Solana vs. Other Layer 1s (Avalanche, Cardano, Polkadot): Strengths and Weaknesses

Layer 1 blockchains are the basic element of decentralized computation and storage. In this guide, we will compare Solana vs Avalanche vs Cardano vs Polkadot.

After the initial spread of coins like Bitcoin, new Layer 1 chains were created with the potential to carry applications and store more complex states and actions. Layer 1 chains combine a specific technology with the creation of communities and groups of developers, becoming the building blocks of the crypto economy.

Some chains, like Solana, emerged as leaders, promising wider retail adoption.

Understanding Layer 1 Blockchains

What ‘Layer 1’ Means in Blockchain Architecture

A ‘Layer 1’ network means a chain that verifies its own blocks through various mechanisms – mining, staking-based block production, validator networks, or a combination of those security technologies. All of the early chains were Layer 1, or L1 networks. An L1 network will carry out the basic tasks of a blockchain – transactions, immutable records accessible for all users, a consensus mechanism and transaction verification. By necessity, L1 networks can be slower in comparison to other types of chains.

Why L1s Compete for Scalability and Developer Attention

Each L1 chain may be created for a specific purpose and have its own philosophy of development. Some L1s use different programming languages and have a smaller pool of developers to draw from. L1s compete across different metrics, from carrying value to becoming a hub for decentralized apps.

As a result, L1 chains offer different features in terms of transactions per block, general speed, consensus mechanisms, and more. 

Creating a new L1 may be relatively easy, but achieving real activity is a slow process. Adoption has lagged for multiple chains, despite their potential technological advantages. When apps come to L1 chains, most of them try to demonstrate that there will be no transaction congestion, consensus breakdown, or other limitations. 

The Post-Ethereum Landscape — Solana’s Rise as a Challenger

Ethereum started out as the go-to platform for decentralized apps, with a first-mover advantage and significant available liquidity. Token creation also took off on Ethereum. Almost immediately, the chain showed its first problems, which were mainly congestion and high prices. This made most apps either unusable or so expensive that they discouraged retail users. 

Solana emerged in 2017 as an answer to the earliest episodes of Ethereum congestion. The chain launched in 2020 and started inviting a wide array of apps. It relied on a limited number of validators, which could handle a larger number of transactions per block. Solana was created as an inherently faster network compared to Ethereum, with plans for additional scaling.

Solana Overview — Speed Meets Scale

Solana was built from the start to support speed as an L1 chain, without the need for sub-chains, Layer-2s, or other scaling features. 

Core Design

Solana’s chain design includes a new concept, proof-of-history. This approach establishes a chronological order, which is verified and offers a tamper-proof basis for creating a distributed ledger.

In the case of Solana, proof-of-history is mixed in a hybrid chain with proof-of-stake, where validators hold a certain amount of SOL as a way to prove loyalty to the network. Validators then coordinate and reach consensus on the state of the distributed ledger, creating and dispersing the latest block.

On Solana, this process is fast, taking 400 milliseconds between blocks.

Strengths

Solana has a high throughput, capable of as many as 65,000 transactions per second. Usually, the chain carries between 2,000 and 6,000 transactions per second, dropping to around 800 during less active periods. The high capacity also means low basic fees per transaction, though priority transactions may require extra payments. 

As a result, Solana quickly co-opted the latest retail activities, including on-chain trading, NFTs, decentralized markets, and DeFi apps. 

Weaknesses

Solana validators have varied in numbers, and many of them were initially supported by the Solana Foundation with their initial SOL stake. The other big weakness for Solana was its flawed consensus mechanism, which led to several outages as validators could not coordinate on the state of the ledger. 

Validator requirements are also significant, making the network dependent on some of the leading block producers. Solana validators have stake-weighed voting power, meaning those that attract the most SOL from delegators have a bigger say in voting. Validators also compete for SOL deposits by promising slightly higher staking returns. 

Ecosystem Highlights 

The biggest strength of Solana is its ecosystem of apps and infrastructure. The Jupiter aggregator and DEX is a key hub for investment and decentralized trading. Phantom wallet has been the key to widespread adoption, as the wallet carries direct access to tokens, NFTs, apps, DEX swaps, and lately, even prediction markets on Polymarket. The Pyth oracle supplies reliable data to apps. Solana also has wide mobile adoption through its Solana Mobile innovation hub. The Seeker phone is also putting Solana in the hands of mainstream users. 

Avalanche Overview 

Avalanche is an EVM-compatible chain, which is notable for its subnet architecture. The main chain is also split into different networks, where the Avalanche C-Chain is the main network for app activity, trading, gaming, and other tasks. 

Subnets are a way to scale Avalanche and to allow third-party projects to build networks with customized parameters. 

Architecture

Avalanche launched with three main chains: X, P, and C-Chain. X-Chain is for the core tasks of the chain, including token creation, cross-chain transfers, and apps that do not require ordered transactions. The other specialized network, P-Chain, is tasked with carrying transactions between validators to facilitate coordination. 

Avalanche C-Chain is the user-oriented chain, which carries token transfers, apps, gaming transactions, and all other tasks common with other widely used chains.

Strengths

Avalanche offers options to builders, where most apps can start out on the C-Chain and then build their custom subnet if there is sufficient demand. Avalanche is EVM-compatible and is a destination for bridging assets from Ethereum. Both C-Chain and subnets offer fast finality and potentially a seamless experience for apps.

Weaknesses

Avalanche usage had a relatively complex user experience. Some of the early games required manual bridging of tokens and NFTs from the C-Chain to new subnets. Apps on Avalanche also achieved limited user awareness after the initial wave of gaming apps.

Another issue was that the first versions of subnets required significant deposits of AVAX, limiting the ability of teams to deploy on the network without a large initial investment. 

Ecosystem Examples 

The Avalanche ecosystem expanded with several top apps after replacing the initial popular games with DeFi. Trader Joe became one of the top decentralized exchanges, in addition to Odos. Avalanche also carried versions of Uniswap and Aave. Ava Labs curated partnerships with other projects to deploy on Avalanche, expanding the chain’s advantage with mentoring and a curated experience.

Cardano Overview 

Cardano has been a prominent crypto asset with highly active trading. The Cardano network launched with extensive research and formal proofs. For years, the chain was used for simple transaction settlements, with extremely limited app deployments. The Cardano brand is widely known in the crypto space, although adoption is still lagging behind other major chains.

Design 

Cardano’s Ouroboros is a proof-of-stake network relying on delegated staking. The consensus between validators is mathematically sound, based on formal research before the network’s launch. Cardano has a five-day finality period, during which time the network aggregates the delegated stakes, queues block slots, produces blocks, calculates the rewards and distributes them, all within a five-day window. 

The network went through several hard forks, Byron, Shelley, Goguen, Basho, and Voltaire, growing Cardano from a simple network for token transfers into a Web3-ready chain with voting functionalities. 

Strengths 

When comparing Cardano vs Solana, the former has grown with a carefully planned trajectory and formal verification. Cardano has built community-governance mechanisms and is fully decentralized. 

Weaknesses 

The chief weakness of Cardano is that the project spent many years with no real use cases. At that time, most of the notable ICO projects went years without any functional app. Cardano also missed out on the first Web3 bull market in 2021, and only hosted a small list of apps for DeFi and trading in 2025.

The slow development and complex experience for developers, in addition to the slow finality, mean Cardano lags behind more developer-friendly networks like Solana.

Ecosystem Notes 

Since its initial early hard forks, Cardano has grown its ecosystem to become more ready for real-time usage. Hydra is one of the solutions for off-chain scaling, working as a Layer 2 protocol. Unlike Solana, Cardano needs the L2 scaling option to bypass its relatively long block time and slow finality. 

Cardano has also added a native DEX, Minswap, with around $6.62M in volume. The DEX is relatively less popular compared to Solana’s trading hubs. The Lace wallet was added as a tool for Web3 access, unlike the older Daedalus wallet app for basic transactions. 

Polkadot Overview — The Multi-Chain Vision

Polkadot emerged as a scaling solution to Ethereum, designed to support multi-chain apps, as well as secure communication and interoperability between different chains. Polkadot awards application-specific chains, known as parachains, which share their security through Nominated Proof-of-Stake. 

Architecture

Polkadot includes three types of chains organizing internal infrastructure services, as well as a layer for apps. The network is centered around the Polkadot relay chain, a central hub and main chain that secures transactions, settles consensus and interoperability, and connects all other chains. 

System chains are specialized and provide common services, including the asset hub, bridge hub, and coretime chain. 

Parachains are specialized chains, which were added to the relay chain after a series of auctions. 

Strengths

Polkadot offers built-in interoperability and compatibility with other ecosystems. Custom chains offer project-specific execution, while all the chains rely on shared security, not wasting resources on their own validation. 

Weaknesses 

The auction system to launch a parachain may be complex and limiting for new projects. Parachain slots are acquired in a series of auctions, with each lasting for a period of two years. Additionally, each project must convince the Polkadot community to delegate DOT for the parachain bond and auction, with a minimum of 5 DOT tokens.

Polkadot has grown to 100 parachain slots, but the constant need to renew and find community support is slowing the ecosystem’s growth. 

Ecosystem Examples

The agile parachains of Polkadot have allowed the platform to host the usual selection of DeFi apps. The Moonbeam project hosts NFT trading. Acala is among the top DeFi liquidity hubs, while Astar is a Web3 cross-chain compatibility app. 

Key Strengths of Solana

High Transaction Throughput and Near-Zero Fees

Solana has been envisioned from the start to carry all transactions at enterprise speed on its Layer 1 chain. Solana carries 4,000 to 5,000 transactions per second, with up to 65,000 TPS. For basic transactions, Solana charges near-zero fees, though priority transactions may require extra payments. Future Solana upgrades may bring even higher capacity for transactions along with faster settlement and finality.

Expanding Developer Base and DeFi Activity

Solana and the SVM stack are one of the top hubs for developers. The chain has offered accessible tools for app development. Solana has also grown its DeFi activity, offering access to decentralized trading, perpetual futures, lending, and liquid staking. Solana uses Java SDK for most of the chain’s capabilities, tapping one of the largest pools of developers.

Vibrant NFT + Meme Ecosystem

Solana has attracted attention during previous bull markets, building a wide community. The chain carried a vibrant collectible ecosystem, evolving beyond NFTs into tokenized Pokemon Go cards and more. The meme ecosystem allowed traders to rapidly deploy thousands of memes, with some of the top coins breaking above $1B valuation.

Institutional-Grade Performance for RWAs and Payments

Solana’s team aims to move beyond on-chain activity for fun, inviting institutions for multiple financial tasks. RWA tokenization is one of the developing features on Solana. The chain is among the leaders for carrying tokenized stocks. 

Solana is also among the leading carriers of USDC, potentially allowing the chain to carry payments and P2P money transfers.

Weaknesses and Critiques of Solana

Validator Centralization and Hardware Costs

Solana still relies on a list of validators, where top network participants have significant influence. Validators face the challenge of achieving consensus based on running the current Solana node client. Additionally, validators face significant hardware and server costs. Solana’s validators often disconnect and have fallen from 970 in October to 899. Previously, Solana had up to 1,300 validators.

Historical Outages and Mainnet Stability

Solana had several historical outages, especially in its earlier years. The outages were due to varying technical issues, which have been mostly overcome.

Solana’s mainnet stability also faces other challenges, including transaction congestion. For end users, this may cause delays or require excessive additional fees. Solana still has around a 28% failure rate for transactions, increasing expenses and uncertainty for users.

Perception as “Too Centralized for DeFi Purists”

Solana has grown in efficiency, but still shows signs of centralization. The centralization includes both technical and geographical concentration of validators. 

The US has the biggest number of validators, but 65% of staked SOL is on European sites. Solana’s validators also use cloud providers, with Teraswitch among the most influential ones. Over the coming months, Solana is expected to launch Firedancer and achieve more diversity for its validator client packages.

Reliance on Internal Ecosystem Liquidity

Solana receives some inflows of external liquidity, but is mostly isolated as a separate ecosystem. The network relies on SOL rewards for block production. External liquidity mostly comes from USDC minting. 

Solana ETFs only debuted in November 2025 and may become a source of external buying. With signs of a bear market, Solana also relies on internal liquidity to move across DeFi protocols.

Adoption and Real-World Use Cases

Solana — Retail Payments, RWAs, DeFi Aggregation

Solana works as a fast network for P2P payments, stablecoin usage, tokenization, and decentralized finance. DeFi and DEX aggregation, along with in-wallet access to trading, are some of the main drivers of mainstream adoption.

Avalanche — Enterprise and Gaming Subnets

Avalanche achieved a viable platform for high-capacity gaming. Later, the chain rebuilt its subnet structure, allowing for enterprise and DeFi subnets. The Avalanche team offered mentoring and chain curation, as well as lowered requirements for AVAX staking to attract more teams.

Cardano — Education, Identity, Government Partnerships

Cardano has tried to direct adoption and awareness through years of outreach. Educational events and meetings, along with government partnerships in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Georgia, have been the main focus of Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson.

Polkadot — Interoperable Parachains and Cross-Chain Bridges

Polkadot aimed to become relevant to Web3 projects by offering reliable bridges and cross-chain solutions. The rise of DeFi boosted Polkadot’s importance, driving traffic to some of the top parachains.

The Road Ahead — Outlook for 2025 and Beyond

Solana’s Core Upgrades 

Solana is preparing for upgrades to its transaction capacity and finality with the Firedancer and Alpenglow updates. Additionally, the chain introduced the Solana-2022 token standard. In late 2025, platforms like Pump.fun started to switch to the new token standard.

Avalanche’s Subnet Adoption Curve

Avalanche does not have a fixed number of subnets; expansion depends on projects showing interest in building their own subnet. Avalanche reached 397 subnets, growing from around 130 networks in the past year. The subnet adoption accelerated in 2025 due to the growth of DeFi on Avalanche.

Cardano’s Governance & Hydra Scaling Milestones

In Q3 2025, the Cardano Foundation released its roadmap for the coming years. The main goal of expansion will be DeFi, also a significant source of liquidity. The Hydra V1 scaling protocol is also production-ready, achieving high speeds on the testnet. Cardano’s Hydra was launched on the Midnight net, serving as a partner network to the main Cardano chain. Hydra increased smart contract adoption in Q3 2025.

Polkadot’s Parachain Expansion and XCM Evolution

Polkadot aims to transform with JAM Chain, which will serve as a hub for parachains. Parachains will be renamed as services and will be created in a permissionless manner, without governance voting. Parachains will also be compatible with the JAM Chain, not discontinuing legacy projects. Additionally, the XCM protocol will expand cross-chain communication. 

The Multi-Chain Future — Collaboration Over Competition

The rise of DeFi has put the challenge of cross-chain capabilities to the forefront. Bridging and seamless integration mean easier access to liquidity and more opportunities for DEX routing and swaps. While previously, chains sought to become isolated and have a moat on their liquidity, smaller chains attempt to build cooperation over competition.