How to choose the right RPC provider for Sui in 2026

Apps that still talk to Sui the old way are running out of road. JSON-RPC, the interface most Sui wallets, bots and indexers were built on, is being replaced by two newer ones, gRPC and GraphQL. The Sui Foundation's public endpoints stopped serving it the week of July 27, and Sui plans to remove it from the node software in mid-October 2026. A good Sui RPC provider serves both replacements, keeps JSON-RPC running while teams migrate, is upfront about how far back its history goes, and offers isolated or self-hosted capacity when a workload needs it.

Sui is a layer 1 from Mysten Labs, built around an object-based data model and the Move language, and aimed at low-latency, high-throughput uses such as DeFi, gaming and payments. DefiLlama shows about $276 million in DEX volume on Sui over the past seven days and about $0.5 billion in stablecoins (October 13, 2026).

Sui is not EVM, so an Ethereum checklist does not carry over. State is kept as objects rather than account balances, and there is no eth_getLogs; events are read with filtered queries over gRPC or GraphQL. The API change matters more than any of that. Sui's migration guide targets mid-October 2026 for full decommissioning, code removal included, and the newest devnet release has already dropped JSON-RPC from the node. The public endpoints are rate-limited and meant for development and testing, so production apps need a provider.

What do Sui apps need from an RPC provider?

Four things are worth checking.

• gRPC and GraphQL from the same provider. gRPC replaces JSON-RPC for full node access, transaction execution and streaming, and suits backends and indexers. Sui's guide calls GraphQL the better fit for filtered, paginated queries, and notes that most exchanges and indexers end up using both, so one provider that serves both saves a second integration. It also helps if JSON-RPC is still served while you port your calls, so the move can happen one call at a time.
• A straight answer on history. Full nodes keep a limited window of checkpoints, and requests for older data fail instead of quietly falling back to an archive. Indexers, analytics pipelines and compliance tools need to know how deep a provider's window goes and where the archive starts. Sui's Archival Service handles point lookups of checkpoints, transactions and objects older than what full nodes retain.
• Stable streaming and steady latency. gRPC server streaming replaces JSON-RPC WebSocket subscriptions for checkpoints. Games, wallets and liquidation bots feel p95 and p99 latency and dropped streams long before the average moves.
• Isolation and compliance. Shared endpoints work while traffic is predictable. Heavy concurrent object updates, long checkpoint backfills or regulated users call for isolated capacity, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 reports for vendor review, and a self-hosted path when data cannot leave your own environment.

How does Chainstack support Sui?

Chainstack runs Sui on mainnet and testnet. On Mainnet Global Nodes, gRPC, GraphQL and JSON-RPC share one endpoint and one auth token, and every call costs 1 request unit. GraphQL has been live there since September 28 and serves transactions by address and events by type. Testnet serves gRPC and JSON-RPC.

Global Nodes for Sui carry the Extended label, which means more history than a standard full node, though not a complete archive, at the same flat price. Sui has no archive billing split, so a query that reaches far back within the node's window costs the same as one at the tip. Two limits are worth knowing before you plan a backfill. A node holds a window of checkpoints rather than the full ledger, and reports its oldest available checkpoint at runtime. GraphQL filtered transaction and event queries reach back up to the most recent 90 days. For anything older, use Sui's archival service alongside any provider.

Sui is available through three deployment models:

• Global Nodes: geo-balanced, auto-scaling endpoints that deploy in minutes and fit most apps. Self-serve plans run from 25 to 600 requests per second, and Enterprise plans have no fixed cap.
• Dedicated Nodes: isolated, single-tenant instances with no per-request billing, built for sustained heavy load and custom configuration.
• Chainstack Self-Hosted: Sui nodes on infrastructure the customer controls, with Chainstack handling deployment, monitoring and self-healing. Nodes bootstrap from snapshots instead of syncing from genesis.

Connection examples for TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust and cURL are in the Sui tooling docs, and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets developers deploy and manage nodes from Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, ChatGPT, Codex, Gemini and other agents.

Chainstack for Sui at a glance

• Interfaces: gRPC, GraphQL (Mainnet) and JSON-RPC on one endpoint
• Networks: Sui Mainnet and Testnet
• History: Extended Global Nodes with a checkpoint window, not a full archive
• Deployment: Global Nodes, Dedicated Nodes (Pro plan and above), Chainstack Self-Hosted (JSON-RPC and gRPC)
• Pricing: 1 request unit per call; free plan 3M request units a month at 25 requests per second; Growth plan $49 with 20M request units
• Certifications: SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001

Final thoughts

For Sui, the API layer is the first thing to check. Look for gRPC and GraphQL on one endpoint, JSON-RPC still served during the migration, a clear statement of how far back history goes, and isolation or self-hosting if your workload needs it. As of October 2026, Chainstack meets each of these criteria on Sui: all three interfaces on one endpoint, flat request-unit pricing, three deployment models, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. On that checklist, we recommend it for teams building on Sui.