Now Live on Solana: On-Chain Subscriptions for Real-Time Data
Switchboard has launched on-chain subscriptions for its real-time, permissionless data feeds. This brings transparent, programmable access to reliable, real-time data, tailored to each user’s needs.
Switchboard Surge and its ~3 millisecond latency is now available directly via an on-chain subscription tier using SWTCH. Builders no longer need an API key to get the fastest feeds in crypto.
This blockchain-native model also brings the Switchboard protocol further on-chain, with subscriptions becoming yet another verifiable component of the Switchboard ecosystem.
Permissionless Speed
Switchboard has always been permissionless. Anyone could create, publish, and access data feeds using Switchboard. Builders have harnessed permissionless data access to create all sorts of DeFi applications, including products focusing on long-tail assets like Kamino, Drift, Save (formerly Solend), and Rain.fi.
With Switchboard Surge, the Switchboard Labs team took a different approach to oracle architecture and achieved a breakthrough design which allows previously-verified network validators to pull data straight from the source, directly into an on-chain application. This cuts data delivery times to a mere handful of milliseconds, especially if app nodes are co-located with Surge-approved oracles.
Due in part to its revolutionary nature, Switchboard Surge has, until today, only been accessible via manual API key onboarding. With this release, Surge is now open for anyone.
From today, every Switchboard tier, from free Developer feeds to institutional-grade Surge streams, is available fully on-chain, with SWTCH serving as the transparent payment layer.
Switchboard Subscription Tiers
Designed to provide clarity and structure to Switchboard’s service levels while also giving builders flexibility, the new on-chain subscription model includes the following tiers:
- 🧑💻 Plug (Free): For builders tinkering, testing and developing new products.
- 💼 Pro: Sub-second feeds for trading apps and DeFi protocols (i.e. lending platforms).
- ⚡️ Surge: Zero-delay data direct from exchanges. Built with institutional-grade performance for cutting-edge applications, high-frequency users, and real-time systems.
- 🔮 Custom: For exchanges, institutions, or applications with specific data needs.
All paid tiers include on-chain billing in SWTCH. The Custom tier is designed for bespoke service level agreements (SLAs) and supports flexible scaling options, in addition to tailored latency targets. The Switchboard subscription model is currently only available on Solana.
The Solana program is live on mainnet at:
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Find Your Tier
Feeds
You can think of a feed as a verifiable, on-chain data pipeline that pulls real-time data from multiple independent off-chain sources and sends it directly to your app.
As a user, you can tap into pre-existing feeds (i.e. the BTC/USD price feed from Binance), or you can define what data you want, where it should come from, how it should be aggregated, and how frequently you need it to be updated for your program on-chain.
The free Plug tier includes simultaneous access to two feeds in one Websocket connection, the Pro tier features up to 100 feeds across 10 Websocket connections, while the Surge tier scales up to 300 simultaneous feeds and 15 Websocket connections. For a tailored number of Websocket connections to Switchboard oracles and simultaneous data feeds, check out the Custom tier.
Feeds per Quote
Each quote can have updates from multiple feeds. Your subscription tier determines how many feeds can be packaged into each quote, ranging from 2 feeds per quote on the Plug tier, to 6 feeds per quote on the Surge tier. If your app needs to package more than 6 feeds into each quote, reach out to Switchboard regarding the Custom tier.
How Quote Frequency Works
When prices change on exchanges, Switchboard Surge captures those changes instantly with around ~3ms latency (depending on co-location). Your subscription tier determines how frequently Switchboard delivers these updates to you:
- 🧑💻 Plug (Free): You get the latest price every 10 seconds
- 💼 Pro: You catch most price movements with updates every 450ms
- ⚡️ Surge: Zero throttling means you see EVERY price change in real-time, as soon as Switchboard captures it.
Think of it like a water tap: Plug is a steady drip, Pro is quick flow, Surge is full blast.
SWTCH: The Payment Token
On-chain subscriptions are a significant utility boost for the SWTCH token. The value captured by providing Solana applications with permissionless access to real-time data now flows to SWTCH. Plus, previously API-gated access to Switchboard Surge, and therefore, the fastest data feeds in crypto, is now just some SWTCH away. Developers and institutions can subscribe, renew their subscriptions, and upgrade tiers, all on-chain, without needing a credit card or relying on off-chain billing systems.
Making Data Even More Accessible
Subscriptions are now available on the Switchboard Explorer via a dedicated interface that makes subscribing easy. Updates to further simplify onboarding and show comprehensive billing details are coming soon. While the subscription program has been deployed on the Solana blockchain, a dedicated subscription interface, which aims to simplify onboarding and show comprehensive billing details, is coming soon.
Switchboard is built on key principles that include customizability, speed, and access. By bringing subscriptions fully on-chain, enabling Switchboard Surge subscriptions, and adding a Custom subscription tier, Switchboard has reduced the barriers to real-time data and increased flexibility for Solana builders.
While other oracles remain opaque black boxes, Switchboard continues to move further on-chain, towards Web3-native Web3 solutions.
Learn more about Switchboard Surge
Learn more about Switchboard
- Visit the Switchboard Website
- Explore the Developer Documentation
- Check out thepriceisright.xyz
- Join the community on Discord
- Follow on X
- Read the Whitepaper
