Data Overview
There are several products to choose from when interacting with the Stellar Network, and each one is optimized for different access patterns, so it's important to choose the right tool based on your specific use-case. These tools allow users to query network data, submit transactions, and interact with smart contracts without needing to understand the low-level details of Stellar Core.
Use the summaries below to determine which types of data tools are right for your use case.
Compare Data Products
SDF maintains four data products. Two are APIs and two are for bulk historical data, so start by picking the row that matches how you want to consume the data.
| RPC | Horizon | Hubble | Galexie | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | API | API | Data warehouse | Ledger export tool |
| Interface | JSON-RPC | REST | SQL (BigQuery) | XDR files in your data lake |
| Real-time data | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Historical data | About 7 days | 1 year* | Full | Full |
| Smart contract data | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Transaction submission | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Transaction simulation | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Curated and parsed data | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Hosted by SDF | Testnet and futurenet | Mainnet, testnet, and futurenet* | Public BigQuery dataset | None** |
*The SDF-hosted Horizon keeps one year of history and is nearing end-of-life in favor of RPC. A self-hosted Horizon can serve full history, but Hubble or Galexie are the recommended tools for that.
**SDF does not host a Galexie data lake, but several providers make public ones available.
The Ingest SDK and Processors are libraries for building on top of these products rather than data products themselves. Third-party APIs, indexers, and analytics platforms are listed on their own pages in each section below.
Analytics
Explore and analyze Stellar network data to uncover trends, track activity, and generate insights for decision-making and reporting.
Why Use It:
- You want historical insights and visualizations for network activity and ecosystem health
- You don't need to submit transactions to the network
- You don't need real-time data
APIs
Connect to the Stellar network in real-time, enabling seamless data retrieval, transaction submission, and application integration.
Why Use It:
- You want to develop applications that interact with Stellar
- You want real-time data access and transaction submission and processing
Indexers
Organize and optimize Stellar blockchain data for efficient querying, deeper analysis, and enhanced accessibility.
Why Use It:
- You want structured and scalable access to historical and real-time blockchain data
- You want easy access to processed and transformed raw ledger data for querying
Oracles
Integrate off-chain data with the Stellar network, enabling smart contracts and decentralized applications to interact with external information sources.
Why Use It:
- You want to use off-chain data in conjunction with Stellar smart contracts for expanded functionality and automation