APIs Overview
Learn about the services that provide access to real-time Stellar network data
| Features | RPC | Horizon |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time Data | ✅ | ✅ |
| Historical Data | ❌ | ❌* |
| Smart Contracts | ✅ | ❌ |
| Transaction Simulation | ✅ | ❌ |
| Curated and Parsed Data | ❌ | ✅ |
*Please note that Horizon can provide full historical data but is not the recommended tool for full historical data access. Please use Hubble or Galexie instead.
RPC
The RPC provides real-time access to the current state of the Stellar network, including account balances, smart contract states, and recent transaction queries (within a seven-day retention window), while also allowing transaction submission. It is designed to be simple, minimal, and scalable, making it ideal for applications and wallets that require live data availability.
RPC is the recommended API service for all users to use.
Horizon
Horizon is an API for accessing and interacting with Stellar network data, storing current, historical, and derived state in a single database but without smart contract data. It provides real-time data for transactional use, making it more resource-intensive to operate, and can be run independently or accessed through public infrastructure providers. Depending on the Horizon Provider, Horizon instances may contain 1 year of data or full historical data for the Stellar network.
Horizon will provide compatibility updates with new Protocol releases but there are no plans to add new features or functionality to Horizon.