Hiro

What Hiro does

Hiro Systems PBC is a New York-based public benefit corporation that builds developer tools and APIs for Bitcoin layers, with a primary focus on the Stacks smart-contract blockchain. The company's product portfolio includes the Stacks Blockchain API (a REST API handling 600M+ requests per month at 99.97% uptime), the Token Metadata API for fungible and non-fungible token metadata, Chainhooks (event-driven reorg-aware indexing infrastructure, with v2 released February 2026), the Ordhook indexer for Ordinals, and the Hiro Platform — a unified web3 developer environment. Hiro also operates the Hiro Wallet browser extension and a content ecosystem (Hiro Books, blog, YouTube, Discord) that onboards developers into the stack.

The business runs a product-led, self-serve go-to-market: developers sign up at platform.hiro.so, receive API keys, and start building, moving from a free tier to paid Scale tier with a 99.90% SLA. Revenue is generated through tiered API subscriptions and usage-based pricing, with a remote-first team of 11-50 employees distributed across the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and Argentina. The company was created in 2021 (evolved from Blockstack, rebranded December 2020), raised $150 million in February 2022, and is backed by Goldman Sachs, Founders Fund, True Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, BlueYard Capital, and DRW. Leadership includes CEO Alex Miller (ex-Stack Overflow), Chairman Muneeb Ali (Stacks founder, Princeton PhD), and CTO Sarala B (ex-Mastercard Blockchain).

Name

Hiro

Legal name

Hiro Systems PBC

Website

https://hiro.so

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hiro Systems PBC provides developer tools, APIs, and event-driven indexing infrastructure for the Stacks Bitcoin smart-contract ecosystem, serving web3 developers building DeFi, NFTs, and wallets via a self-serve platform with freemium and paid tiers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Developer Infrastructure

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Smart Contract Frameworks & SDKs (developer kits, templates, standards) (FSAPABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Deployment, Automation & DevOps (build pipelines, contract deployment tools) (FSAPABAH), Smart Contract Developer Platforms & Tooling (SDKs, APIs, frameworks, indexing) (FSAPAAAH), Wallet Infrastructure (SDKs, Wallet-as-a-Service) (FSADACAD)

Keywords

• Blockchain developer tools
• Bitcoin smart contracts
• Blockchain API services
• Web3 infrastructure
• Decentralized app development

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. API Subscription Tiers: Hiro offers tiered API access with free and paid plans. Paid tiers provide increased API rate limits, dedicated support channels, and higher request quotas. Scale tier offers 99.90% SLA commitment.
2. Usage-based API Access: Different account tiers with varying rate limits and request volumes. Higher usage tiers for enterprise developers with greater needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Hiro builds developer tools and APIs for Bitcoin layers, primarily serving the Stacks blockchain ecosystem. Its core offerings include REST APIs for blockchain data access (Stacks Blockchain API, Token Metadata API), an event-driven indexing service (Chainhooks), an Ordinals indexer (Ordhook), and the unified Hiro Platform for smart contract development, deployment, and onchain analytics. The company also operates the Hiro Wallet browser extension and produces educational developer resources.

Product overview

Hiro is a developer tools company for Bitcoin layers, providing a comprehensive suite of blockchain infrastructure products. The core offerings include the Hiro Platform (unified developer dashboard for Stacks), multiple APIs (Stacks Blockchain API, Token Metadata API, Chainhooks), and indexing tools (Ordhook for Ordinals). The product portfolio also includes developer documentation, educational guides, and the Hiro Wallet browser extension. Hiro builds developer tools for the Stacks ecosystem (smart contracts on Bitcoin) and broader Bitcoin layer technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stacks Blockchain API Comprehensive REST API providing onchain data, smart contract interaction, and transaction broadcasting for the Stacks blockchain, processing 600M+ requests per month with 99.97% uptime. Targeted at developers building Web3 applications on Bitcoin layers.
• Token Metadata API API for verifying and displaying metadata for Stacks tokens including name, image, symbol, supply, and traits for DeFi and NFT applications, processing 4M+ requests per month with 99.9% uptime.
• Chainhooks Event-driven infrastructure-as-a-service that enables developers to register event listeners programmatically via API and stream onchain data directly to their backend, with automated reorg handling for Bitcoin and Stacks.
• Hiro Platform Web3 development platform for Stacks providing unified observability with enterprise-grade API key management, custom Chainhooks for real-time indexing, smart contract deployment tools, and deep onchain analytics.
• Ordhook Reorg-aware client indexer for Ordinals built using Chainhook technology, enabling developers to get accurate inscription data with indexing that takes hours instead of days.
• Hiro Wallet Browser extension wallet for Stacks that supports Ledger hardware wallets and Coinbase Pay integration for purchasing STX. Targeted at Stacks users who need a self-custody wallet with fiat on-ramp access.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.97% uptime on Stacks Blockchain API
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• StackscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHiro is the leading entity in the Stacks ecosystem, which is a collection of independent entities, developers, community members, and leaders working to build the next generation of apps for Bitcoin. Hiro was created in 2021 specifically to serve developers building smart contracts for the Bitcoin blockchain through Stacks.
• XversecoreTechnology or IntegrationHiro partnered with Xverse to create an easy transition path for developers migrating from Hiro's deprecated L1 Bitcoin tooling (Ordinals, Runes, BRC-20 APIs). Xverse has built and maintains APIs for these use cases and is recommended as the alternative API provider.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Alchemy: Alchemy is a leading Web3 developer platform offering APIs, indexing, and node services across multiple blockchains. It is the closest direct peer to Hiro's blockchain API and developer tooling business, with broader chain coverage but no Stacks specialization.
• Infura (Consensys): Infura provides RPC and API infrastructure primarily for Ethereum and related chains, and is one of the longest-running blockchain developer infrastructure providers. Comparable to Hiro in delivering hosted node access and developer APIs to Web3 builders.
• QuickNode: QuickNode offers multi-chain blockchain infrastructure, APIs, and developer tools with a self-serve marketplace model very similar to Hiro's PLG approach. It directly competes for the same Web3 developer customer with comparable API and indexing products.
• Moralis: Moralis provides Web3 APIs, SDKs, and a development platform for building dApps across chains. It is a direct competitor to Hiro's API and developer platform offering with a similar product-led, developer-first positioning.
• The Graph: The Graph operates a decentralized indexing protocol and hosted service for blockchain data, with subgraphs that index on-chain events. It competes with Hiro's Chainhooks and Ordhook indexing products as a developer-facing data layer.
• Chainstack: Chainstack provides managed blockchain nodes and APIs across multiple protocols. It targets the same developer persona as Hiro and offers comparable RPC and API services with a self-serve model.
• Xverse: Xverse is a Bitcoin wallet and Bitcoin L1 API provider that Hiro explicitly recommended as a migration target after deprecating its Ordinals, BRC-20, and Runes APIs in March 2026. Direct overlap in Bitcoin developer tooling.
• Leather: Leather (formerly Hiro's Stacks wallet predecessor) is a Bitcoin and Stacks browser wallet that is itself a Hiro customer using the Token Metadata API. It competes in the Stacks wallet space that Hiro's Hiro Wallet also addresses.

Emerging players

• Pocket Network: Pocket Network is a decentralized RPC infrastructure protocol for Web3 applications. It is an emerging alternative to centralized API providers like Hiro, with overlapping developer-facing infrastructure capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• Coinbase Cloud: Coinbase Cloud (an investor in Hiro via Coinbase Ventures) provides institutional-grade crypto infrastructure including node services and staking. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping but more diversified crypto infrastructure offerings.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hirosystems
• GitHubgithub.com/hirosystems
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/HiroSystems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hiro