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Best Nostr Relays 2026

The right relay for every job

Last updated 20 June 2026

These picks are editorial — chosen by hand from our continuously maintained relay directory and re-verified for 2026. We take no payment for placement. Looking for apps too? See Best Nostr Clients 2026.

Relays are the servers that store and pass on Nostr events. Your client connects to several at once, so the goal isn’t one “best” relay but a good mix — a couple of reliable public relays, maybe a paid one for spam control, plus a specialised relay or two. Add a relay’s wss:// address in your client’s relay settings.

Best overall

Damus Relay and nos.lol are the relays most clients reach for first — large, fast and consistently reliable, with broad reach across the network. If you only add one or two relays, start here.

Damus Relay Top pick

public North America

wss://relay.damus.io

Official Damus relay - one of the most popular and reliable public relays

NIPs: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 15

Full details → Operator site

nos.lol

public Global

wss://nos.lol

High-reliability public relay, consistently ranked among the most stable

Full details → Operator site

Best free public relays

These public relays are free, well-run and dependable — a solid default set for everyday use. Snort’s relay is a reliable European option alongside the two big globals.

nos.lol Top pick

public Global

wss://nos.lol

High-reliability public relay, consistently ranked among the most stable

Full details → Operator site

Damus Relay

public North America

wss://relay.damus.io

Official Damus relay - one of the most popular and reliable public relays

NIPs: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 15

Full details → Operator site

Snort Relay

public Europe

wss://relay.snort.social

Official relay for Snort social client - consistently reliable

Full details → Operator site

Best paid & premium relays

Paid relays charge a small subscription (or a one-off sats payment) to keep spam out and reliability high. nostr.wine adds regional mirrors and full-text search; Eden and nostr.land offer tiered premium access.

nostr.wine Top pick

paid ~$7/month or 21,000 sats Global (US, Finland, Japan)

wss://nostr.wine

Premium paid relay with regional mirrors, full-text search, and the Creatr creator platform

NIPs: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 15

Full details → Operator site

Eden

paid ~$5-10/month Global

wss://eden.nostr.land

Premium paid relay with advanced features and spam protection

Full details →

nostr.land

paid Multiple tiers available Global

wss://nostr.land

Suite of paid premium relays with different tiers

Full details → Operator site

Best for search & discovery

relay.nostr.band indexes the network for full-text search and trending data — the relay to add when you want to find people, topics and notes rather than just follow a feed.

nostr.band Top pick

public Global

wss://relay.nostr.band

Search-focused relay with full-text search capabilities and trending data

NIPs: 1, 2, 50

Full details → Operator site

Best for speed & caching

Primal’s caching relay precomputes feeds and threads so apps load almost instantly. It’s specialised infrastructure rather than a general write relay, but it’s why Primal feels so fast.

Primal Cache Top pick

specialized Global

wss://cache1.primal.net

Primal's caching relay powering ultra-fast performance and content discovery

NIPs: 1, 2, 50

Full details → Operator site

Best for long-form & blogging

Purplepag.es focuses on NIP-23 long-form articles and profile metadata, making it the natural home for blog-style writing and reliable profile lookups on Nostr.

Purplepag.es Top pick

specialized Global

wss://purplepag.es

Long-form content focused relay for NIP-23 articles

NIPs: 1, 23

Full details →

Best for spam reduction (Web of Trust)

WoT Relay filters events through a web-of-trust graph, so you mostly see people connected to those you already follow — the most effective spam defence short of a paid relay. Eden’s paid filtering is a good alternative.