Mainnet and Testnets
Stacks has both a mainnet and a few different testnets for different purposes. Mainnet and testnet are two completely different networks and tokens cannot be transferred between one or the other.
Mainnet
Stacks mainnet is directly connected to Bitcoin mainnet and is the network where tokens have actual monetary worth. This is the production network and should be treated as such.
You can view mainnet activity using Hiro's block explorer.
Primary and Nakamoto Testnets
There are some notable differences between Primary Testnet and Nakamoto Testnet, this table can guide you in selecting the one most aligned with your needs.
Stacking Cycle Length
3 days
1 week
Description
Bleeding edge, more frequent upgrades with Release Candidates.
Stable release updates ONLY, the last step before Mainnet.
Usage Recommendations
Use this if you don’t mind frequent resets and would like to test the latest features as they’re released
Use this if you prefer faster feedback loops to test various stacking-signer scenarios
Use this if you prefer more stable releases and don’t want frequent resets and updates
Use this if you don't need to be among the first to test new features
Use this if you prefer longer Stacking cycles
Lifespan
Nakamoto Testnet will remain available until sBTC goes live on Mainnet
The Primary Testnet will exist and be maintained forever.
Explorer
Important notes on the Primary Testnet:
Core devs are working on a BTC Regtest Explorer. In the meantime, Wallet, Explorer, and API links to BTC transactions will lead you nowhere. This is expected and will be addressed. All STX transactions are available to track on the Explorer.
You can start onboarding your Signer, deploy contracts and test your Apps. All functionality from the previous testnet is available.
Old testnet data is archived and will remain available until the end of June 2024
Faucet and tSTX:
The Faucet address and limits stay the same.
If you need more tSTX than the current daily limit to onboard your Signer on Primary Testnet, please reach out to your main point of contact in the ecosystem.
Configuration Files for Signers
About testnet
The testnet is a separate blockchain from the Stacks mainnet analogous to a staging environnement. It's a network used by developers to test their apps, smart contracts, or changes to the protocol in a production-like environment.
It produces blocks at roughly the same rate as mainnet; about 1 block every 10 minutes on average. The Stacks testnet is rarely reset.
Faucets
Testnet faucets provide you with free Stacks Token (STX) to test with. These are not the same as STX on mainnet and have no value. There are a couple of different options for getting testnet STX.
Hiro
You can get STX from the Hiro faucet on the Hiro Explorer Sandbox, or using the API.
To get STX tokens from within the Explorer Sandbox, navigate to the "Faucet" tab on the left and click "Request STX" button.
You can also try out Stacking by clicking on I want to stack.
The Explorer Sandbox requires you to login with a Stacks wallet
LearnWeb3
Alternatively, you can use the LearnWeb3 faucet.
Testnet API
The hosted Stacks Blockchain API for the testnet is available at this base URL:
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