Blockchain data provider Chainstack has launched a Web3 data collection hosting service called “Subgraph,” according to the company’s April 19 announcement. The service, called "Chainstack Subgraphs," allows developers to create subgraphs and publish them for a fee. The announcement comes after subgraph protocol developer The Graph said in June that it would shut down its custody service in favor of the decentralized web.
Subgraphs are application programming interfaces (APIs) that query data in the blockchain and order it in a specific way. They are open source, so once someone in the community creates a subgraph, anyone can use it. After the launch of The Graph Network in 2020, Subgraphs began to be widely used by developers.
The original version of The Graph (GRT) had some elements of centralization, including a free hosting service provided by the developers. However, The Graph team announced that creators will eventually be required to migrate their subgraphs to the decentralized network, and the hosting service will be shut down.
According to the announcement, Chainstack Subgraphs aims to provide a convenient way for subgraph developers to migrate their APIs away from the old The Graph hosting service. In a conversation, Chainstack CTO Eugene Aseev said that the new service will bring three major benefits to users compared to the decentralized web. First, it will offer transparent pricing in fiat currency rather than GRT tokens. Second, it will integrate many blockchain networks, not just a few. Third, it will make mid-level or small subgraphs easier to index and discover, which would be more difficult if they were published directly to The Graph, he said. However, Aseev also said that Chainstack does not see itself as a competitor to The Graph and the GRT token, explaining:
"We're huge supporters of decentralization [and] we love The Graph. Once we launch the service, and make sure it works well, and we get customers, we'll be a participant in The Graph network because we're also Want to be part of this movement."
The Graph team warned users not to panic after announcing that the hosting service would be decommissioned. The network's official documentation states that "hosting services are not shutting down anytime soon." Instead, it will only shut down when "we achieve functional parity with the decentralized web." Even so, some developers have expressed concern that not all subgraphs will be available on the decentralized web, while others believe that decentralized services may be too expensive.
