How compute units work

What each request costs and why

A compute unit (CU) is the unit of usage on Luganodes RPC. Every method has a CU weight that reflects what it costs to serve. A light read like fetching a block number costs little, while a heavy scan or trace costs more. Your plan includes a monthly CU allowance, and every request draws from it.

How cost is calculated

The CU charged for a request is the chain's base rate multiplied by the method's weight multiplier:

CU charged = chain base rate x method multiplier

Each chain has a base rate that reflects the cost of running its nodes:

Chain	Base CU per method
Bitcoin	5
Ethereum Mainnet	20
Ethereum Beacon	20
Tron	30

Weight multipliers

Most methods are Standard and cost the base rate. Heavier methods cost a multiple of it:

Multiplier	Applies to	Examples
1x	Standard reads and writes on every chain	eth_getBalance, getblockcount, /wallet/getnowblock
2x	Log queries, transaction broadcast, trace, debug and txpool namespaces	eth_getLogs, eth_sendRawTransaction, trace_block, debug_traceTransaction, sendrawtransaction
4x	Methods that return very large responses or scan wide state	trace_replayBlockTransactions, trace_replayTransaction, getrawmempool, getrawtransaction

Example: eth_getBalance on Ethereum Mainnet is 1x, so it costs 20 CU. eth_getLogs is 2x, so it costs 40 CU. trace_replayTransaction is 4x, so it costs 80 CU. The full per method weights are in the Ethereum Mainnet, Ethereum Beacon, Bitcoin and Tron CU tables.

Method access by plan

Which buckets you can call depends on your plan:

Plan	Method access
Free	Standard reads and writes on all chains
Growth	Adds logs and filters, heavier reads, transaction broadcast on Ethereum Mainnet, and the Beacon API
Pro	Adds trace, debug and txpool

The Plan column on each CU table shows the minimum plan for every method. Calling a method outside your plan returns HTTP 402 with the code plan_upgrade_required. See rate limits and errors.

Batch requests

A batch request costs the sum of its sub calls. A batch of ten Standard Ethereum calls costs 200 CU, the same as sending them individually. A single batch can contain up to 100 calls. Batches above this limit are rejected.

Allowances and overage

• Your CU allowance resets at the start of each billing cycle. Unused compute units do not roll over.

• On Free, usage stops at the monthly cap until the next cycle.

• On Growth and Pro, usage beyond the allowance is billed as overage at the end of the cycle. See plan changes and overage.

Methods not listed in the CU tables are billed at the chain's base rate.