Supported Networks
04
SubQuery: Flexible Deployment Models
Hybrid & Self-Hosted Options: Offers a clear path from a free managed service to enterprise-grade, self-hosted deployments (e.g., on AWS). This matters for enterprises and protocols with specific compliance, cost, or data sovereignty requirements, allowing them to start fast and scale independently.
HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON
The Graph Substreams vs SubQuery Substreams
Direct comparison of streaming architecture for blockchain indexing.
| Metric / Feature | The Graph Substreams | SubQuery Substreams |
|---|---|---|
Primary Data Source | Firehose | SubQuery's Datasource Processor |
Native Language | Rust | TypeScript/JavaScript, Rust, WASM |
Execution Environment | Local CLI / Self-hosted | Managed Service & Self-hosted |
Real-time Streaming | ||
Historical Backfill Speed | ~1M blocks/hour (varies by chain) | ~500K blocks/hour (varies by chain) |
Built-in Sink for Subgraphs | ||
Supported Blockchains | Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, 20+ | Cosmos, Polkadot, Algorand, 100+ via SDK |
Pricing Model | Decentralized Network (GRT) | Managed Service (SAAS) & Open Source |
STREAMING ARCHITECTURE COMPARISON
The Graph Substreams vs SubQuery Substreams
Direct comparison of performance, architecture, and ecosystem metrics for blockchain data streaming solutions.
| Metric | The Graph Substreams | SubQuery Substreams |
|---|---|---|
Native Chain Support | Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, 20+ | Cosmos, Polkadot, Avalanche, 100+ |
Data Output Format | Protobuf | Protobuf, CSV, JSON |
Sink Destinations | Substreams Sink, Console | SubQuery Project, Files, Kafka, PostgreSQL |
Developer Language | Rust | Rust, with TypeScript SDK |
Hosted Service SLA | ||
Open Source Core | ||
Time to Index (Block 0 to Head) | ~2 hours | ~30 minutes |
pros-cons-a
Streaming Architecture Comparison
The Graph Substreams: Strengths & Weaknesses
A data-driven breakdown of The Graph's Substreams vs. SubQuery's Substreams, focusing on architectural trade-offs for high-performance indexing.
02
The Graph: Rich Developer Tooling
Comprehensive CLI and IDE support with the Graph CLI and Substreams-powered Subgraphs. Offers native integration with Firehose for raw chain data. This matters for teams building complex data pipelines who need a full-featured, end-to-end toolkit and deep Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) specialization.
03
The Graph: Higher Operational Complexity
Steeper learning curve for defining Substreams modules (Rust) and managing deployments. Decentralized network coordination can add latency vs. a managed service. This is a weakness for startups or projects that prioritize rapid iteration and simplified DevOps over maximal decentralization.
05
SubQuery: Developer Experience & Speed
Faster initial development with TypeScript/JavaScript support and extensive templates. The centralized, high-performance RPC can offer lower latency for initial data streaming. This matters for hackathons, MVPs, and projects where developer velocity and time-to-market are critical.
06
SubQuery: Centralization & Ecosystem Lock-in
Reliance on SubQuery's managed service introduces a central point of failure and control. Smaller decentralized network (SQT) is less proven than The Graph's. This is a weakness for applications demanding maximum uptime guarantees and aversion to vendor lock-in in a trust-minimized stack.
pros-cons-b
Streaming Architecture Face-Off
SubQuery Substreams: Strengths & Weaknesses
A data-driven comparison of SubQuery's Substreams and The Graph's Substreams, highlighting key architectural trade-offs for protocol architects.
01
SubQuery: Developer Experience
Rust-based SDK with TypeScript bindings: Offers a familiar, strongly-typed environment for web3 developers. This matters for teams migrating from traditional The Graph subgraphs who want to leverage streaming without a steep learning curve in Rust. The SubQuery CLI provides a streamlined workflow for building, testing, and deploying.
02
SubQuery: Multi-Chain & Data Sourcing
Native multi-chain indexing from day one: Supports Ethereum, Cosmos, Polkadot, and more within a single project. This matters for protocols operating across multiple ecosystems (e.g., cross-chain DeFi) who need unified data streams without managing separate infrastructure for each chain. Direct RPC ingestion provides flexibility in node provider selection.
03
The Graph: Protocol Maturity & Network
Established decentralized network of Indexers: Leverages The Graph's existing, battle-tested network of over 200+ Indexers for data serving and curation. This matters for dApps requiring decentralized, censorship-resistant data and those already integrated with The Graph's query layer (GraphQL). The Substreams Registry offers discoverability.
04
The Graph: Rust-First Performance
High-performance, Rust-native execution: The Firehose and Substreams architecture is optimized for raw throughput and deterministic replay. This matters for high-frequency data pipelines (e.g., real-time MEV analysis, per-block analytics) where minimal processing latency is critical. Developed by StreamingFast, now core Graph tech.
05
SubQuery: Managed Service Simplicity
Turnkey managed service option: SubQuery's hosted service abstracts infrastructure management, offering a faster path to production for startups and enterprises. This matters for teams with limited DevOps resources who prioritize speed over running their own indexers. Includes monitoring, alerts, and automatic scaling.
06
The Graph: Ecosystem & Tooling Depth
Deep integration with Graph ecosystem: Tools like Graph CLI and Subgraph Studio provide a mature pipeline. A larger pool of experienced Substreams developers exists due to first-mover advantage. This matters for projects seeking long-term stability and access to a broad talent pool familiar with the stack.
CHOOSE YOUR PRIORITY
Decision Framework: When to Choose Which
The Graph Substreams for Architects
Verdict: Choose for mission-critical, multi-chain data pipelines requiring battle-tested infrastructure and deep ecosystem integration. Strengths:
- Production-Grade Reliability: Backed by The Graph's established network of over 1,000+ Indexers, ensuring high availability and censorship resistance.
- Multi-Chain Standardization: Substreams are becoming a canonical standard for streaming data across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, and other major EVM chains, simplifying cross-chain architecture.
- Rich Ecosystem: Seamless integration with existing subgraphs and a mature toolset (Firehose, Substreams Sink). Trade-off: More opinionated framework with a steeper initial learning curve.
SubQuery Substreams for Architects
Verdict: Choose for rapid prototyping, flexibility, and projects prioritizing developer experience and a unified query layer. Strengths:
- Developer Velocity: Intuitive CLI, managed services, and extensive templates (e.g., for Cosmos, Polkadot, Algorand) accelerate development.
- Unified Data Layer: Combine streaming ingestion with SubQuery's powerful GraphQL API for a single query endpoint, reducing backend complexity.
- Flexible Deployment: Easily deploy to SubQuery's managed service or self-host, with strong support for non-EVM chains. Trade-off: Less decentralized network maturity compared to The Graph's permissionless indexing.
verdict
THE ANALYSIS
Final Verdict & Strategic Recommendation
Choosing between The Graph's Substreams and SubQuery's Substreams implementation is a strategic decision between ecosystem maturity and developer flexibility.
The Graph's Substreams excels at high-throughput, multi-chain data streaming due to its deep integration with the core protocol and Firehose architecture. For example, its production-ready pipelines for chains like Ethereum and Arbitrum handle thousands of blocks per second, powering major dApps like Uniswap and Balancer. The established network of Indexers provides decentralized execution and data availability, a critical advantage for protocols requiring censorship resistance.
SubQuery's Substreams takes a different approach by prioritizing developer experience and a unified, flexible toolkit. This results in a trade-off: while its multi-chain support is expanding, its ecosystem maturity and raw throughput for the largest L1s currently lag behind The Graph. However, SubQuery's strength lies in offering Substreams alongside its traditional indexing service within a single SDK, allowing teams to mix and match approaches and deploy to a managed service or their own infrastructure with less operational overhead.
The key trade-off: If your priority is maximizing performance and decentralization on major EVM chains today, choose The Graph's Substreams. Its proven scale and robust network are ideal for high-value DeFi or NFT protocols. If you prioritize rapid prototyping, a cohesive developer experience across indexing patterns, or are building on a diverse set of non-EVM chains, choose SubQuery's Substreams. Its flexibility and managed service option reduce time-to-market for emerging ecosystems.
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