Shreds vs gRPC vs RPC vs WebSockets - Which Is Best for Low-Latency Bots?

Building a profitable trading bot on Solana requires the fastest possible data feed. But with options ranging from standard RPCs to raw Shreds, choosing the right architecture can be confusing. Here is the definitive comparison of Solana data sources.

Latency Hierarchy

1. Solana Shreds (The Speed King)

Shreds are raw data packets propagated via Solana's Turbine protocol. They are the absolute fastest way to see the state of the network, often arriving hundreds of milliseconds before the block is even fully formed.

• Pros: Lowest possible latency. See transactions before they are confirmed.
• Cons: Complex to process (requires Reed-Solomon decoding). Expensive.
• Verdict: Essential for competitive MEV and HFT.

Learn more about AllenHark Shreds

2. Geyser gRPC

gRPC plugins stream account updates and transactions directly from the validator memory. It is significantly faster than WebSockets because it pushes data immediately without the overhead of JSON parsing.

• Pros: Very fast, structured data, easier to use than Shreds.
• Cons: Slightly slower than raw Shreds.
• Verdict: The sweet spot for most serious algorithmic traders.

Explore AllenHark gRPC Services

3. WebSockets (WSS)

Standard Solana PubSub via WebSockets is the traditional way to listen for account changes.

• Pros: Free/Cheap, supported by all SDKs (@solana/web3.js).
• Cons: High latency, prone to disconnection, "notification" based rather than real-time stream.
• Verdict: Good for front-end UIs, bad for HFT.

4. Standard RPC (Polling)

Asking the RPC "what is the balance?" every 500ms.

• Pros: Simple.
• Cons: Extremely slow. You will always be late.
• Verdict: Do not use for trading signals.

Summary

If you are building a sniper bot or arbitrage engine, you must use Shreds or gRPC. Relying on standard RPC or WebSockets will leave you competing for scraps.