5 min read

Important Notice

This guide includes references to the Goerli testnet, which is no longer actively maintained. While specific steps related to this chain may not be applicable, the overall process may be valid for other chains. We recommend exploring current alternatives for your implementation. If you’d like to see an updated version of this guide, please let us know!

Overview

Are you interested in developing decentralized applications (dApps) on the Ethereum blockchain but want to avoid risking real funds on the mainnet? Then Ethereum testnets are the perfect solution for you! In this guide, we will compare two of the most popular testnets, Goerli and Sepolia, and discuss their similarities, differences, and unique characteristics. You will learn about the purpose of testnets, how Goerli and Sepolia work, and the pros and cons of each. We'll also provide a step-by-step guide on how to create an Ethereum testnet endpoint using QuickNode. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced developer, this guide will help you choose the best testnet for your needs and get started with developing dApps on Ethereum.

What You Will Do

• Learn about Goerli and Sepolia Testnet
• Create a Sepolia endpoint with QuickNode
• Get ETH on Sepolia using the Multi-Chain QuickNode Faucet
• Request data from Sepolia using QuickNode

What You Will Need

• A will to learn!
• A QuickNode account (you can create one for free here)

What are Ethereum Testnets?

Ethereum testnets are alternative versions of the main Ethereum blockchain that allow developers to test and experiment with new features, smart contracts, and decentralized applications (dApps) without the need for real Ether (ETH) or risking funds on the mainnet. Testnets are designed to replicate the behavior and characteristics of the mainnet but with a smaller user base and less expensive fees.

Note that testnets have their own supply of Ether (ETH) which doesn't have any real-world value and is used to pay the gas fee on that particular testnet.

What is Goerli?

Goerli is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) testnet designed to simulate the behavior of the Ethereum mainnet. It was launched in early 2019 and was named after a small village in Germany. Goerli is one of the most popular testnets among Ethereum developers because of its stability, speed, and low transaction fees.

Important Note: Goerli will be deprecated in Q1 2023 but will be supported until Q4 2023, so developers and users should migrate to Sepolia for testing and development purposes.

What is Sepolia?

Sepolia is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) testnet. It was named after a neighborhood in Athens, Greece, where one of the Ethereum developers grew up. Currently, Sepolia is the recommended default testnet for smart contract development.

Sepolia was initially a private test network but was later opened to the public during the Shapella upgrade in March 2023.

Sepolia has a permissioned validator set that is controlled by the core foundation and testing teams. Users wanting to use Sepolia should have a streamlined experience as the network is fairly new, and there are fewer applications deployed on the network. Additionally, if you want to run your own node to interact with the network, it will require less disk space compared to Goerli (for the time being).

Key Differences

Sepolia is the recommended testnet for Ethereum developers as it has ongoing support from the Ethereum foundation. Additionally, Sepolia has a permissioned validator set, resulting in a more predictable network state since it is run by client and developer teams. Since Sepolia is a newer test network, the sync time for users wanting to run their own node is far less since the storage of the network is at a smaller state.

Previously on Goerli, there were token supply issues that caused more demand for test ETH and resulted in the test ETH having actual value (which is not intended). The Sepolia network addressed this issue by deploying the network with an uncapped supply of ETH.

Creating an Ethereum Sepolia Endpoint with QuickNode

QuickNode provides reliable and fast blockchain infrastructure for Web3 wallets, enabling them to interact with the blockchain quickly and efficiently. QuickNode offers API access on over 18 blockchains (and counting) and provides fast and reliable service for sending a transaction. Additionally, QuickNode provides data analytics and monitoring services, allowing you to analyze your Web3 wallet transaction data in real time.

To create an endpoint, click Create Endpoint and choose the blockchain and network (e.g., Ethereum Sepolia testnet)

(Optional) Retrieving ETH on Sepolia Testnet

Although not required for this guide, if you're in need of ETH on Sepolia testnet, the Multi-Chain QuickNode Faucet makes it easy to obtain ETH!

Navigate to the Multi-Chain QuickNode Faucet and connect your wallet or paste in your wallet address to retrieve test ETH. You can also tweet out your request to get a bonus!

Testing your Ethereum Sepolia Endpoint

With your QuickNode endpoint created, let's make a request to get some data from the testnet blockchain.

Navigate to the QuickNode Documentation, and select the eth_getBlockByHash RPC method. For the purpose of this tutorial, we'll be using cURL, but you can also use any of the other programming languages. Once you've copied the code example, navigate to your terminal and paste the command. Note you may need to update the RPC provider URL if you aren't signed in to QuickNode.

It should look like this:

curl <RPC_PROVIDER_URL> \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"method":"eth_getBlockByHash","params":["latest", false],"id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}'

Run the command, and you're output should look similar to this:

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":{"difficulty":"0x198a0814b3d1fc","extraData":"0xd883010a03846765746888676f312e31362e35856c696e7578","gasLimit":"0xe48bd1","gasUsed":"0xe47bfb","hash":"0x829df9bb801fc0494abf2f443423a49ffa32964554db71b098d332d87b70a48b","logsBloom":"0x5c614106e1d511f0f9900ddec010fe38851a15405e502920169939a497e0c91305cd57300483a426ee6a591108301b26e625f0025a1a7d82ca92078602b96818c04408802a38453e49925f4f086072f00c25a082af604894f7c617cee2cd479d3b4c8a1202ce3ee3442c113c04018fd02213fc1dba88244cde2a01b2ac8f3208cee189700645a4569a43c36a41bb13069840178551f2b5bb1e613143087328325bfb040d126038864aa17683de0095d61b998d337092814b1935862e9edc0b632b08a0137df82f5aa6c79195585b870f084822c6550aa01cce80c0a21810ea42297c32081c2454429955d500044d442f40682831385ab358f6298a1a11369734","miner":"0xb7e390864a90b7b923c9f9310c6f98aafe43f707","mixHash":"0xbe0260369f32cb0d9c70a8ece59e8aed45b14eddf876a6c1beaf491d45b7a9ab","nonce":"0x3a81430002318f1f","number":"0xc4fa88","parentHash":"0xb2612d7b4699f70911863d7a14228159c53f9523effecf474e0d79870c1ac2be","receiptsRoot":"0xd19c55000301d3bc20b10e8f7b28666ea646532f50321557588f4a073ebdfe95","sha3Uncles":"0x1dcc4de8dec75d7aab85b567b6ccd41ad312451b948a7413f0a142fd40d49347","size":"0xe6ac","stateRoot":"0x932bad82694c21d48f2f90dda1c17db96decd61e2a9bf31fabf2cb603c045f6a","timestamp":"0x610035b3","totalDifficulty":"0x5f269226a1f4d670a8e","transactions":["0x1d9f631e6ac0b8940b65ea064a073e63324c60ccea1880dc9dd39a279276e7d1","0x2e86f2d9c223c3f457c13422c0307b397746557d02069681bb68a89fba6c9846","0xd0f7b79f2b38a5e8303ff523da621d6cb04a18e722d6cc0bcce75309cd804b2e","0xf97c8812c3cf01c97845895513564ce545c12c91c31742e7ee7970f0d14d1dad","0x4f7279a601dbd7bca38fd9e878583ac17d6f83fc7a4fa096e4c83713ddcdf8a4","0x63dcd7fe024a660cf766650b4fed71d253aa042f51a7a508beff685ed67bf572","0xed1875d496d7ef744f0535fa447911e08eda3a0911fd98689f7014e14a0987c4","0x0eea58cd56d4a2c3133559e5b4070b1edb547137b25b1e61a63b4feac97911bf","0xfc506698c621393c37d89c8c38086e76ef1c98dcbd8c4f3a37a5fbc0aff16581","0x424226fcb4e941fa11f4d66e3ae5a920aa1ec08f96223f1b6351dd120a0391ac","0xe55dc1d9564c4f25ca895805c78668560cde9c02dd4a2523622152d5e44b3f08","0x1641a57a29dba0f5ab4093da4c32f92afaa99a6ac31e52fadfb8643803d1d2c8","0x15934a572cbd03a6677dc9309180bf8d95417bcd4181826228a1804acc13bb05","0x0dca2c3c53e9a957b79a7a09cd0d54cb2f1c3d2e4a7a3c8a29917f7bf533ad02","0xc52ccefff09417c2055dfe3ad6fd8937c37101b9e467b992f3dff621a63bdae0","0x203f6ba92ae964247d9aaeaf4c8bd32859363e1193e828c75c4413788e8f9e1c","0x76ce0eb0ac6a221a8cca1fdca070fdc2070e4f92709c56b45553d3ee4758b42a","0x4efe2fbe9be8c038d2792532e5f26d61e20751e7539a5e7a71bfda2d8c7b340e","0x3c8c659ef92e48cf4a43e5459c21fd76aeba98c77fea4f448d7e4e62f17099ad","0x9df6436f975d54ec58fd37a8d9337d91fc9b99742b7a76e5c408634c4571c627","0xe1c58e84e1bd52956ddd7ec6719c9bba250df540ad3cfe4a6df470b972cb2eb0","0xa160f9f5e86dae1b36d0ab8f4b1ead179e52ea4cf3c837be3729a2c8d31c2b69","0xaf498b4cf8a3e3600cbdad1b45860de25c914bfd04ee4d1ae86bfd083f0ed34d","0x121ead845c637853ed554cd8789abbe5893a2f4184a7257369410cb85938a889","0x373ed54524895aae2bcf833599a0ff97b799610990bcdb2de3c4c6b01829a14b","0x450ae58eaac0b8c2ac355b16b608cbba1d940690b6d4a5df3779b0a2af06841f","0x4b80bab25e74fc338ae30bb5aebb0b1270e8ea34f74024325a96d6cb0967dd37","0x09cf161a33e88af6642c75395dc4cb2cd8490f24f30986fd018a3ead7bfe9ae2","0xb389b213a1011f7f101b5009a065ad909af5b0aaf1b01e9a24f4d75b0c196d67","0x57bfe332124af604e35afc5ddf0e03c34d4b2beb48ac3fea7637306570563165","0x180d2992e8ed01a64bdb5954b4177718e3cf6958aab56762ac9e49465e87964c","0x76f41847d1d35eb05e161059195cf2d23aa8d82f97be518742c9754b44a23706","0x4cbf0347b2335509511be78ec5c4d6de2784e97dbe230c281f425bedee3dc588","0x0f093de021cf8acaa4824931692f37e555b4808667a5ee34d20ec3ace7ab6e8f","0xbcf7a393b9abf5e99242fa8d9e1593d11d2573bc707ed6484f3a2a24cd28f0fd","0xb64db677c2d4658e3357f6bf2e436522913ac8868495c40e8cfecf3f888525e1","0x1de5f02c048fe5e928d28cb6232da17aa26fc6156b42e85218b069bc19e2da6e","0xf887b83e6eca22422a2e3cc39d9a4ec81c546f759e73f645dc7de91e52eac978","0x83cbb93d6a284fc65cd710fc1ff1d84dce5255b54dca019d36315e4655cb1a23","0x343370c8c8497509d8bf371e23a9441c0ac9f41807b133a3fee1989eea93915e","0x811a0014af088db00e6ef7ff8ac1ab51dae1fccd083138a8566b55713edcdc5b","0xa0143e2bae39bda98dbef3dea840b0630df83dd8a4b9dca3142ab91ebf2276c5","0x2be133a7eee1a0127afb439064e964f50f03669d4f0a16f02ab4002eb98f5249","0x4d3a2450ac2829d56827b05c1ac48073b1473c15f22c131dc623c82fac0ab7e6","0x968c2ee04d6ee7810207fcabaf130863f8d83417293633db85c016196a239f60","0x52cadbd82cad4e5893839b368c37df917a7c4bc4615d52ddf96a7ae5895fad59","0x3a50dcdd2c651ae690da230c4645d87e19c68f9929633903de638ec1f0b80e37","0xfb959a5c21a17965069bb1535ad2f45d5ff69ebc75545acc02abf2e11e1d238f","0x884f53eff4d0c0d93ea329c4c83dc09acd33ec0de0856ab63ea0f6ed59b56a2a","0xc158c1ee3594f7186d04d5ec91ef401655a6650b5b1f1146b162ad3e06c522ac","0x99b27464578b35e84ffb168cf80f8ac305c181706c033e439e20bd64e08f0d32","0xe942c6555e98ddfbf53f045a1b9576c15e274254c53874d697a73934607622fe","0x60d23724d80944eec66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Thats it! You just fetched some block data from the Sepolia testnet! Feel free to test other RPC methods available on the documentation page. The code samples are all ready to be used, so have fun!

Additional Resources

• Sepolia Block Explorer
• Sepolia Testnet Source Code
• QuickNode Documentation
• QuickNode Sepolia Faucet

Network Information

• Chain ID: 11155111
• Currency Symbol: SepoliaETH

Additionally, if you want to run your own Sepolia node, you can use any of the consensus client software listed below:

• Besu
• Erigon
• go-ethereum (a.k.a geth)
• Nethermind

Looking Forward

A new testnet, Holli (this name is not finalized), is planned to launch later this year (2023) and will address some of the previous issues other test networks have faced such as a capped token supply and permisionless validators.

Final Thoughts

You've reached the end of this guide, so give yourself a pat on the back! You now have a thorough understanding of the most popular testnets on Ethereum and how to use them.

If you're having trouble, have questions, or just want to talk about what you're building, drop us a line on Discord or Twitter!

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