Solana is one of the leading blockchain platforms due to its large transaction bandwidth, high speed, and low fees. Along with that, it maintains a high level of decentralization due to its specific consensus mechanism. Solana nodes are used to connect with the blockchain and integrate it with decentralized applications (dApps).
Let’s overview dApps on Solana, their types, and examples.
Introduction to Solana dApps
Decentralized applications include any application, web or mobile, which utilizes blockchain as its crucial element. Depending on the blockchain functionality, it’s possible to use its methods for performing specific actions or code smart contracts, which are executed when specific conditions are met. To look closer, read about Solana methods.
What are Solana dApps?
Any app that uses Solana functionality, such as its methods or smart contracts, is a Solana dApp.
Tools like DappRadar and SolScan track various data of decentralized applications, including their TVL (total value locked) and average number of users. DappRadar works for different chains, including Solana, and lists decentralized applications with their on-chain and user statistics, if available. SolScan is a specialized Solana blockchain explorer, where one can track Solana transactions, tokens, smart contracts, and dApps.
Source: SolScan
Using these tools, one can explore different Solana applications and evaluate their parameters, such as the number of active users, transactions, and total value locked (TVL). Our list of best dApps on Solana is based on this data.
Why are Solana dApps popular in Web3 development?
Solana is a programmable blockchain with high speed, bandwidth, and cost-efficiency. It supports smart contracts and, therefore, enables app building using the Rust language. With all these benefits, Solana has become increasingly popular for different dApps.
While Solana nodes are quite hard to run, it’s not necessary for Web3 developers. Node provider services, such as GetBlock, are ready to help with shared and dedicated nodes, available on subscription. It’s much cheaper and easier compared to setting up and maintaining your own node, while centralization is still limited due to the blockchain’s structure.
Exploring the top Solana dApps
There are hundreds of Solana dApps, which are good for different purposes. Top Solana dApps can help users in many ways: manage their finances, express themselves, communicate securely, or just have fun. For example, with NFT marketplaces, users can buy or sell unique non-fungible tokens, connected with art pieces, while with DeFi applications, they can invest their money to earn interest.
Here, we’ll look at specific examples of such applications.
What makes the best Solana dApps stand out?
Overall, the best applications are those that perform their functions with the highest efficiency. It can be evaluated based on financial and user data, such as those provided by DappRadar and SolScan. It also includes other indicators, such as community engagement, user support, and data transparency, which are harder to measure.
Here, we’ll overview several categories of Solana dApps, including high-risk applications, DeFis, and NFT marketplaces.
Finance and DeFi Solana dApps
For traders and investors, there is a wide variety of tools to invest money and earn rewards in different ways.
Tokens can be staked in liquidity pools, earning passive income with a certain APY, usually about 8–10%, but sometimes much larger (or smaller). They can also be traded using exchanges, which enables more rewards, but is much more risky, as price fluctuations can be unpredictable. Let’s explore applications for Solana token trading and management.
Read more in our Top-10 Solana DeFis list.
Jupiter
Jupiter is a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) for Solana tokens. It has various trading tools, such as limit orders and automated trading. The app’s graphs support various indicators, helping traders to navigate the market and make better decisions. It also supports perpetual trading with leverage, so traders can earn on price fluctuations even with small funds.
Source: Jupiter
Raydium
Raydium is a leading Solana DeFi ecosystem with a variety of financial instruments. It has swap and bridge functionalities, so users can quickly exchange tokens or bridge them to EVM chains using the integrated Wormhole functionalities. With its liquidity pools and staking features, users can also stake their Solana tokens to earn rewards, based on the expected APY.
Source: Raydium
Pump.Fun
Pump.Fun is a Solana memecoin launchpad with a very simple, gamified interface. It allows users to launch and trade Solana memecoins in several clicks, by providing the meme picture, idea, and description and paying the fee of about 0.02 SOL.
As of 2024, it’s extremely popular, and new tokens are created virtually every hour, although only a small fraction of them can reach even small popularity and gain any significant value. As its name suggests, Pump.Fun sees its primary purpose in making fun, rather than creating something serious.
Source: Pump.Fun
NFT marketplaces and creative platforms on Solana
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are specific tokens that have unique identifiers on-chain. Each NFT is unique and cannot be replaced by others, so they are often used to represent art pieces. Similar NFTs are united into collections. Diving into NFTs is beyond the scope of this article, so let’s focus on several popular Solana NFT marketplaces to see how they are listed, traded, and collected.
Read more in our Top-10 Solana NFT platforms list.
Magic Eden
Magic Eden is among the largest NFT marketplaces, with various tools for NFT search and price analytics. It also has a Creator Studio for those wanting to launch their own collection. While it started as a Solana project, now it also supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, and several EVM chains.
Source: Magic Eden
Tensor
Tensor is an NFT marketplace operating mostly for traders. It provides extensive features for NFT trading and connects various marketplaces, enabling users to choose the best price for purchase. It also supports different indicators to help traders make better decisions.
How to choose the best Solana dApp
Among the wide variety of dApps on Solana, it’s essential to select the one that suits your purpose. For example, it’s a bad idea to trade perpetuals if you don’t want to risk, but just want to earn a stable income: it’s better to stake SOL and earn your 8–10% APY. And conversely, it’s no need to stake if you want to explore tokens, trade them, and are ready for potential losses.
Let’s look closer at specific indicators of good applications.
Key features to look for in a SOL dApp
There are several aspects that must be considered when choosing the best Solana dApp.
- Community and user support is crucial for any blockchain application: they require concise onboarding and community engagement for steady functioning.
- UX and transparency determine whether the app is easy to use and how trustworthy are data shown in it.
- Expected APYs for investments should be clear and transparent, so anyone investing money can be secure about their costs.
- Trading instruments for traders, such as graphs and metrics, help them make decisions and trade tokens with better efficiency.
- Real-time price monitoring is important for any financial app, as users should understand their finances and plan their actions accordingly.
Consider these features when exploring top dApps on Solana, as they indicate the app’s usability for your purposes.
What is the future of dApps on Solana?
As of the end of 2024, the Solana dApp ecosystem continues to grow. While the SOL price fluctuates a lot, it is much higher than at the end of 2023. A total daily transaction volume on Jupiter sometimes reaches $10 billion, while Solana memecoin hype appears regularly.
It’s important to note that revenues from memecoins and gambling tools are built on human emotions and don’t produce anything valuable, so their future cannot be predicted at all. However, positive indicators for Solana's future include its increasing usage for financial operations and the development of its DeFi ecosystem. Lastly, new Solana dApps are built regularly, too, indicating the people’s interest in the ecosystem.
GetBlock is dedicated to helping Web3 developers with our node infrastructure and community support. We provide Solana nodes with 99% uptime for building SOL dApps, from shared low-cost nodes to enterprise solutions. Sign up and select your best option!
