Testnet
About testnet
The testnet is a separate blockchain from the Stacks mainnet analogous to a staging environnment. It's a network used by developers to test their apps, smart contracts, or changes to the protocol in a production-like environment. The testnet is reset frequently.
Testnet nodes
If you would like to run your own testnet node, please follow these steps:
Testnet API
The hosted Stacks Blockchain API for the testnet is available at this base URL:
https://stacks-node-api.testnet.stacks.co/https://stacks-node-api.testnet.stacks.co/
Faucet
The testnet faucet provides you with free Stacks Token (STX) to test with. These are not the same as STX on mainnet and have no value. You can get STX from the faucet on the Stacks Explorer Sandbox, or using the API.
To get STX tokens from within the Explorer Sandbox, navigate to the "Faucet" tab and click on "Request STX" button. If you would like to get enough STX tokens to try out Stacking, you should click on "I want to stack".
The Explorer Sandbox requires you to login with a Secret Key