Tenderly Virtual TestNets: The Next Generation of Web3 Development Infrastructure

Public testnets were never intended for dapp development, but for testing protocol changes on individual networks. In the absence of a better alternative, Web3 teams started using them to build and test their dapps to get at least some, though incomplete, idea of their dapp performance in production.

However, as the industry matured, public testnets could no longer rise to the task. They lack mainnet data, get deprecated one after the other, and inevitably lead to token shortages, slow deployments, and network congestion. Now, Web3 teams building innovative solutions need the next generation of Web3 infrastructure designed to address the specific challenges of dapp development.

For this reason, we’re launching Tenderly Virtual TestNets, virtually operated networks designed to replace public testnets and fit Web3-native workflows. As zero-setup development environments, Virtual TestNets power the entire dapp development cycle, from the first lines of code to on-chain deployment. Bringing the on-chain data of a mainnet and the flexibility of a local environment, Virtual TestNets put you in control over dapp development.

Here’s how.

Public testnets are stuck in the past, Virtual TestNets are the future

Public testnets are a rigid infrastructure that requires ongoing, resource-intensive maintenance, limits your testing capabilities, and ultimately slows down your progress. By using public testnets for dapp development, you’re left to deal with long redeployments, slow feedback loops, and hindered collaboration. 

Understanding the challenges that you face, we want to provide a scalable, reliable, and long-term alternative to the rigid system you’re forced to use. Virtual TestNets are a fully customizable development infrastructure made-to-measure for Web3 teams. 

Prioritizing dapp development, Virtual TestNets are synced with the latest mainnet state so you can finally build your product against relevant, up-to-date data. Additionally, our Virtual TestNets cover each stage of dapp development, enabling fast, iterative, and dynamic collaboration across teams.

Without having to deal with public testnet deprecations, token shortages, or long deployments, you can direct your attention to building your product, not your infrastructure. So, by replacing public testnets with Virtual TestNets, you and your team can:

• Build your dapps with real, up-to-date mainnet data and test its actual performance under realistic conditions. Virtual TestNets are synced with the most recent state of any forked EVM chain, allowing you to test real-world scenarios. 
• Get an unlimited faucet and stop begging for test ETH. Mint both native and ERC-20 tokens in any amount you need, impersonate accounts, and test complex scenarios uninterruptedly.
• Fully customize your development infrastructure to fit your unique workflows. Virtual TestNets are easy to set up and configure, giving you full control and flexibility over your environments. You can even manipulate the state of your forked chains with custom values, custom chain IDs, and more, making sure they fit your unique requirements.
• Collaborate across teams in shared, dynamic environments. Spin up individual Virtual TestNet instances for your backend, frontend, and smart contract teams. Enable iterative and dynamic collaboration for fast, independent, and incremental progress.
• Stop building and testing in production and dealing with network congestion, external dependencies, and prying eyes. Immediately deploy to your own private networks so you can build and test in isolation until you’re ready to go public. 
• Forget about transitioning to yet another public testnet after getting yet another deprecation notice. Rely on a zero-maintenance solution that you can easily set up, customize to your workflows, and integrate into your existing frameworks or dapps. 

All of these advantages come with an RPC URL, along with built-in explorer and debugging tools. Plus, you get an accessible and informative dashboard overview of deployed contracts and executed transactions for each of your Virtual TestNets for complete observability. Then, you can jump straight to analysis, debugging, and gas optimization to fix any issue early in development.

How Virtual TestNets transform dapp development

With Virtual TestNets, you get an infrastructure fully adaptable and configurable to your unique team workflows. You can spin up any number of Virtual TestNets for your teams and integrate them into your existing flows, along with built-in development tooling.

With Virtual TestNets, you and your team can finally: 

• Set up automated CI pipelines with scalable, reproducible, and managed environments to run fast, iterative tests against on-chain data. 
• Stage your dapp frontend, backend, and Solidity components on Virtual TestNet instances to enable cross-team collaboration and fast, incremental progress. 
• Open your dapp for public beta testing to engage with your target audience, identify actual usage patterns, and gather valuable feedback in real time. 
• Have an easy-to-set-up, publicly accessible virtual network for external product demonstrations, hackathons, and workshops. 

Public testnets introduce unnecessary challenges to dapp development. Virtual TestNets are a single solution to all of them.

Embrace the future of Web3 testing now

Public testnets are a thing of the past. Don’t let a legacy system prevent you from keeping up with the rapidly evolving Web3 space. Instead, get a dapp-first development infrastructure actually designed with developers in mind.

Virtual TestNets are the next step in the evolution of Web3 development infrastructure. So, take that next step with us and start building on top of mainnet data now!