Request Unit (RU)
What is an RU?
Section titled “What is an RU?”RU (Request Unit) is the billing unit used by BlockReq to measure API usage. Each RPC method call consumes a specific amount of RU based on its computational complexity.
How RU Works
Section titled “How RU Works”- Your account has an RU balance
- Every API call deducts RU from your balance
- Different methods cost different amounts of RU
- Simple reads (e.g.,
eth_chainId) cost 0 RU - Complex operations (e.g.,
eth_getLogs) cost more RU
Examples
Section titled “Examples”| Method | RU Cost | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
eth_chainId | 0 | Free — constant value lookup |
eth_blockNumber | 5 | Lightweight read |
eth_getBalance | 10 | Single state lookup |
eth_call | 20 | EVM execution required |
eth_getLogs | 50 | May scan many blocks |
debug_traceTransaction | 200 | Full execution trace |
RU Calculation
Section titled “RU Calculation”Your monthly/package RU is consumed like this:
Daily consumption = Σ (method_calls × method_ru_cost)For example, if your app makes 1,000 eth_call calls and 500 eth_getLogs calls per day:
Daily RU = (1,000 × 20) + (500 × 50) = 20,000 + 25,000 = 45,000 RUMonthly RU ≈ 45,000 × 30 = 1,350,000 RU (1.35M RU)This fits comfortably within the free tier (80M RU/month).