Comparison of Smart Contract Platforms from the Perspective of Developers

Abstract

Blockchain technologies promise to transform businesses by offering benefits like efficiency, transparency, fewer intermediaries, streamlined processes, and cost savings. With several public and private blockchain options available, companies and developers face the challenge of choosing a suitable platform for their needs. Ethereum has emerged as the most popular platform for the development of blockchain programs, but alternatives such as Algorand, Cardano, EOS, and Neo have also gained traction. We assess these five platforms from a developer’s perspective. Based on a catalog of criteria and metrics, we compare the platforms regarding their key features, including practical aspects like availability of documentation and ease of installation. We specify three use cases that are characteristic of blockchain applications: fungible tokens, non-fungible tokens, and a basic supply chain. By implementing these use cases on all platforms and logging the effort as well as any incidents, we identify their strengths and weaknesses in a way that supports developers in choosing an appropriate platform.