Relay vs Wormhole

Relay4.3/5

VS

Wormhole3.2/5

Feature	RelayVisit	WormholeVisit
Ratings
Our score	4.3/5	3.2/5
User rating	No reviews yet	No reviews yet
Security	3.5	2.5
Speed	5.0	3.0
Fees	4.5	3.0
Chain coverage	4.5	4.5
Ease of use	4.5	3.5
Specs
KYC required	No	Not disclosed
Design	Intent-based	Messaging protocol
Chains	Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana, Bitcoin, Sui, Tron, Other	Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche, Solana, Sui, Aptos, Other
Chains supported	85	Not disclosed
Typical fee	Under $0.01 average cost plus dynamic execution fees	Not disclosed
Typical transfer time	1 second	Not disclosed
Security model	Non-custodial depository with authorized signer oracle Hub and relayer settlement	Guardian network of 19 validators
Audited	Yes	Yes
Token	Not disclosed	W
Intent-based	Yes	Not disclosed
Native token transfers (no wrapped tokens)	Yes	Yes
Company
Founded	2023	2020
Headquarters	United States	—
Investors	Archetype, Union Square Ventures	Arrington Capital, Borderless Capital, Brevan Howard, Coinbase Ventures +17
Strengths and weaknesses
Pros	Average execution speed of one second across supported networks No wrapped tokens used, settling directly in native destination assets Average transaction fee sits below $0.01 plus network gas Connects over 85 networks without pooled treasury lock-in	Connects more than 45 blockchains Guardian network has 19 validators Supports native token transfers through NTT Published security report and open-source infrastructure
Cons	Verification hub depends on an authorized oracle signer architecture Solver capacity limits maximum transfer size during volatile market conditions Relay Vaults retired in late 2026, requiring manual user balance withdrawals	2022 signature-verification exploit caused a loss above $320M Guardian compromise could enable fraudulent cross-chain messages Wrapped assets can depeg from their underlying assets Route costs and transfer times vary by asset and chain
Best for	Fast native multi-chain transfers, Cross-chain stablecoin settlements, Developers building cross-chain checkout	Multichain application developers, Institutions issuing native assets, Cross-chain governance teams

Highlighted cells show the stronger value in each row. Data comes from each provider's site and public sources; check details before you sign up.

More comparisons