Top 3 Block Explorer-as-a-Service Providers (For Developers)

Building a blockchain or scaling solution is hard work.

You’re writing code that secures money, powers apps, and (hopefully) attracts users.

At the same time, those users need a way to inspect blocks, transactions, smart contracts, and onchain activity – Etherscan is one you might already know.

Building a fully-functioning explorer from scratch, though? That’s like taking on a whole second startup.

Luckily for you, “block explorer–as-a-service” is now a real thing.

Instead of building one from scratch, you can plug your chain into a ready-made explorer – complete with a familiar layout, trusted developer tools, stable infrastructure, and branding that matches your chain.

In this article, we’ll break down the top options, including what they offer, what they might be missing, and what you’ll want to consider while choosing.

Milk Road Pick: Blockscout

Best for: Control, customizability, and the ability to scale with your ecosystem.

The coolest thing they have is Autoscout, a block explorer builder that makes the whole experience stupidly simple: one click, custom branding, hosted infrastructure, and 24/7 support if you want it.

Why choose Blockscout?

• Launch your explorer in ~5 minutes
• Open source
• Highly flexible
• Already used by over 3,000 chains

Why Projects Need Their Own Explorer

Trust and Transparency

Users want to see what’s happening on your network.

They want to verify transactions, watch blocks finalize, and inspect how the chain actually operates.

If you’ve got sequencers, validators, or block producers, people will want visibility into them – especially when they’re depositing real value into your ecosystem.

Without that transparency, your blockchain might as well be a spreadsheet.

Developer and Token Reality Checks

Everyone has hit that familiar wall where a transaction fails – and the only question that matters is “why?”

A good explorer answers that instantly. It turns debugging from guesswork into clarity, both for developers and end users.

The same goes for token launches. Nobody wants to buy into a chain where they can’t verify contract code, token metadata, or holder distributions.

If that information isn’t obvious and easy to check, trust evaporates fast.

Ecosystem Growth and Integrations

Explorers aren’t just for humans – they’re also infrastructure for everything else.

Wallets, DEXs, Dapps, bridges, and analytics tools often integrate directly with explorer APIs.

If your chain doesn’t have its own explorer, integrations get harder, adoption slows down, and the ecosystem struggles to form.

No explorer often means no ecosystem.

What Does “Block Explorer as a Service” Actually Mean?

"Block explorer–as-a-service" is basically the SaaS version of a block explorer like Etherscan – but for your chain.

Instead of setting up nodes, building indexers, maintaining uptime, and writing front-end code (all while praying nothing breaks)… you outsource 99% of that work.

A proper SaaS provider gives you:

• Hosted infrastructure (no servers for you to babysit)
• White-label branding (your colors, your logo, your domain)
• Prebuilt modules for everything users expect
• APIs for developers
• Instant scaling
• Support for your chain’s custom parameters

You can think of it kind of like Shopify for blockchains: You plug in the software, configure it, brand it – and you’re off to the races.

The Technical Challenge (Why Teams Outsource It)

Here’s the part most teams underestimate.

A block explorer isn’t one system. It’s three:

1. Node infrastructure that reads data from the chain
2. The indexing layer that turns raw blocks into something humans can understand
3. A front-end + APIs that stay fast and stable, even when traffic spikes

Any one of those could quietly take over your entire roadmap on its own.

Running nodes sounds easy until it isn’t. RPCs go down, upgrades break things, chain hiccups force re-indexing, and traffic spikes melt servers.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Every new feature you add means more work for the chain tracker (“the indexer”). If it doesn’t understand your chain, then your explorer won’t either.

That’s why experienced teams outsource this…

You’re already building a blockchain – so you don’t really want to pick up a whole second project, do you?

What To Look For in a Provider

Once you cut through the marketing, choosing an explorer builder comes down to a handful of practical questions.

These are the things that show up clearly when you compare providers – and the things you’ll feel as soon as real users start showing up.

How fast can you launch?

Some explorers (like Blockscout with its Autoscout feature) let you spin something up in minutes, with hosting and branding ready to go.

Others take real setup and engineering time.

Time is money – and a faster launch usually means your ecosystem can start moving sooner.

How is it hosted?

Self-hosting means you run everything yourself.

You get full control – but you’re also responsible for scaling, upgrades, and fixing things when they break.

Options like Blockscout let you switch between the two options, as you need.

Managed hosting means the provider handles all of that for you.

You give up some control, but you save time, avoid headaches, and get something reliable from day one.

Does it actually support your chain?

If you’re building anything beyond a standard EVM blockchain (a chain that works like Ethereum under the hood), this could be a turning point.

Custom blockchains and scaling setups can confuse some explorers. And if your chain isn’t Ethereum-compatible, many explorer services simply won’t work with it at all.

The better the support here, the fewer weird issues you’ll be debugging later.

What’s the developer experience like?

Developers live in the block explorer.

Things like verifying contracts, APIs, decoded logs, and readable traces either make their lives easier, or slow them down every day.

Good developer tools help teams ship faster.

How customizable is it?

As your chain grows, you’ll probably want custom dashboards, chain-specific views, or your own branding and domain.

Some explorers make this easy. Others lock you into a fixed setup.

How does pricing scale?

Some teams want free open-source.

Others want predictable managed pricing. Others are fine with usage-based APIs.

What matters is whether the pricing still makes sense as your usage and ecosystem grow.

Get these right, and your explorer will quietly support everything you’re building, the entire way.

Best Block Explorer “Creation” Services

1. Blockscout

Blockscout is a great option for teams that want an explorer they can actually adapt to and grow with their chain.

It’s fully open source, works with almost every major L2 and modern EVM setup, and doesn’t lock you into a single way of doing things.

You can run it yourself if you want full ownership, or use Autoscout to launch a branded explorer in minutes without touching infrastructure.

And because it’s the same underlying software either way, you’re not stuck – you can move between self-hosted and managed as your needs change.

If your chain is evolving fast or you expect to need custom features, Blockscout is hard to beat.

It has a free open-source version, plus paid Explorer-as-a-Service and Cloud options, with usage-based pricing. Free and paid API plans are also available.

Why Use Blockscout?

• It’s open source and modular, so you’re not boxed in
• It already runs 3000+ chains, including most major rollups
• Autoscout lets you launch in minutes without giving up long-term control
• Strong developer tooling for contracts, APIs, analytics, and custom views.

2. Etherscan

Etherscan is the name almost everyone in crypto recognizes.

End users that are familiar with using Ethereum, usually also have experience using Etherscan.

That familiarity makes it appealing for teams that want something polished and instantly trusted.

Their hosted explorer service makes setup simple – that means no servers to manage, and no scaling worries.

The downside is flexibility.

Etherscan is closed-source, and once you move beyond a standard EVM setup or want deeper customization, you’ll probably start to feel the limits.

It’s a paid Explorer-as-a-Service with flat pricing, and APIs are tiered, which can get pricey as usage grows.

Why Use Etherscan?

• Strong brand recognition and user trust
• Minimal setup effort or ongoing maintenance required
• Solid contract verification and APIs for standard EVM chains
• Familiar, clean interface that users already understand.

3. Routescan

Routescan leans into the multichain experience.

It’s designed to make it easy for users to view different networks all in one place without feeling lost – all while the UI keeps things simple and approachable.

For teams that just want an explorer that works out of the box, Routescan’s hosted option keeps things pretty straightforward.

The trade-off is customization.

It’s closed-source and not very modular, so supporting strange L2 designs or adding custom features could be difficult or simply not possible.

It’s offered as a paid Explorer-as-a-Service with flexible pricing, and APIs are usage-based.

Why Use Routescan?

• Clean multichain UI, that’s easy to navigate
• Hosted setup with minimal infrastructure work
• Good visibility across supported chains
• Simple interface that doesn’t overwhelm non-technical users.

To Sum It Up

If you’re building a blockchain, you’re going to need a block explorer – full stop.

The real decision is whether you build and maintain one yourself, or use a service that’s already done the heavy lifting.

Explorer-as-a-service lets you launch faster, gives users and developers the tools they expect, and keeps your infrastructure from becoming a distraction.

From there, it’s about choosing the right balance of control, flexibility, and ease of use.

Pick an explorer that can grow with your chain. Done right, it fades into the background and just works – which is exactly what you want.