---
title: "Getting Started With the Hedera Consensus Service (JavaScript Tutorial)"
id: "15749"
type: "post"
slug: "getting-started-with-the-hedera-consensus-service-javascript-tutorial"
published_at: "2023-05-08T10:46:00+00:00"
modified_at: "2025-12-08T18:26:36+00:00"
url: "https://hedera.com/blog/getting-started-with-the-hedera-consensus-service-javascript-tutorial/"
markdown_url: "https://hedera.com/blog/getting-started-with-the-hedera-consensus-service-javascript-tutorial.md"
excerpt: "// intro – req – what to expect? What is the Hedera Consensus Service? The Hedera Consensus Service (HCS) makes it possible for existing centralized platforms (such as auction sites, stock exchanges, and MMO games) to achieve the trust of..."
taxonomy_category:
  - "Uncategorized"
---

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# Getting Started With the Hedera Consensus Service (JavaScript Tutorial)

May 8, 2023

Michiel Mulders

Developer Relations

// intro – req – what to expect?

#### What is the Hedera Consensus Service?

The Hedera Consensus Service (HCS) makes it possible for existing centralized platforms (such as auction sites, stock exchanges, and MMO games) to achieve the trust of being decentralized while still having the privacy and performance of being centralized as it can process up to 10,000 transactions per second. In other words, many use cases don’t require complete decentralization and the complexities it comes with.

Most use cases can benefit from implementing the Hedera Consensus Service into one of their existing processes to integrate distributed trust or asset provenance. HCS has been designed to be a lightweight service that can be quickly integrated into existing processes.

In short, the Hedera Consensus Service offers the following benefits:

- Provides the distributed trust of a public network
- Enables developers to build native applications on dedicated central servers that are highly efficient and low cost
- Enables the use of a public network for trust while protecting private information in private servers
- Eliminates the up-front and ongoing costs associated with creating a private network

#### Code Setup

This tutorial uses JavaScript code. Make sure you have Node.js version 18 or higher installed.

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