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Shared relays are multi-tenant relays run by n0.computer on infrastructure that is separate from the public relays. They sit between the free public relays and fully dedicated relays: you share a box with a small number of other tenants instead of the entire internet.

Why not the public relays

The public relays are rate-limited based on total traffic across every iroh user on them. When traffic is high or bursty, your application shares those limits with everyone else. Shared relays:
  • Run on separate infrastructure from the public relays, so they aren’t affected by bursty traffic or DDoS attacks against them
  • Have far fewer tenants per machine
  • Have higher rate limits than the public relays
  • Optional API key authentication, so only your applications can connect
  • Provide more predictable performance

What you get

For $19/month:
  • Four relays across the globe
  • 10,000 endpoints included, then $0.0003 per endpoint
  • Higher rate limits than the public relays, for better performance
  • API key authentication, so you can revoke access for endpoints as needed
Metrics are already included with the Pro plan: throughput, direct connection rates, relay usage, and rate limits. See Metrics.

Free trial

You can try shared relays free for 30 days. We won’t charge you until the following month, and you can cancel anytime.

How to get shared relays

Shared relays are in beta, so they’re enabled per project on a case-by-case basis. Email support@iroh.computer with your project name and we’ll turn them on for you.

Configure your endpoint

Once shared relays are enabled, go to Relays → Code Snippet in your project dashboard to get the configuration for your endpoints. Your endpoint authenticates to your relays using (optionally) an API key. The iroh-services preset mints a short-lived access token scoped to your endpoint’s key and to relay use only, then configures the endpoint to use your relays.
On a free project, omit the relay URLs. Then, the preset will use the n0 public relays instead.

Shared vs. Dedicated

Shared relays give you authentication, isolation from public traffic, and higher rate limits at a low fixed price. Choose dedicated relays when you need single-tenant isolation, version locking, blue/green deployments, custom regions, or an uptime SLA.