Archive Nodes

Overview

This page explains how archive nodes differ from full nodes, how pruning works, and what historical data you can access across supported networks.

Archive Nodes vs Full Nodes

Archive nodes store the complete historical state of the blockchain from the genesis block, while full nodes store only the recent state required for current network operations.

Full nodes prune older data to save disk space — archive nodes never prune and keep all historical blocks, states, balances, and storage values.

What Are Archive Nodes?

Archive nodes retain:

• all blocks from genesis,
• all historical account balances,
• every smart contract storage state,
• every transaction result at any block height.

They provide deep, precise access to historical on-chain data.

What Are Full Nodes?

Full nodes maintain only the most recent state and the blocks needed for network validation.
Older states are removed following the network’s pruning rules.

Use Cases

Archive nodes are essential for:

• Blockchain explorers — reading historical states and logs
• Analytics & research platforms — building long-term metrics
• Wallets & custodians — checking balances at arbitrary blocks
• dApps & DeFi protocols — validating contract behavior over time

Supported Chains

Below is a summary of archive availability across NOWNodes-supported networks and API interfaces.

If a shared network does not offer sufficient depth for your use case, you may request expanded history, request us at [email protected] our team might already be preparing an archive option.

If you need archive access urgently, you can request a dedicated node deployment for that network at the dashboard, or request us at [email protected], we will provide pricing and deployment time.