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SubQuery vs The Graph

How SubQuery and The Graph differ on type, speed, chains and developer experience.

SubQueryThe Graph
TypeDecentralized protocolDecentralized protocol
How it worksA multichain SDK plus a decentralized indexing network (SQT). Indexes EVM and non-EVM (Polkadot, Cosmos, Bitcoin…) in one framework.Define a subgraph (schema + mappings); independent indexers stake GRT to index it and serve GraphQL queries. The hosted service was fully deprecated in 2026 — everything now runs on the decentralized network.
Chains300+ (EVM + non-EVM)55+
SpeedModerateBaseline
CodingTypeScriptAssemblyScript
Best forNon-EVM / multi-ecosystemDecentralized, censorship-resistant data

SubQuery

  • Most chains of any indexer (300+)
  • Strong non-EVM (Polkadot, Cosmos, BTC)
  • Decentralized network (SQT)
  • EVM performance trails Envio/Subsquid
  • Less mindshare in EVM DeFi

The Graph

  • Most battle-tested & widely adopted
  • Decentralized + censorship-resistant
  • Huge subgraph ecosystem
  • Slowest in sync benchmarks
  • Hosted service deprecated (migration needed)

Bottom line

Pick SubQuery for non-evm / multi-ecosystem; pick The Graph for decentralized, censorship-resistant data.