To choose the best dApp platform for your project, you should consider several aspects: the type of your project, its tech specs and scope, any existing products requirements, and the roadmap of your project development. Only by taking into account these factors, will you be able to choose the most suitable blockchain network.

We have created this guide for you to have a better grasp of the most popular chains for dApp development and make a well-grounded decision. And by “we” we mean Blaize – the team of professional blockchain developers, auditors, and security experts that have been working in this field for over 5 years.

So far, our team has completed over 70 projects and spent extra 800+ hours on grant development for different programs. With the help of all this experience, we’ll help you find out more about the most popular options and choose an efficient blockchain platform for dApp development.

Establish project scope

Despite the ever-changing situation in the industry, there are still plenty of creative and innovative ideas circulating on the blockchain market. Yet, only a few of them prove their viability and get a positive ROI after launch. 

This happens because such a competitive market as blockchain or DeFi does not only require fresh, creative solutions, but needs a well-developed business idea for the project to achieve success. Only these kinds of products have a potential, can bring a real profit to the users and the company, and provide a more cost-effective solution to the market. 

Thus, before choosing the right blockchain platform, we often insist on conducting a business analysis and idea validation of the client’s initial concept. Such an analysis helps us understand what processes the client wants to implement and how those processes will act in a decentralized environment. This is an essential step that directly influences which blockchain platform would be best to use. 

See how Blaize team provides business analysis for our clients while developing a DeFi project. 

Due to a thorough analysis during the discovery stage, our specialists can validate the business idea, define the right tokenomics, and turn your project into a beneficial business case.

Establish the type of your decentralized project

Before answering the questions like how to choose the best dApp platform or the most suitable blockchain network for your decentralized app, we need to take into account a few crucial points. 

A thorough business analysis of the existing case and requirements helps us define the future project scope and especially the type of your project. 

Usually, Blaize specialists define the following types of blockchain-based projects: 

1.Developing an entire blockchain ecosystem from scratch 

The first type of blockchain-based solutions relies on the fact that your business processes lay entirely on the blockchain. In this case, you will need to develop your own decentralized solution from the beginning. We have concentrated on this type of development in one of our previous articles on how to choose a reliable blockchain company.

2.Create a bridge or a 2-layer solution

This type of project is applicable when the blockchain is already chosen and there is a need to build a 2-layer solution for it (for example, a rollup like Metis, or a sub-chain like the ones in the Avalanche ecosystem). In this case, your business has to rely entirely on the blockchain as well. 

Another case is when the creation of a bridge between two or more blockchains or dApps is needed. We expect a high demand for this type of solution along with Polkadot and Cosmos SDK wider adoption. 

3.Empowering your current solution with blockchain 

The third type of our development approach concentrates on the adoption of any crypto payment system to your current solution. This might be done by either integrating an existing blockchain to a client’s solution or forking a chosen crypto currency and adapting it to the customer’s requirements. 

See how Blaize performed such development in the Remme use case. 

Though there are situations when your project does not require any on-chain development but still needs smart contracts. In such a case, it is much better to create your own network based on a ready-made solution (for example, fork a Parity node) and implement some additional necessary features.

One of the main challenges here is the correct adaptation and adjustment of the existing solutions to the client’s needs since forking a chain is not an issue but ensuring smooth work afterward is.

4.Developing a decentralized app

We would say that this is an ever-green request – our team works on the development of new dApps for different businesses all the time. 

This case is applicable if your company’s processes need to be somehow connected to the blockchain. Any of the existing dApps (e.g. Uniswap, MetaMask, OpenSea) can be used as an example of such an approach. And this is also the best solution for any DeFi project. 

The development of a decentralized application is the most challenging in terms of selecting the right blockchain. TThe main reason for that is that developers need to take into account a number of factors for the future smart contract development for this solution. In this case, deep knowledge of the best blockchain frameworks is a must. 

Since choosing the best blockchain platform for your dApp is one of the most difficult tasks, we propose to concentrate on this approach in the next parts of this article.

Read Also: How to create a blockchain-based lending platform

6 BEST BLOCKCHAIN PLATFORMS FOR DAPP DEVELOPMENT

As soon as you define the type of your project, you should start looking for the most suitable blockchain solution. 

So how many blockchain platforms are there? Plenty. But in terms of dApp development, we consider Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Aptos, SuiChain, and StarkNet as the most popular blockchain platforms for dApps.

Due to their wide lists of functionalities and unique possibilities Blaize experts establish them as the best blockchain platforms for developing a decentralized application. 

Let’s go through their main characteristics and define pros and cons of each.

Ethereum network 

This platform is one of the pioneers on the market and a popular choice while selecting a blockchain platform for project development. Additionally, Ethereum network has already become a home for a long list of dApps, including OpenSea, Uniswap, MetaMask Swap, 1inch Network, and so on.

The unique input of Ethereum was the contribution to an EVM invention and, therefore, a wide application of smart contracts. Ethereum smart contracts require a strong knowledge of Solidity or Vyper. 

Pros of Ethereum 

• The most actively used and commonly known blockchain framework
• Provision of a large kit of developer tools, ready-made models, and functions
• A large community that maintain the network (the number of active nodes has beaten the ones of Bitcoin network) 
• Accumulated reliability (the more blockchain exists, the more trust it gains)  

Cons of Ethereum 

• Quite a low transaction speed 
• High transaction and deployment costs 
• Not scalable on its own, only through additional 2nd-layer solutions

ETHEREUM DAPP DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICES

• Deploy smart contracts with a reliable security auditor
• Carefully check the ways of integration with other existing protocols because many of them can’t be upgraded due to their age, which may lead to problems
• Use third-party solutions for price feeds, oracles, and aggregation services from day one
• For new wallets, integrate all big wallets and WalletConnect and ensure Ledger and Trezor compatibility
• Consider creating a cross-chain solution since Ethereum has a lot of liquidity now, but there is less space for scalability

Ethereum is a good solution for any DeFi project since it provides a fundamental ecosystem. It has a large toolset, a lot of liquidity, and plenty of ready-made solutions that can help you build your product easier and quickly. Additionally, Ethereum is a worldwide known and trustable blockchain, which can help you gain more credit from users in terms of delivering a new product to the market. 

However, it is worth noting that the glorified toolset is quite difficult to maintain and update. Moreover, market fluctuations in gas prices very often create inconvenient conditions for active use.

As for now, Ethereum blockchain is probably the best blockchain for dApps. Uniswap, Compound, Synthetix, Maker, Curve, AAVE, etc. are hosted within the Ethereum network. Therefore, in case of creating the next DeFi giant we recommend considering Ethereum as a prior chain in terms of future smooth integration with other DeFi solutions. 

Thinking of creating your own decentralized finance project? See how the Blaize team builds DeFi solutions and contact us for further discussion. 

POLYGON NETWORK

Polygon was created as a stack of protocols designed to fix Ethereum’s scalability issues. This network addresses challenges by handling transactions on a separate Ethereum-compatible blockchain. 

In other words, Polygon provides an easy framework for new and existing blockchain projects to build on Ethereum without scalability issues.

Some of the most popular Polygon-based dApps include Aavegotchi, Kiwi Wallet, Decentraland, etc.

Pros of polygon

• The network provides a framework for developers to create their own scaling solutions
• Ethereum’s large community is loyal to Polygon, too
• Rather low gas fees
• High transaction speed
• The chain is extremely developer-friendly
• Since Polygon is quick and cheap, it fits NFT projects and Play2Earn games well
• A lot of media storage providers are focused on this chain

Cons of polygon

• Polygon is dependant on Ethereum
• High competition among other scaling solutions
• Gas wars – pretty irregular gas price fluctuations, especially during the NFT mint

POLYGON DAPP DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICES

• It is essential to create a solution that would mitigate gas wars
• Develop smart contracts with a reputable auditor
• Be careful when integrating wallets and receiving data from blockchain since RPCs are rather demanding when it comes to access, and as they are commonly used, you might have issues. That’s why it is a good idea to integrate an RPC provider like Alchemy or Moralis from the very beginning

Polygon might be the easiest blockchain platform for dApp development, so you should definitely take it into consideration when working on your project.

Are you working on a project? Unlock the full potential of your game development project with the help of our expert GameFi developers. Don’t wait any longer and hire our talented team today to bring your project to life!

ARBITRUM NETWORK

Arbitrum is a layer-2 project that aims to improve the speed and scalability of Ethereum smart contracts while also adding additional privacy features.

While still taking advantage of Ethereum’s superior layer-1 security, the platform is intended to make it simple for developers to execute unmodified Ethereum Virtual Machine contracts and Ethereum transactions at layer 2.

PROS OF ARBITRUM

• High EVM compatibility – the project can be compatible with EVM at the bytecode level, and any language, such as Solidity and Vyper
• Minimized transactions costs
• Powerful developer tools
• Well-developed ecosystem, which allows you to find new partners with established projects

CONS OF ARBITRUM

• Lack of tools and solutions since TVL is still migrating to the chain

ARBITRUM DAPP DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICES

• Ensure high security of smart contracts by developing them with an expertised auditor
• Integrate wallets carefully

APTOS NETWORK

Aptos is a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain designed for security, scalability, and upgradeability. It is the technological successor to Meta’s (formerly Facebook) Diem blockchain (formerly known as Libra).

Aptos has been designed for high throughput and scalability and harnesses parallel transaction processing, sharding for horizontal throughput scalability, advanced state synchronization, and modular design.

This is a network that was created specifically for building decentralized applications, so no wonder why it got on our list of the best blockchain platforms for dApp development.

PROS OF APTOS

• High speed due to a powerful Block-STM engine
• Progressive Move ecosystem
• Allows creating complex protocols that are impossible or very difficult for EVM networks

CONS OF APTOS

• Very few existing protocols due to a young age of the chain
• Only one working wallet by Pontem
• The whole ecosystem is based on Pontem at the moment
• Pretty high entry threshold for Move

APTOS DAPP DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICES

• Hire developers who know the principles of work with low-level software since developing smart contracts on Aptos has a lot in common with such solutions
• Consider the integration with Pontem as it is the biggest protocol in the network
• Pay special attention to the backend part that aggregates data from the blockchain and prepares transactions since these processes are complex in Aptos

SUI CHAIN NETWORK

Sui is a layer 1 proof-of-stake blockchain with smart contract capabilities. The project is the effort of Mysten Labs, a company founded by ex-employees of Meta’s (Facebook) Project Libra.

Libra is a permissioned blockchain and stablecoin payment system that never quite made it off the ground. Some of the developers who worked on Project Libra (a.k.a. Diem) work on projects like Aptos and Sui, both of which have gained their rightful places in our list.

PROS OF SUI CHAIN

• High performance
• Faulty validators do not impact performance in any significant way
• High security
• Easier developer experience

CONS OF SUI CHAIN

Complex design due to the need of two protocols at a time

Sequential writes in the simple case

Complex total queries 

SUI CHAIN DAPP DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICES

• Experienced team that can pay attention to the existing Sui Move Library
• Reliable RnD team since Sui is a young chain and many concepts are still under development
• Experience creating blockchain tools (e.g. IDE, SDK, explorers, etc.) as many of them are not yet created for the Sui chain

STARKNET NETWORK

StarkNet is a permissionless decentralized Validity-Rollup (also known as a “ZK-Rollup”). 

It operates as an L2 network over Ethereum, enabling any dApp to achieve unlimited scale for its computation. This happens without compromising Ethereum’s composability and security owing to StarkNet’s reliance on a safe and scalable cryptographic proof system – STARK.

PROS OF STARKNET

• High security
• It is a ZK rollup
• Innovative approach to DeFi and security

CONS OF STARKNET

• Pretty high entry threshold
• Slow network
• Rather small ecosystem for now

STARKNET DAPP DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICES

• Pay extra attention to security, similarly to other chains
• Develop smart contracts with a reliable auditor
• Focus on high latency on the network when creating the project
• Carefully check the ways of integration with other existing protocols because many of them can’t be upgraded due to their age, which may cause you headache in the future
• Use third-party solutions for price feeds, oracles, and aggregation services from day one
• For new wallets, integrate all big wallets and WalletConnect and ensure Ledger and Trezor compatibility

OTHER HONORABLE MENTIONS

There are many other blockchains like Polkadot, Near, Solana, and Secret Network that are worthy of including them in the list of the most suitable chains for dApp development. So if you are looking for a Rust-based chain, give them a shot!

BLAIZE.TECH EXPERIENCE

The Blaize team has been developing decentralized applications on different blockchains for over 5 years. 

Our experts have mastered the necessary programming languages and best practices necessary for successful and secure product deployment. Moreover, our company has enlarged the scope of our services to fit all the expertise. 

Now, you might hire our developers for the following types of work:

• Developing blockchain ecosystems and protocols
• Creating decentralized applications on multiple chains
• Developing DEXs
• Developing and auditing smart contracts
• Making developer tools
• Providing enterprise solutions, including blockchain integration
• Developing NFT marketplaces, games, and collections
• Verifying technical solution and protocol’s logic
• Auditing various system components
• Conducting a full dApp security review

For the last 5 years, our specialists have successfully completed 70+ projects, deployed 400+ smart contracts, and saved over $100M from hacking. We have worked with such companies as 1inch, PEAKDEFI, Aurora, and much more. Besides, we have designed and deployed a few of our own products, including DeHive, and have taken care of their full protocol security.

So if you are looking for a professional blockchain development team that will follow your project’s requirements and optimize them for better efficiency, contact us to get all the details.

Conclusion 

There are plenty of decentralized solutions, so selecting a blockchain platform for project development becomes a difficult task. That is why Blaize decided to provide this guide covering the pros and cons of all the promising blockchain platforms commonly known on the market.

So what is the best blockchain for dApps? As you can already see, the answer will differ depending on your project’s purpose and requirements. We have provided you with the examples showing the best fit for a certain project, yet, please note that listed blockchain are not limited to those.

If you have any questions regarding dApps or need help choosing a blockchain for your project, you are very welcome to contact Blaize, and our experts will help you with dApp development.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest blockchain to develop dApps?

Most of those blockchains that we talked about in the article are quite simple to develop dApps. It is difficult to single out exactly one platform, since everything depends on the conditions for creating an dApp application. The simplest in our opinion is Ethereum, but you should not write off other blockchain platforms since they might fit your project better.

How to choose the right dApp development company?

Take into consideration their experience, the existing cases, and those reviews you can find online. Or simply hire Blaize – we’ll take care of your project and provide the most efficient way of collaboration.

What blockchain platforms for dApp development do Blaize experts recommend to use?

We can recommend the following chains:

• Ethereum 
• Polygon
• Arbitrum
• Aptos
• Sui Chain
• StarkNet
• Rust blockchains: Polkadot, Near, Solana, Secret Network

How do you make dApps on blockchain?

In general, the process of creating a dApp by our team consists of three steps. This is the creation and deployment of smart contracts, and the creation of a frontend dApp. You can learn more about our process in one of our articled on Ethereum dApp development.

Post author

Dmytro Kovalchuk

Co-founder & COO of Blaize

Expert on blockchain technology, app development and investments consulting