Choose Your Data Source

Choosing the right data source depends on your latency requirements, technical capabilities, and use case. This guide compares the three main options for receiving Solana transaction data.

Quick Comparison

Aspect	Shred Stream	Geyser gRPC	RPC
Latency	Fastest	Fast	Standard
Timing	Before confirmation	After slot processing	After confirmation
Data format	Raw shreds	Parsed transactions/accounts	Parsed transactions
Protocol	UDP	TCP/gRPC	HTTP/WebSocket
Delivery	Best-effort	Guaranteed	Guaranteed
Complexity	High	Medium	Low
Packet loss	Possible	None	None
Historical data	No	Limited	Yes
Setup effort	Significant	Moderate	Minimal

Latency Breakdown

1

SHRED STREAM (~0ms)

Raw shreds available immediately when produced by the block leader.

2

GEYSER gRPC (~100-200ms)

Slot processed, transactions parsed.

3

RPC (~400-800ms)

Block confirmed, available via API.

Decision Matrix

Your requirement	Best choice
Absolute lowest latency	ShredStream
Latency-sensitive trading	Shred Stream or Geyser
Real-time parsed data	Geyser gRPC
Simple integration	RPC
Guaranteed delivery	Geyser or RPC
Historical data	RPC
Account state streaming	Geyser gRPC
MEV/HFT strategies	Shred Stream
Building an indexer	Geyser gRPC
Wallet/explorer	RPC

Technical Requirements by Option

ShredStream

• Public IP with open UDP port

• Low-latency server (Frankfurt, NYC, Tokyo recommended)

• 50-100 Mbps bandwidth

• Custom deshredding implementation

• FEC decoding (optional, for packet loss recovery)

Geyser gRPC

• gRPC client library

• Stable TCP connection

• Protobuf parsing

• Subscription management logic

RPC

• HTTP client

• JSON parsing

• Basic error handling

Cost Considerations

Option	Infrastructure	Development	Operational
ShredStream	High (dedicated server)	High (custom parsing)	Medium
Geyser gRPC	Medium	Medium	Medium
RPC	Low	Low	Low (may have rate limits)

Summary:

• ShredStream is for teams who need every millisecond of advantage and have the technical capability to handle raw shreds. It's the fastest but most complex option.

• Geyser gRPC is the sweet spot for most real-time applications. You get low latency with parsed data and reliable delivery.

• RPC is the standard choice for applications where latency isn't critical. It's simple, reliable, and widely supported.

Choose based on your latency requirements and technical capabilities. When in doubt, start with Geyser or RPC and move to ShredStream only if you need the extra edge.