Subscan Enterprise Explorer License - Kusama 2026 Milestone-Based Service
View Proposal Detail:
Executive Summary
Subscan is the leading high-precision Web3 explorer and essential data infrastructure for the Polkadot, Kusama, and Substrate-based ecosystems. It provides a comprehensive, user-friendly interface for ecosystem participants to track extrinsics, events, transfers, and governance activities. Beyond a visual block explorer, Subscan serves as a critical developer tool, offering the free API plan that powers numerous wallets, DApps, and analytics platforms across the network.
To ensure the community can quickly understand the scope, cost, and structural changes of this service, we have prepared this one-page executive summary. This guide provides a clear overview of the 2026 forward-looking maintenance proposal, allowing the community to evaluate the structural changes and funding request at a glance.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Proposal | Subscan Enterprise Explorer License - Kusama 2026 Milestone-Based Service |
| Network | Kusama Relaychain, AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People |
| Period | January 2026 – December 2026 (12 Months) |
| Retroactive or forward-looking | Forward-looking |
| Amount requested | $229,152 - 55128.3 KSM (Annual Total Cap) |
| Monthly equivalent | $18,096 - EMA 30: 4353.45 KSM (Jan-Jun) $20,096 - EMA 30: 4834.6 KSM (Jul-Dec) |
| What is included | Enterprise SaaS infrastructure maintenance, Subscan License, Kusama Trace, AssetHub Trace (H2), 24/7 DevOps, SLA Guarantees. |
| What changed compared to Ref #641 | The 2026 maintenance is now completely separated into an independent, forward-looking subscription. We have transitioned to a strictly monthly subscription model with exactly 1 milestone per month. Payments are processed on a strictly monthly basis. The community has the absolute right to evaluate ongoing performance and terminate the subscription at any time. |
1. Proposal Purpose & Background
This proposal establishes a forward-looking 2026 Enterprise SaaS Subscription for Subscan services covering the Kusama Relay Chain and selected public parachains. Subscan has consistently served as the foundational data layer for the Kusama ecosystem. Our goal for 2026 is to make ongoing maintenance highly predictable, easier to evaluate, and fully controllable by the Kusama community through monthly OpenGov milestones.
Past Proposals Reference
Subscan has a proven track record of delivering robust infrastructure. This proposal builds on our history of reliable support while pivoting to a more community-friendly funding structure:
#229 Subscan | Infrastructure Costs of Subscan for Kusama & Statemine (from July to December 2022)
#377 Subscan | Infrastructure Costs of Subscan for Kusama & Asset Hub (Kusama) Networks (from January 2023 to March 2024)
#434 Subscan | Infrastructure Costs of Subscan for Kusama & Statemine Networks (from April to June 2024)
#482 Subscan Q2/Q3/Q4 2024 Funding Proposal: Basic service fee for the Kusama Relaychain and Kusama public parachain (AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People)
#581 Subscan 2025 Q1-Q2 Funding Proposal: Basic service fee for the Kusama Relaychain and Kusama public parachain (AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People)
#641 [Kusama] Subscan 2025 Q3-Q4 Funding Proposal: Basic service fee for the Kusama Relaychain and Kusama public parachain (AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People)
2. Moving to a Predictable Subscription Model
We have heard the community clearly: the era of large post-paid retroactive settlements should end. This proposal therefore separates the 2026 service year into a clean, forward-looking SaaS subscription with monthly deliverables and monthly payment control.
Instead of asking the Treasury to approve a long period after costs have already been incurred, Subscan is proposing a structure where each month is treated as a separate milestone. This greatly improves evaluability, reduces approval ambiguity, and gives the community a practical governance lever throughout the year.
Forward-looking subscription: The 2026 annual scope is proposed before the service period rather than as a retroactive settlement.
Milestone-based payment: The annual service is divided into 12 independent monthly milestones.
Community termination right: The community may stop approving future milestones at any time if the service no longer meets expectations, if priorities change, or if a better alternative emerges.
3. GCP Optimization & 2026 Price Reductions
Throughout 2025, Subscan invested heavily in optimizing our infrastructure to reduce long-term operational costs. Specifically, we transitioned to a Hot/Cold storage separation architecture, which drastically reduced our reliance on high-cost GCP operations.
We are proud to pass these savings directly to the Kusama community. Compared to Q4 2025, our 2026 pricing reflects significant cost reductions across our networks. For example, the Kusama Relay Chain monthly fee drops substantially from $19,063 in Q4 2025 to $10,000 in 2026—an approximate 48% reduction. This demonstrates our commitment to the long-term financial sustainability of the Kusama ecosystem.
4. 2026 Subscription Fee Breakdown
(Note: Because this proposal utilizes a month-to-month milestone payment structure rather than an upfront annual lump-sum payment, standard monthly subscription rates apply without annual prepayment discounts.)
| Network / Service | Service Tier | Monthly Fee | Billed Duration | Annual Total | Included Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kusama Relay Chain | Custom Optimized | $10,000 | 12 months | $120,000 | Core production explorer infrastructure and maintenance |
| Kusama Trace | Custom Optional | $4,000 | 12 months | $48,000 | Trace capability and related infrastructure |
| AssetHub | Advanced | $1,699 | 12 months | $20,388 | AssetHub explorer service and maintenance |
| AssetHub Trace | Custom Optional | $2,000 | 6 months (Est. Jul-Dec) | $12,000 | Billed only after delivery and inclusion in H2 milestones |
| Coretime | Standard public parachain | $799 | 12 months | $9,588 | Explorer service and maintenance |
| BridgeHub | Standard public parachain | $799 | 12 months | $9,588 | Explorer service and maintenance |
| People | Standard public parachain | $799 | 12 months | $9,588 | Explorer service and maintenance |
| Total | $229,152 | 2026 annual subscription cap |
Why Trace Remains Necessary for Kusama and AssetHub
The Trace-related fees are listed separately to make the scope and cost transparent. Subscan currently supports Kusama Trace, and the fee includes the additional Trace node costs required to maintain this capability.
Kusama Trace is not a standard explorer feature. It is a deeper infrastructure layer that enables historical state analysis and provides important technical and data foundations for future feature expansion. Trace currently supports several advanced use cases, including:
Account balance history: fetching block-by-block account balance history.
Custom state tracing: allowing developers to query on-chain storage changes.
https://polkadot.subscan.io/state_tracing
Storage changes: allowing users to inspect state changes directly from block or extrinsic pages.
https://polkadot.subscan.io/block/31587572?tab=state_tracing&trace=31587572-37
Convenient access to storage-change data is currently difficult to obtain across the Kusama ecosystem, and Subscan Trace provides one of the only readily accessible ways to query and inspect this information. This makes Trace an important developer tool, not only a data feature for end users.
The continued subscription of Kusama Trace in 2026 is necessary because the Kusama Relay Chain still has real user and developer demand for historical balance analysis and state-change queries. Taking Kusama as an example, in September 2025, before the AssetHub migration, Trace-related API access through the Subscan web frontend averaged approximately 5.4k requests per day, mainly for historical balance data. In May 2026, usage averaged approximately 1.1k requests per day, with the main use case shifting toward custom state queries.
This change reflects a shift in demand rather than the disappearance of demand. After the AssetHub migration, part of the original Relay Chain activity moved to AssetHub, which naturally reduces Relay Chain Trace usage while creating new demand for AssetHub Trace. For this reason, AssetHub Trace is proposed as an H2 2026 addition. It will only be added after community approval, delivery, and inclusion in the relevant monthly milestones.
5. Monthly Milestone Delivery Plan
The annual subscription cap of $229,152 is strictly divided into 12 monthly milestones. Each month corresponds to one independently reviewable and payable milestone, ensuring continuous delivery and validation.
| Milestone | Service Month | Amount | Included Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milestone 1 | January 2026 | $18,096 EMA 30: 4353.45 KSM | Kusama, Kusama Trace, AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People. (AssetHub Trace excluded). |
| Milestone 2 | February 2026 | $18,096 EMA 30: 4353.45 KSM | Kusama, Kusama Trace, AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People. (AssetHub Trace excluded). |
| Milestone 3 | March 2026 | $18,096 EMA 30: 4353.45 KSM | Kusama, Kusama Trace, AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People. (AssetHub Trace excluded). |
| Milestone 4 | April 2026 | $18,096 EMA 30: 4353.45 KSM | Kusama, Kusama Trace, AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People. (AssetHub Trace excluded). |
| Milestone 5 | May 2026 | $18,096 EMA 30: 4353.45 KSM | Kusama, Kusama Trace, AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People. (AssetHub Trace excluded). |
| Milestone 6 | June 2026 | $18,096 EMA 30: 4353.45 KSM | Kusama, Kusama Trace, AssetHub, Coretime, BridgeHub, People. (AssetHub Trace excluded). |
| Milestone 7 | July 2026 | $20,096 EMA 30: 4834.6 KSM | Phase 1 scope plus AssetHub Trace. |
| Milestone 8 | August 2026 | $20,096 EMA 30: 4834.6 KSM | Phase 1 scope plus AssetHub Trace. |
| Milestone 9 | September 2026 | $20,096 EMA 30: 4834.6 KSM | Phase 1 scope plus AssetHub Trace. |
| Milestone 10 | October 2026 | $20,096 EMA 30: 4834.6 KSM | Phase 1 scope plus AssetHub Trace. |
| Milestone 11 | November 2026 | $20,096 EMA 30: 4834.6 KSM | Phase 1 scope plus AssetHub Trace. |
| Milestone 12 | December 2026 | $20,096 EMA 30: 4834.6 KSM | Phase 1 scope plus AssetHub Trace. |
The total requested amount for all 5 networks, including all maintenance, operational overhead, and mandatory compatibility work, is USD 229,152. This request will be submitted in KSM, and the fee is based on milestone, payable on the 1st of each month, converted based on the 30-day average price at the time of on-chain submission.
6. SLA, Monitoring, and Refund Policy
Transparent service accountability is paramount. Service uptime is publicly monitored 24/7 at https://subscan.statuspage.io/. For each monthly milestone, if Subscan fails to meet the uptime standards below, Subscan will credit or refund the applicable percentage of the monthly fee back to the Kusama Treasury. This ensures strict monthly accountability under community oversight.
| Monthly Uptime Percentage | Percentage Credited to Treasury |
|---|---|
| < 95.00% | 50% of the monthly milestone fee credited/refunded |
| 95.00% - < 98.00% | 25% of the monthly milestone fee credited/refunded |
| 98.00% - < 99.00% | 10% of the monthly milestone fee credited/refunded |
| >= 99.00% | No SLA credit required |
7. Review Checklist for the Community
To make review practical and to underline our commitment to alignment with the community's desires, voters can evaluate this proposal using the following checklist:
Structure: Is the 2026 service separated from past retroactive settlement items? Yes. This is the standalone 2026 forward-looking subscription.
Payment cadence: Is treasury outflow monthly rather than lump-sum? Yes. 12 monthly milestones.
Termination control: Can the community stop future payments? Yes. Future milestones can be stopped by the community at any time.
Pricing: Does the proposal reflect reduced 2026 infrastructure cost? Yes. Kusama Relay Chain drops from $19,063/mo in Q4 2025 to $10,000/mo in 2026.
SLA accountability: Are refunds/credits defined? Yes. Refund tiers are rigorously based on monthly uptime.
Approval of this proposal confirms the 2026 subscription structure and maximum monthly milestone amounts. It does not remove the community’s ability to stop or reject future monthly milestones if service expectations are not met. We look forward to continuing to provide top-tier infrastructure support for the Kusama ecosystem.
Comments (1)
Prepare Period
A small note from the Subscan team for transparency.
We understand that Kusama has weaker stablecoin liquidity than Polkadot, and the community may be cautious about the potential market impact of larger KSM-denominated treasury spends.
If this proposal passes, Subscan is happy to commit to managing any received KSM responsibly and selling gradually in batches, using a disciplined grid-style or similar approach where appropriate, to avoid unnecessary one-time market pressure.
Subscan is a long-term contributor to the Substrate ecosystem, and we would not take short-term actions that could harm the Kusama ecosystem or market.
We hope this helps the community evaluate the proposal with more confidence.