Solana vs. Ethereum: Technical Comparison for Developers
Explore concepts, programming models, tools, fees, and more across chains
Solana is the best blockchain for teams who prioritize low fees, high throughput, and atomic composability
Solana is the only battle-tested, permissionless blockchain network with enough bandwidth, millisecond-level settlement times, and sub-cent fees to process the global trading and payment volumes expected to move onchain in years to come.
The Mental Model: How Solana and Ethereum are Different
Understand key terms, standards, and concepts that differentiate Solana and Ethereum
ERC Standards vs. Solana Equivalents
Learn the differences between SVM and EVM standards. Click the card for more details.
EVM vs. SVM RPC Methods
Pick an Ethereum RPC method to see its equivalent JSON-RPC method on Solana.
Checks whether an address holds executable code.
Returns the account state and metadata for a single address.
Solana's version returns raw account data including an "executable" flag; parsing it takes more work than Ethereum's dedicated call.
Alpenglow vs. Glamsterdam
Solana and Ethereum are undergoing massive changes in 2026 to handle more scale, achieve faster finality, and simplify consensus. Here is what's changing:
Solana
Today: Proof of History and TowerBFT
Solana leaders produce blocks in scheduled leader slots. Proof of History provides a verifiable clock and TowerBFT finalizes blocks.
Ethereum
Today: Casper FFG + LMD-GHOST
Ethereum proposers are selected each slot to propose blocks. Casper FFG + LMD-GHOST provide consensus; most execution is delegated to Layer 2 blockschains (e.g., Arbitrum, Base).
- Modular scaling design
- L2s handle most execution throughput
- Ethereum is used for settlement and data availability
Solana vs. Ethereum
Headline metrics across Solana and the Ethereum L1.
- Solana block time
- 350msSolana block time
- Solana transactions per week
- 1.1 BillionSolana transactions per week
- Average Solana txn fee
- $0.0004Average Solana txn fee
| Metric | Ethereum | Solana |
|---|---|---|
Block Time | 12s | 350ms (34x faster) |
Time to Finality | 12.8 minutes | 11.2s (68x faster) |
Block Capacity | 60M Gas | 100M CUs at 400ms blocks; 50M at 200ms blocks |
Average TPS* | 31 | 1,987 (64x higher) |
Weekly Transactions (Total)* | 15.9 Million | 1.1 Billion |
Median Fee* | $0.006 | $0.0004 (15x cheaper) |
*Average weekly metrics (Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2026) via Blockworks
Technical Differences
Look at the technical differences between Solana and the Ethereum L1.
| Category | Ethereum | Solana |
|---|---|---|
Mainnet Validator Clients | Execution: Geth, Besu, Nethermind, Erigon, Reth Consensus: Lighthouse, Lodestar, Nimbus, Prysm, Teku | Agave, Frankendancer, Firedancer |
Validator Count | ~7,000 (synced full nodes) | ~700 (source) |
Light Node Clients | Helios, Nimbus-light | Mithril (verifying full node) |
Consensus Mechanism | Casper FFG + LMD-GHOST | PoH + TowerBFT (Votor + Rotor under Alpenglow) |
Clusters | Sepolia, Hoodi, Mainnet | Devnet, Testnet, Mainnet |
Language | Solidity | Rust |
Account/Address Format | secp256k1/ECDSA, 20-byte hex | Ed25519, 32-byte |
Smart Contract Frameworks | Foundry, Hardhat | Anchor, Pinocchio, Quasar |
Frontend Libraries | ethers.js, viem, wagmi | Kit |
Testing Tools | Foundry, Hardhat, Tenderly | Mollusk, LiteSVM, Surfpool |
Mempool | Yes | No (blocks are streamed) |
Real-time Data | WSS | gRPC (LaserStream), WSS |
Historical Indexing | Subgraphs | Archival (BigTable, RocksDB) |
Governance Process | EIP | SIMD |
Economic Comparison
Compare top-level economic metrics between Solana and Ethereum.
| Metric | Ethereum | Solana |
|---|---|---|
Token Launch Date | July 2015 | March 2020 |
Circulating Supply* | 120.7M ETH | ~583.3M SOL |
Marketcap* | ~$297.7B | ~$57B |
Nominal Staking APY*† | ~2.4% (Lido stETH) | ~5.4% (Helius) |
Network Revenue** | ~$670 Million (2025) | $1.4 Billion (2025) |
Spot DEX Volume** | $30.0 Billion | $49.8 Billion |
Stablecoin Supply** | $146.0 Billion | $15 Billion |
*Data as of August 25, 2026 via CoinMarketCap
**Average monthly metrics for July 2026 via Blockworks
† Nominal yields aren't directly comparable across chains. Both are gross of issuance; new SOL issuance runs ~3.6%/yr vs. ~0.9%/yr for ETH. Dilution-adjusted returns are roughly 1.8% vs 1.7%.
Compare Infrastructure Providers
Explore common vendors powering teams across Solana and Ethereum.
| Category | Ethereum | Solana |
|---|---|---|
RPC and Data Streaming | QuickNode, Alchemy | Helius, Triton |
Transaction Landing Services | Flashbots, BloXRoute | Helius Sender, Nozomi |
Indexers | The Graph, Goldsky | Helius, Vybe |
Price APIs | Chainlink, CoinGecko | Pyth, Birdeye |
Account Abstraction Infra | Biconomy, ZeroDev | Squads, Crossmint |
Block Explorers | Etherscan, BlockScout | Orb, Solscan |
Wallets | MetaMask, Rabby | Backpack, Solflare, Phantom |
Embedded Wallets | Privy, Turnkey | Privy, Turnkey, Helius |
Onramps | Coinbase, Stripe | MoonPay, Sphere |
Bridges | Axelar, LayerZero | Wormhole, deBridge |
Oracles | Chainlink, RedStone | Pyth, Switchboard |
Data Availability | EigenDA, Celestia, Avail | Not Required |
Tokenization | Securitize, Superstate | Securitize, Superstate |
Liquid Staking | Lido, Rocket Pool | Sanctum, Jito, hSOL |
Restaking | EigenLayer, Symbiotic | Jito Restaking |
Custody | Fireblocks, Anchorage, BitGo | Fireblocks, Anchorage, BitGo |
Routers and Aggregators | 1inch, Uniswap, 0x | Jupiter, DFlow, Titan, OKX |
Auditors | OpenZeppelin, Trail of Bits | OtterSec, Neodyme, Sec3 |
Common Tech Stacks
Get a summary description of the common tools used by teams across verticals.
Ethereum-native Teams are Expanding to Solana
Ethereum-based products are migrating to, expanding to, and integrating Solana-based protocols across payments, trading, tokenization, and more.
Resources and Support
Get help from the Helius team and community