Polkadot RPC Endpoint

Fast, flat-rate Polkadot RPC node provider — free tier, no KYC, HTTP & WebSocket.

Polkadot is a Substrate-based relay chain that coordinates shared security and interoperability for connected rollups and parachains. It is non-EVM at the relay-chain level and uses the DOT token for staking, governance, and coordination.

Network: Polkadot

Type: Non-EVM

Slug: polkadot

Native token: DOT (Polkadot)

Block time: ~6 seconds (relay chain)

Finality: GRANDPA finality, typically within a few blocks once two-thirds of validators attest

Mainnet: May 2020 (relay chain); NPoS June 2020

Category: Layer 0 / relay chain (Substrate, Nominated Proof-of-Stake)

About Polkadot

Polkadot's relay chain launched in May 2020 and transitioned to Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) by June 2020. Block authoring uses BABE while GRANDPA provides finality across chains; relay-chain block time is around 6 seconds.

DOT uses 10 decimals. The relay chain itself runs no smart contracts; application logic lives on parachains and rollups built with the Substrate framework. Tooling includes Polkadot-JS, the Substrate SDK, and Polkadot.js API.

Common Use Cases on Polkadot

Shared security for parachains
Cross-chain interoperability (XCM)
Staking and governance
Parachain and rollup deployment
Coordination of connected chains

Polkadot Ecosystem

Polkadot secures parachains and rollups such as Acala, Moonbeam, Astar, and Hydration (formerly HydraDX), connected via cross-consensus messaging (XCM).

HTTP Endpoint

https://rpc.swiftnodes.io/rpc/polkadot?key=YOUR_API_KEY

WebSocket Endpoint

wss://rpc.swiftnodes.io/ws/polkadot?key=YOUR_API_KEY

Quick Start: Connect to Polkadot

cURL

curl -X POST https://rpc.swiftnodes.io/rpc/polkadot?key=YOUR_API_KEY \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"getHealth","id":1}'

Note: Polkadot uses its own RPC methods. Refer to the official Polkadot documentation for available methods.

Bridging to Polkadot

Cross-chain transfers within the ecosystem use XCM; external bridges such as Snowbridge connect Polkadot to Ethereum.

Features of SwiftNodes for Polkadot

Multiple load-balanced upstream nodes for high availability
Health-checked every 60 seconds with automatic failover
Free tier available — no credit card or KYC required
Flat-rate monthly pricing with no per-request fees
HTTP and WebSocket support
One API key works across all 75+ supported chains, including Polkadot

Rate Limits

Plan	Price	HTTP req/s	WS msg/s
Free	$0/mo	2	1
Starter	$49/mo	50	25
Growth	$89/mo	150	75
Scale	$149/mo	300	150
Pro	$249/mo	500	250

Frequently Asked Questions: Polkadot

Does Polkadot have an EVM chain ID?

No. The Polkadot relay chain is non-EVM and does not use an EVM chain ID. EVM compatibility is offered by specific parachains (for example Moonbeam), each with its own chain ID.

How is Polkadot queried?

Polkadot is queried over the Substrate JSON-RPC interface, typically via the Polkadot.js API, rather than Ethereum JSON-RPC.

How many decimals does DOT have?

DOT has 10 decimals; the smallest unit is the Planck, where 1 DOT equals 10,000,000,000 Planck.

Ready to start building on Polkadot? Connect your wallet and get a free API key in 30 seconds. No email or KYC required.