How to Migrate from Rinkeby to Goerli on Ethereum

Written by Alchemy

Reviewed by Brady Werkheiser

Published on September 6, 20224 min read

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With the upcoming deprecation of the Rinkeby test network, developers should be prepared to migrate dApps off of Rinkeby, which will be deprecated by the Ethereum Foundation and as of October 5th, 2022, will no longer be supported by Alchemy.

Leading up to the Ethereum Merge, where today’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain merges with the new Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Beacon Chain, dApps should redeploy their smart contracts on the Goerli testnet. 

The Goerli test network will be the primary testnet that is maintained for dApp developers after The Merge is complete. Popular Ethereum layer 2 networks have already migrated and are supported by Alchemy including the Arbitrum Nitro Goerli testnet and the Optimism Goerli testnet.

TL;DR - Migrating from Rinkeby to Goerli is as simple as switching your Rinkeby RPC endpoint URL with a Goerli RPC endpoint URL.

Deprecation Notice

While you can use the Goerli testnet, we caution against it as the Ethereum Foundation has announced that Goerli will soon be deprecated. Therefore, we recommend using Sepolia testnet as Alchemy has full Sepolia support and a free Sepolia faucet.

What is Rinkeby used for?

Rinkeby is a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) test network that is primarily used by application developers to test their smart contracts in a safe, and cost-neutral environment. Web3 developers can get free Rinkeby Ether from a faucet, deploy their contracts to Rinkeby, and ensure their smart contracts will work as expected in production. Once the dApp is tested, developers can then deploy updates to their smart contracts on Ethereum’s mainnet.

Some web3 dApps use Rinkeby for testing because that is where popular applications like OpenSea, Chainlink, and Aave v2 enable testing for their smart contracts. Because these apps have migrated to Goerli, developers dependent on applications like OpenSea and Chainlink, can now switch from Rinkeby to Goerli.

Why is Rinkeby being deprecated?

Rinkeby is a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) test network that will not be receiving critical network updates during The Merge preparation, which will make it no longer fit to be an accurate testing environment. 

The two test networks that will be maintained after the merge are Goerli, which will be the predominant testnet recommended for Ethereum application developers, and the Sepolia testnet, a permissioned test network primarily for node client developers who need to test the implementation of Execution Layer client software.

When will Rinkeby be deprecated?

An exact date for the Rinkeby test network deprecation has not been determined yet. For up-to-date information, refer to the Ethereum Foundation’s blog, or follow core developers on Twitter including Tim Beiko.

Although the Rinkeby won't be deprecated until later in 2022, we recommended web3 dev teams with smart contracts deployed on Rinkeby to start planning, testing, and re-deploying their contracts on the Goerli testnet. As of October 5th, 2022, Alchemy will no longer support the Rinkeby testnet. 

What happens after the Rinkeby testnet is deprecated?

After Rinkeby is deprecated by the Ethereum Foundation, no additional client updates or bug fixes will be provided by the community, and the software used to run testnet nodes will not actively be maintained. Because Rinkeby won’t be actively maintained, it will lose parity with Ethereum mainnet, and will not be a safe or accurate testing environment.

Because Rinkeby will be deprecated by the Ethereum Foundation, infrastructure providers, including Alchemy, will phase out support for the test network When zero node providers are running Rinkeby nodes, the testnet will be sunset.

When will Alchemy end support for Rinkeby?

Alchemy will end support for Rinkeby in on October 5th, 2022. As the Ethereum Foundation and core Ethereum developers continue to plan for the Rinkeby deprecation, Alchemy will inform current users through in-app alerts, email notifications, and direct messages to Enterprise customers.

For more information on the Ethereum Merge timeline and Rinkeby testnet deprecation, refer to the Merge portal.

How to Migrate from Rinkeby to Goerli

To migrate from Rinkeby to the Goerli testnet, create a new app in the Alchemy dashboard with the following details:

• Chain - Ethereum

• Network - Goerli

Next, copy the Goerli RPC URL for your app from the dashboard.

This is what the new Goerli RPC URL will look like: https://eth-goerli.alchemyapi.io/v2/

After you create a new Goerli RPC endpoint URL, request Goerli ETH from a faucet. This goETH will be used to pay for test transactions on the Goerli testnet.

By signing up for a free Alchemy account you can request 0.02 goETH per day from Alchemy's free Goerli faucet during the lead up to The Merge. Typically, the goETH drip is 0.02 test ETH.

If you need more goETH, please email faucet@alchemy.com.

Now that you have Goerli ETH, deploy your smart contract in the new Goerli app within the Alchemy dashboard the same way you deployed your Rinkeby application!

Once your application is deployed on Goerli, you can run additional tests, modify code, and update your dApp the same way you did when testing Rinkeby dApps.

Things to Consider Before Migrating from Rinkeby to Goerli

Before migrating smart contracts from Rinkeby to Goerli, dApp developers should consider their:

1. dApp roadmap - identify concurrent initiatives to plan the migration accordingly

2. impending deadlines - ensure the proper amount of resources are dedicated to migrating to Goerli

3. testing and verification - determine what tests need to occur to validate a successful migration

4. smart contract dependencies - review smart contract dependencies using Rinkeby

Web3 developers can ensure their dApps work as intended to work on Goerli, by considering these four areas and complete their move from Rinkeby to Goerli before the Rinkeby testnet is deprecated by the Ethereum Foundation.