Self-Hosted vs Managed RPC: Erigon vs Geth vs Reth

Frequently Asked Questions

01.What is the difference between a self-hosted RPC node and a managed RPC provider?

A self-hosted RPC node runs client software such as Erigon, Geth, or Reth on hardware the engineering team owns or leases, giving full control over sync mode, retention, and query routing. A managed RPC provider operates that infrastructure as a shared service and exposes an API endpoint, trading control for reduced operational overhead. Production indexing teams typically choose self-hosted once request volume or data-retention requirements exceed what a shared endpoint can guarantee at predictable cost.

02.Is Erigon or Geth better for running an archive node?

Erigon was built specifically to reduce archive node disk footprint through staged sync and flat key-value storage, while Geth's default architecture was built for full nodes first and requires more than twelve terabytes of storage to keep full state history back to genesis. Teams that need archive-depth queries for indexing pipelines generally find Erigon's storage model easier to operate at scale, though Geth remains the client with the widest tooling and client-diversity support.

03.What does Reth add to the Ethereum execution client landscape?

Reth is a modular, contributor-friendly Ethereum execution client written in Rust and built by Paradigm, designed so each internal component can be imported and reused as an independent library. For indexing teams this means custom data pipelines can be built directly against Reth's internal crates instead of parsing RPC responses after the fact, which removes a serialization layer that self-hosted Erigon or Geth setups still have to pay for.