Infura gives developers a dependable way to talk to blockchains. Running a node means maintaining servers, storage, and synchronization, so many projects prefer to use an API instead. Infura offers JSON-RPC and WebSocket endpoints for Ethereum, layer 2 networks, and other chains, letting apps read data, send transactions, and subscribe to events through a single key.
The service includes extras. Support for IPFS provides decentralized file storage, and features such as gas estimation and network monitoring help developers. Because Infura is part of Consensys, which also makes MetaMask, it is deeply integrated into much of the Ethereum ecosystem, and a lot of wallets and applications depend on it.
Infura has a free tier with daily request limits and paid plans for more capacity and features. Reliance on a centralized provider is a point of discussion in a field that values decentralization, and outages can affect many apps at once, so some projects use multiple providers. Alternatives include Alchemy, QuickNode, Ankr, Chainstack, and self-hosted nodes. Infura suits developers building wallets and decentralized applications who want simple, reliable access.