Account Operations | Solana

balance

Returns an account's balance in both lamports (the base unit) and SOL.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`address`	text	✓ Yes	Base58 Solana address, e.g. `11111111111111111111111111111111`
`cluster`	select	No	See Clusters. Defaults to `Solana:DefaultCluster`.

Example response:

{
  "lamports": 2039280,
  "sol": 0.00203928
}

Missing address: Omitting address returns validation error VAL_MISSING_ADDRESS — 'address' is required.

getInfo

Returns the raw account record beyond just the balance — owner program, data length/content, and rent status.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`address`	text	✓ Yes	Base58 Solana address.
`cluster`	select	No	See Clusters. Defaults to `Solana:DefaultCluster`.

Example response:

{
  "owner": "11111111111111111111111111111111",
  "lamports": 2039280,
  "executable": false,
  "rentEpoch": 18446744073709551615,
  "dataBase64": ""
}

Response Field	Meaning
`owner`	The program that owns this account (e.g. the System Program for a plain wallet, the SPL Token program for a token account).
`lamports`	Balance in lamports (same value `balance` returns).
`executable`	Whether this account's data is a loaded program (BPF bytecode) rather than plain state.
`rentEpoch`	The epoch after which the account becomes subject to rent collection (a very large value generally signals rent-exemption).
`dataBase64`	The account's raw data, base64-encoded. Empty for a plain wallet account; populated for program-owned accounts. Interpreting the bytes requires knowing the owning program's layout — see Program Operations.

balance vs. getInfo: Use balance when you only need the lamport/SOL numbers — it's the lighter call. Use getInfo when you need to know what program owns the account or want to inspect its raw data, e.g. before deciding whether an address is a plain wallet or a program-owned account (token account, stake account, PDA, etc.).