NEAR Protocol vs Solana

NEAR Protocol4.1/5

VS

Solana3.8/5

Feature	NEAR ProtocolVisit	SolanaVisit
Ratings
Our score	4.1/5	3.8/5
User rating	No reviews yet	No reviews yet
Performance	4.5	4.5
Fees	4.5	4.0
Ecosystem	3.5	4.5
Decentralization	4.0	3.0
Developer experience	4.0	3.5
Specs
Layer	Layer 1	Layer 1
Consensus / design	Proof of Stake	Proof of Stake
Native token	NEAR	SOL
EVM compatible	No	No
Smart contract languages	Rust, JavaScript	Rust
Block time	600ms	~400 ms
Finality	1.2s	Not disclosed
Mainnet since	2,020	2,020
Throughput (TPS)	1000000	1,790 transactions per second
Sequencer	Not applicable	Not applicable
Data availability	NEAR Protocol	Not disclosed
Gas paid in	NEAR	SOL
Company
Founded	2020	2020
Headquarters	Switzerland	United States
Investors	Andreessen Horowitz, Accomplice, Metastable Capital, Arrington Capital +6	Andreessen Horowitz, 1kx, Big Brain Holdings, Blockchange Ventures +6
Strengths and weaknesses
Pros	Fast 1.2-second transaction finality with 600ms block times Cross-chain swap execution across 35+ separate blockchain networks Sub-cent execution fees on NEAR Intents transactions Annual token issuance reduced from 5% to 2.5% in October 2025	14.2 billion transactions processed in Q3 2026 Single global state keeps applications on one Layer 1 Rust tooling and available developer documentation Supports trading, payments, DeFi and tokenized assets
Cons	Not natively EVM-compatible at the primary Layer-1 execution level Cross-chain intents face reorg exposure on connected networks, including a $600K incident in April 2026 Historical exploits in third-party ecosystem contracts, including $3M lost on Skyward Finance in 2022	Network outages occurred several times between September 2021 and October 2022 SOL is required for fees and staking, creating token exposure Not EVM compatible, limiting direct Ethereum tooling compatibility
Best for	Developers writing smart contracts in Rust, Users swapping across chains without manual bridges, Teams deploying autonomous AI agent systems	High-volume trading applications, Stablecoin payment products, Tokenized asset platforms

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