Thanks - we aim to have a broader set of chains and testnets, that can all be queried from a single endpoint. We also provide a couple of things that make it easier to deal with media, like cached versions and preview sizes via a CDN. We also pull in active floor prices and collection metadata from multiple marketplaces, even when it's stored off-chain.
Yes, you are correct that the computational of running the smart contracts is very small in relation to the proof of work.
But actually, the main cost is not computation, but storage. Storage (any variable that is holding data inside the contracts) is extremely expensive because there is very little of it, and has to be persisted on the blockchain forever.
In fact, view functions that don't change the state of the blockchain can be executed for free at any time.
Related to that, people have started using old procedural generation tricks to store "large" amounts of data on-chain. For example, as far as I understand it, Aavegotchi [1] stores base layer SVGs, metadata and functions to use these and render the actual end-product at view-time.
Blockchain constraints are eerily reminiscent of the demoscene [2][3][4] (just using the opportunity to share stuff I like, don't mind it).
Seems really promising, but how does it work with browser extensions? For instance, I'm looking for something like this that will help me test my crypto app that uses metamask at various points through the app.
Also, no public pricing page is a bit of a turn off, especially when I created an account and still couldn't find any pricing info.
