Decide between Solana Shreds based RabbitStream for earliest detection or Yellowstone gRPC for full transaction conext.
Flow of information
The difference in speed between Yellowstone gRPC and RabbitStream comes down to where in the Solana validator's data pipeline the information is extracted.
Yellowstone gRPC vs Rabbitstream: Flow of information
Solana Validator Steps (The Pipeline)
Gossip: Leader receives transactions.
Shredding: Leader breaks data into packets (Shreds) for network broadcast.
Execution: Transactions are run to determine the final outcome and generate meta (logs, fees, errors).
Geyser Hook: The validator makes the final, processed data available to plugins.
Yellowstone gRPC Flow
Extraction Point: Data is extracted after it RPC processes the transaction, which is Step 4 (Geyser Hook), after execution.
Latency: Slower than shreds as the transaction is processed to generate the inner instructions, meta, logs and all the other fields.
Data Completeness: Includes full transactionmeta, logs, and final status.
Best For: Reliable indexing and analytics requiring full transaction context.
Rabbitstream Flow
Extraction Point: Data is extracted before it is processed by the RPC, which is Step 2 (Shredding), before execution.
Latency: Ultra-Low (Fastest). Minimal delay from the leader.
Data Completeness: Missing all meta data, logs, and final execution status.
Best For: Sniping and time-critical alerts where speed is the only priority.
Response structures
While both Rabbitstream and Yellowstone gRPC use the same gRPC subscription method, the content within the streamed transaction is different. This key difference is entirely the meta field. Yellowstone gRPC delivers data after being processed, this having a complete meta field with logs, fees, and final balances. RabbitStream, however, delivers data captured at the high-speed Shred level (pre-execution by the RPC), meaning the valuable meta data is not available. This side-by-side comparison illustrates the trade-off between ultra-low latency and full transaction context.
Yellowstone vs Rabbitstream: Response Structures
The following section denotes the detailed response structures. Please note, that the transactions received are in raw format, we have parsed them just for understanding. Also, this is a sample transaction, some parts of it may have been trimmed down for better visibilty, but the structure is the same.