Private Relays vs. Jito vs. Public RPC: How Each One Lands
A technical comparison of Solana transaction propagation methods. How public RPC, Jito bundles and a private relay each get a transaction to the leader, and when to use which.
In Solana trading, "landing" is everything. But not all landing methods are created equal.
Today, we compare the three main ways to get a transaction onto the blockchain: Public RPC, Jito Bundles, and Private Relays (AllenHark).
We analyze them based on Speed, Reliability, and Use Case.
1. Public RPC (Standard sendTransaction)
This is the default method used by wallets like Phantom and Solflare.
- Mechanism: You send to an RPC node -> RPC node checks it -> RPC node gossips it to peers -> Leader eventually sees it.
- Speed: Slow. The transaction takes extra steps through other nodes before a leader sees it; that path is built for redundancy, not for timing.
- Reliability: Low. During congestion, RPC nodes drop spam, and leaders drop gossip packets.
- Use Case: Casual transfers, NFT mints, slow swing trades.
2. Jito Bundles (The Auctioneer)
Jito is the dominant solution for MEV, offering a sidecar to the standard validator client.
- Mechanism: You send a bundle to a Jito Block Engine -> Engine simulates it -> Engine runs an auction -> Engine forwards winning bundles to the Jito-Solana validator.
- Speed: Medium. It skips gossip, but the simulation and auction add a step of their own. During high traffic, the Block Engine itself becomes a bottleneck.
- Reliability: High. If you pay the highest tip, you get in. Atomic inclusion guarantees no failed landing fees.
- Use Case: Atomic arbitrage, sandwich attacks, complex MEV where reversion safety is key.
3. Private Relays (AllenHark Relay)
Private relays are direct pipelines to validators, bypassing both gossip and auctions.
- Mechanism: You send to AllenHark Relay -> Relay carries it over private connections straight to the current leader.
- Speed: No simulation, no auction, no gossip — just raw packet forwarding straight to the leader's TPU. What you pay is the network hop to the relay, which is why region choice matters.
- Reliability: High. It never touches public gossip. Single transactions carry no revert protection, but AllenHark Relay also accepts Jito bundles (up to five transactions, atomic and in order) when you need it.
- Use Case: Sniping, High-Frequency Trading (HFT), Stat-Arb, CEX-DEX Arbitrage.
The Comparison Matrix
| Feature | Public RPC | Jito Bundles | AllenHark Relay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Path to the leader | Gossip through other nodes | Block engine, simulation and auction | Private connection to the leader, no auction |
| Throughput | Low | Medium | High |
| Cost | Base Fee | Tip + Base Fee | Base Fee + relay tip (from 0.001 SOL); the optional Relay Dedicated upgrade removes the tip for whitelisted wallets |
| Revert Protection | No | Yes | Via Jito bundles |
| Best For | Casual Users | Atomic MEV | Speed / HFT |
Why Speed Matters More Than Safety for HFT
For certain strategies (like sniping a new liquidity pool or CEX-DEX arbitrage), being first is the only thing that matters.
If you use Jito, you might be "safe" from reverts, but your bundle waits for the block engine's simulation and auction while a direct send is already on its way to the leader. If the other side takes the trade first, your bundle lands... and fails because the opportunity is gone.
In HFT, speed is safety.
Conclusion
- Use Public RPC for testing.
- Use Jito for complex, atomic MEV where you need revert protection.
- Use AllenHark Relay when you need to be first.