Chainlink and Pyth Network both bring outside data, such as asset prices, onto blockchains, but they do it in different ways. Chainlink is the larger network. DefiLlama’s oracle rankings show
Chainlink and Pyth Network both bring outside data, such as asset prices, onto blockchains, but they do it in different ways. Chainlink is the larger network. DefiLlama’s oracle rankings show Chainlink securing $37.738 billion across 534 protocols, against $3.569 billion across 320 protocols for Pyth.
Blockchains cannot read data from the outside world on their own. An oracle is a service that delivers that data, such as the price of ETH, to smart contracts.
Lending apps use oracle prices to decide when to liquidate a loan. Perpetual futures exchanges use them to settle trades. If an oracle reports a wrong price, users can lose money. That is why the design of each network matters.
Both networks now offer “push” and “pull” delivery, but they start from opposite defaults and source their data in different ways.
A push oracle posts prices on-chain on a schedule or after a set price move, so the latest price is always waiting for apps to read. A pull oracle keeps prices off-chain, and an app fetches the latest signed price only when it needs one.
Pyth uses first-party data. Over 100 institutional publishers, including Jane Street, Wintermute and Jump Trading, sign and send their own prices to Pythnet, a dedicated Solana-based appchain. Each price comes with a confidence interval, a range that shows how much the sources disagree.
Chainlink uses independent node operators. Nodes in its decentralized oracle networks (DONs) collect prices from outside sources, then aggregate, validate and sign each report before delivery.
Chainlink’s classic Data Feeds push a new price on-chain when it moves past a set deviation, such as 0.5%, or when a “heartbeat” timer runs out. Most lending markets read these feeds. The network handles the updates, and the price is always on-chain, but every update costs gas.
For faster apps, Chainlink offers Data Streams, a pull-based product with sub-second latency deployed on more than 40 chains. Chainlink lists uses that include:
Data Streams reports are kept off-chain and verified on-chain when requested. Chainlink Automation can handle the posting for apps.
Pyth’s docs describe it as a pull oracle, where apps are usually responsible for putting prices on-chain. Its standard Pyth Core feed updates every 400 milliseconds. Pyth Pro, a paid service for institutions formerly known as Pyth Lazer, offers update speeds as fast as 1 millisecond.
Push is available as an option:
Pyth notes that its sponsored push feeds can be delayed and recommends that apps run their own price pusher. Under the pull model, no one pays for updates nobody uses.
Chainlink leads on most usage measures, according to DefiLlama, which tracks value in DeFi protocols:
The totals hide where each network leads. On Solana, Pyth secures $2.35 billion against Chainlink’s $732.77 million, while on Base, Chainlink secures $1.945 billion against Pyth’s $13.85 million. Pyth is also strong in trading markets: it reports pricing about $2 trillion in real-world asset perpetual volume during Q3 2026.
Both networks reported new business figures this month.
Chainlink’s October 21 quarterly review confirmed several changes:
Pyth’s recurring revenue grew 86.5% from the prior quarter to $11.49 million in Q3 2026. Pyth Pro, its paid data subscription, brought in $9.68 million of that, and Pyth Indices brought in $1.81 million. Pyth Pro now also includes a US Treasury bond index.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) is the yearly value of current subscriptions. It is not cash already collected.
Both networks now turn protocol revenue into purchases of their own tokens.
On October 8, Pyth’s DAO passed OP-PIP-136, known as the “100% Rule.” It directs all revenue the DAO earns from Pyth products into monthly PYTH purchases. About 60% of revenue from DAO-owned products reaches the DAO, so the rule applies to that share, not to every dollar the network earns.
Chainlink builds the Chainlink Reserve with a tool called Payment Abstraction, which converts offchain and onchain revenue into LINK. Customers can pay in stablecoins or other assets, which are then swapped to LINK. The Reserve added 1.54 million LINK last quarter.
Chainlink secures about ten times more value than Pyth and runs CCIP 2.0 across more than 1,040 cross-chain lanes. Pyth delivers first-party prices from over 100 trading firms every 400 milliseconds, and its paid data business reached $11.49 million in ARR in Q3 2026. Both networks now convert revenue into their own tokens, through Pyth’s 100% Rule and the Chainlink Reserve.
