diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a5aa79b9a62..872481ef234 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: cargo hack
         run: |
           cargo hack build --workspace --ignore-unknown-features --features ws --target wasm32-unknown-unknown \
+            --exclude alloy \
             --exclude alloy-contract \
             --exclude alloy-network \
             --exclude alloy-node-bindings \
diff --git a/crates/alloy/Cargo.toml b/crates/alloy/Cargo.toml
index fac399789e1..534cee430c3 100644
--- a/crates/alloy/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/alloy/Cargo.toml
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ alloy-transport-ws = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 # ----------------------------------------- Configuration ---------------------------------------- #
 
 [features]
-default = ["std", "reqwest", "alloy-core/default"]
+default = ["std", "reqwest", "alloy-core/default", "essentials"]
 
 # std
 std = [
@@ -76,19 +76,19 @@ std = [
     "alloy-consensus?/std",
 ]
 
+# essential features that enable basic network interactions out of the box.
+essentials = ["contract", "provider-http", "rpc-types", "signer-local"]
+
 # full
 full = [
     "consensus",
-    "contract",
     "eips",
+    "essentials",
     "k256",
     "kzg",
     "network",
-    "provider-http",
     "provider-ws",
     "provider-ipc",
-    "rpc-types",
-    "signer-local",
 ]
 
 # configuration