Free Protocol Review: Is Its Free RPC Enough?

Free Protocol provides public JSON-RPC endpoints for Ethereum, Base, Polygon and Arbitrum One. You send standard blockchain requests—such as checking a block number, reading a balance or calling a contract—to the endpoint for the network you need. The service gives each network a separate HTTPS address and supports common developer tools including ethers.js, viem and web3.py.

You do not need to register, provide an API key or enter payment details to use the public tier. That makes it convenient for a local development setup, a prototype or a wallet connection when you do not want to configure a paid RPC account. The service describes a browser page for trying requests, too.

This is infrastructure, not a wallet or a crypto account. It does not give you tokens, execute trades for you or hold your assets. Your wallet or application uses the RPC to communicate with the selected blockchain.

The public tier has no listed monetary fee, but it is not unlimited. Free Protocol sets a limit of 10 requests per second, with bursts up to 20, and a daily allowance of 333,333 compute units (CU) per client IP. The monthly cap is 10 million CU. The service groups clients by full IPv4 address or IPv6 /64, so users sharing an address can also share the quota. Requests beyond the limits return HTTP 429 errors.

Calls consume different amounts of CU: the published examples range from 10 CU for eth_blockNumber to 75 CU for eth_getLogs and 309 CU for debug_trace. Busy applications can therefore use their allowance faster than simple block checks suggest. Monitor your own request pattern and have a fallback if hitting a limit would interrupt your app.

For more capacity, Etox offers a free account tier with an API key and a Pro plan listed from $49 per month. The Pro listing includes 300 million CU per month and 100 requests per second. Check Etox's current plan terms before choosing it, since limits and prices can change.

Free Protocol is a non-custodial service in the practical sense that it provides blockchain connectivity rather than holding your crypto or private keys. Using an RPC endpoint does not give its operator control of your wallet. Still, an RPC provider can affect what data your app receives and whether requests get through, so it is worth having a backup endpoint for anything important.

The service identifies Etox as its infrastructure operator. It does not publish an audit or a licence for Free Protocol, and the public description does not establish a formal uptime guarantee. Those gaps do not show that the service is unsafe, but they leave less independently verifiable information to judge its security and reliability.

Avoid entering a seed phrase or private key into an RPC service; a legitimate endpoint does not need either. Use HTTPS, verify the network name and endpoint before adding it to a wallet, and do not treat RPC responses as proof that a token or contract is trustworthy. For critical transactions, compare key details with another reliable source.

The setup is simple if you already know how to add a custom RPC: select the right chain, enter its endpoint and save the network. Free Protocol also presents options to add a network to MetaMask and run requests in a browser. Developers can use the same HTTPS endpoint in scripts or applications, with examples for familiar EVM libraries.

The published quota is enforced per client IP rather than by a personal account on the public tier. That avoids signup friction but gives you no account dashboard for tracking public-tier usage. If you need usage analytics, higher limits, archive data or trace/debug APIs, Etox lists these with its API-key tier rather than the unauthenticated public service.

This is a web-based infrastructure service, not a dedicated mobile app. You can configure it in a compatible mobile wallet, but the experience and available settings depend on that wallet. The service lists four networks; confirm you have selected the correct chain before sending transactions or interpreting balances.

Free Protocol's main trade-off is that a free shared endpoint may not suit an app where interruptions matter. The stated rate and CU caps can constrain a busy project, and requests over quota fail with HTTP 429. There is no published uptime commitment in the service description, and an IP-based limit can be awkward when many users or services share the same address.

The public tier also lacks archive data and trace/debug APIs, according to the listed comparison with Etox's API-key tier. If your work requires historical state, extensive logs or debugging traces, check the paid plan details before building around the free endpoint. The service publishes example CU costs, but you should estimate usage for your own request mix rather than assume each call costs the same.

For a safer start, try read-only calls first, keep your wallet's seed phrase private, and set a second RPC endpoint if your wallet or app supports one. Move to a plan with appropriate limits and support commitments if your application depends on consistent access.