How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Read this before any yield figure: staking is not savings. There is no FDIC insurance, no deposit protection and no regulator who will make you whole. Smart contracts get hacked, protocols get exploited, and a staked token can lose most of its value while it earns you single digit yield. Money you cannot afford to lose does not belong here.
- The platforms below are the established end of the market: Lido and Rocket Pool for Ethereum liquid staking, EigenLayer for restaking, Marinade and Jito on Solana, plus two centralised exchanges included and labelled for comparison.
- Yields are variable by design. They come from network issuance and fees, they move with how much is staked, and any platform advertising a fixed high return is describing a warning sign, not a product.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Lido | Ethereum liquid staking at the largest scale | See website | Yes |
 Rocket Pool | Decentralised Ethereum staking | See website | Yes |
 EigenLayer | Restaking for additional Ethereum yield | See website | Yes |
 StakeWise | Ethereum staking with vault choice | See website | Yes |
 Marinade Finance | Solana liquid staking | See website | Yes |
 Jito | Solana staking with MEV rewards | See website | Yes |
 Coinbase | Exchange staking for beginners, custodial | See website | No |
 Kraken | Exchange staking with a long record, custodial | See website | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
#1
Lido
Best for: Ethereum liquid staking at the largest scale
Visit lido.fi
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Lido is the default because it is the ocean: the deepest liquidity, the widest acceptance of its staking token, and the simplest route from holding ETH to earning staking yield. Its dominance is also the most discussed risk in Ethereum staking, because a large share of the network's security flowing through one protocol's governance is a concentration the ecosystem watches nervously. For a staker, the practical reading is balanced: Lido's operational record is the category's reference, and its size means its token is the easiest to exit, which in a crisis is the feature that matters most.
What we like- The largest liquid staking protocol: stake any amount of ETH and receive stETH, a token that tracks your stake and its rewards, stETH is accepted across DeFi as collateral, which makes Lido the liquidity centre of Ethereum staking, no minimum and no validator hardware, years of operation at the largest scale the category has
Watch out for- Scale is itself a systemic question: Lido's share of all staked ETH draws governance and centralisation criticism from the Ethereum community, smart contract and governance risk sit on top of staking risk, and stETH can trade away from ETH's price in stressed markets, the protocol takes a share of rewards as its fee
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Rocket Pool is the Ethereum community's decentralisation answer, and stakers who care why proof of stake exists tend to land here. Its rETH accrues value inside the token's exchange rate rather than growing your balance, a design with tax and accounting implications worth understanding before you stake, since treatment differs by jurisdiction and this guide is not tax advice. Operationally it has run for years without the failures that haunt this category. Choose it when spreading stake across many independent validators matters to you as much as the yield line.
What we like- Built to answer Lido's centralisation critique: a network of independent node operators runs its validators, stake ETH and receive rETH, whose value accrues the rewards rather than rebasing, smaller minimums for node operators spread validation across many hands and homes, a long operating record and a community that treats decentralisation as the product
Watch out for- Smaller scale means rETH liquidity is thinner than stETH's in stressed conditions, the model is more complex to understand, yields net of its structure can trail the largest pool's at times
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
EigenLayer must be described plainly: restaking is a genuinely new primitive that lets the same capital secure many services, and every unit of extra yield it pays is compensation for extra ways to lose. Slashing conditions multiply, the services secured are young, and the liquid restaking tokens built on top add their own contracts to the chain of things that must not fail. Experienced DeFi users with sized positions use it deliberately. Nobody should meet restaking as their first staking product, and any yield figure quoted for it should be read as a risk premium, because that is what it is.
What we like- The restaking pioneer: stake ETH or liquid staking tokens again to secure additional networks and services, earning extra rewards, sits at the centre of Ethereum's modular ecosystem, with the largest restaked capital, additional yield layers for stakers who understand exactly what they are underwriting
Watch out for- This is risk stacked on risk: your collateral now secures multiple networks, and slashing or failure in any layer can reach your stake, the reward sources are younger and less proven than base staking, complexity is the highest in this list, and complexity in DeFi is a risk factor of its own
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
StakeWise is the craftsman's option in Ethereum staking: rather than one giant pool, its vault model lets stakers pick the operator set and structure they are underwriting. That choice is also its demand: a staker who cannot evaluate a vault should not pretend the choice is a feature for them, and the default options exist for that reason. For the informed staker who finds Lido too big and solo staking too much, StakeWise is the considered middle of the road, with a longer record than most of the road's other occupants.
What we like- A long running Ethereum staking protocol whose version 3 introduced vaults: choose among staking setups with different operators and risk shapes, non-custodial design with a record stretching back to Ethereum staking's early days, its osETH liquid token keeps positions transferable, smaller and more legible than the giants, which some stakers count as a feature
Watch out for- Smaller liquidity than Lido's ocean, so large exits need care, vault choice means the diligence is partly yours: the options differ in operator and risk, less DeFi collateral acceptance for its token than stETH enjoys
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Marinade is the Solana staker's home protocol: it has operated through the chain's worst years, which in this industry counts as a credential, and its stake routing spreads SOL across many validators. The Solana caveat belongs to the chain, not the protocol: SOL's price history is violent, and staking yield of a few percent does not cushion a drawdown of half the token's value. Stakers who hold SOL for the long term will find Marinade the natural tool; everyone should size the position as the volatile asset it remains.
What we like- Solana's established liquid staking protocol: stake SOL and receive mSOL, spendable across Solana DeFi, routes stake across a broad validator set by performance, supporting the network's decentralisation, no lockup on the Solana side beyond the network's own epoch rhythm, a long record on a chain whose staking culture is strong
Watch out for- Solana's own history includes the FTX collapse era, and its token price carries that volatility, mSOL liquidity and acceptance are Solana bound, smart contract risk as everywhere here, with a smaller Lindy margin than Ethereum's giants
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Jito sells the extra slice: on Solana, the value created by how transactions are ordered can be shared with stakers, and JitoSOL is the vehicle built to do it. When network activity runs hot, that slice is meaningful; when it cools, the yield reverts toward base staking. Its infrastructure role, a widely used validator client, gives it standing in Solana's ecosystem beyond a staking wrapper. Treat the MEV component as a bonus with a warning label.
What we like- Jito's liquid staking token, JitoSOL, adds MEV rewards, the extra value validators extract from transaction ordering, to base staking yield, runs a major validator client used across Solana, aligning its staking with network infrastructure, JitoSOL is widely integrated in Solana DeFi, yields have often led Solana liquid staking because of the MEV component
Watch out for- MEV is the most variable and least understood yield ingredient in this list: its size depends on network activity and ordering markets, added protocol layers between you and base staking, Solana ecosystem risk as with Marinade, with a younger staking record
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Coinbase is included, clearly labelled, because for many holders it is the honest comparison: staking through the largest US exchange, inside an account they already trust, at a yield reduced by the exchange's commission. Its model inverts DeFi's: you gain operational simplicity and a public company's accountability, and you give up self custody and a slice of return. Neither side of that trade is stupid; they are different risks wearing the same word staking. Choose with your eyes open, because in a failure they pay out very differently.
What we like- The simplest route in this list: stake from an exchange account in a few clicks, with no wallet or contract interaction to learn, a US listed company with regulated operations and published financials, partial staking and easy unstaking within its terms for supported assets, suitable for the holder whose alternative is not staking at all
Watch out for- This is custodial, not DeFi: Coinbase holds the keys, and you hold a claim, which is the arrangement DeFi exists to avoid, the exchange takes a substantial commission share of rewards, so yields run below the protocols above, exchange and regulatory risk replaces smart contract risk, a trade, not an upgrade
#8
Kraken
Best for: Exchange staking with a long record, custodial
Visit kraken.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Kraken closes the list with its history as the lesson: a respected exchange whose US staking programme was ended by a regulatory settlement in 2023 and later reshaped as rules evolved. That episode is the cleanest illustration in this guide of custodial staking's second risk: not only can the custodian fail, the service itself can be switched off by law, on a timetable you do not control. Where Kraken staking is available to you today, its record and breadth are real; verify today's terms for your state and asset.
What we like- One of the oldest exchanges, with staking across many assets from one account, a long operational record through several market cycles, its staking terms and reward rates are published per asset in a comparatively readable way, serves as the custodial comparison for holders outside the US as well as within it
Watch out for- Custodial, with the same key surrender as Coinbase, Kraken's US staking history includes a 2023 SEC settlement that shut its US staking service at the time
- Current US availability by asset must be checked, yields net of commission trail the on chain protocols
How we chose
We listed the staking platforms with the scale and operating history that define the market's established end in 2026: Ethereum's liquid staking leaders and its restaking layer, Solana's two majors, a vault based alternative, and the two largest US relevant exchanges, labelled custodial wherever they appear. We described yields without printing precise APYs, because staking returns vary with network conditions and any exact figure in a guide misleads by the week it is read. Presence here records significance, not safety, and no staking platform carries deposit protection of any kind. Nothing in this article is financial advice.
The risk checklist to run before staking anything
Separate the yield from the asset. Staking returns are paid in the token you staked, so your real result is yield multiplied by a price you cannot control. A 6 percent yield on a token that halves is a 47 percent loss wearing a savings account's clothes. Decide first whether you want to hold the asset for years at any yield; staking is a way to be paid while holding, never a reason to hold.
Count the layers between you and the base protocol. Direct staking has the fewest. A liquid staking token adds a protocol and a token price. Restaking adds networks and slashing conditions. Each layer pays you because each layer can fail independently, and the failures correlate in a crisis. If you cannot name every layer in your position, your position is larger than your understanding, and the market charges tuition for that gap.
Respect the exit before you enter. Unstaking queues, epoch delays, liquidity depth of the liquid token and its price behaviour in past stress are the difference between a position and a trap. Check what your token traded at, against its underlying, during the last market panic; that discount is part of the product. Keep staked positions at a size where a bad month is an education, not an emergency.
Finally, handle the keys and the taxes like an adult. Non-custodial staking means your seed phrase is the vault: hardware wallet, offline backup, no photographs, no cloud notes. Staking rewards are taxable income in the US on receipt, with the token's later sale a second event; keep records from the first reward, because reconstructing a year of DeFi transactions for a tax return is the least joyful task this guide can save you from.
Frequently asked questions
Is DeFi staking safe?
No staking is safe in the deposit sense. The risks are specific and layered: the token's price, smart contract bugs and exploits, validator slashing, governance decisions, and, for liquid staking, the token trading below its underlying in a panic. The platforms here are the established end of the market, which reduces operational risk without touching market risk. Stake only funds whose complete loss would not change your life.
What yield can I expect from staking?
Base staking yields on major networks have generally run in the low to mid single digits annually in recent years, varying with how much is staked network wide and with fee activity. Restaking and MEV components add variable amounts on top. Any figure is a snapshot, not a rate: there is no term, no lock and no promise. Treat a platform advertising a high fixed yield as a red flag; in this market, that marketing pattern has preceded most of the famous collapses.
What is liquid staking?
Ordinary staking locks your tokens with a validator until you unstake, which can involve a queue. Liquid staking platforms issue a tradeable token representing your staked position, so you can sell it, or use it as collateral elsewhere, while the underlying keeps earning. The convenience adds risks: the token's market price can detach from the underlying in stressed markets, and using it as collateral stacks liquidation risk on staking risk.
What is slashing?
Slashing is the network punishing a validator's misbehaviour, downtime patterns, double signing or serious faults, by destroying part of the stake behind it. When you stake through a platform, your stake shares that exposure according to the platform's design. It is rare for honest operational errors and real for attacks and bugs, and it is the reason restaking, which volunteers your collateral to secure extra networks, multiplies the ways a position can be cut.
Do I pay tax on staking rewards?
In the US, yes: the IRS treats staking rewards as ordinary income at their fair market value when you receive them, with capital gains or losses when you later sell. Other countries differ. DeFi activity generates many small taxable events, so keep transaction records from the start, ideally through a crypto tax tool, and take advice for anything material. This guide describes the general position and is not tax advice for your situation.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.