Lido scores 13 points above Aave, led by confidence and operating style. Lido ranks #5 and Aave #8 of 10 published Web3 apps. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
Lido64
vs
AAAave51
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #5 and #8 of 10
Lido scores 13 points above Aave, led by confidence and operating style.
Lido #5 of 1064
AAAave #8 of 1051
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termLido leads on 2 of 4 published criteria; Aave on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
TermLidoAaveWeightPoints
Confidence8/107/105.8+1.5for Lido+0.8 of 32
Ecosystem7/108/105.8−1.5for Aave−0.8 of 32
Operating style7/103/105.3+5.5for Lido+2.8 of 32
FrictionScore dimension5.32.710+6.8for Lido
Net of the terms+12.3
Reproduced gap+12.2
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6451+13.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
LidoScore 64Liquid staking — stake ETH and stay liquid with stETHStrength: Job fit — 9/10Watch-out: Staking carries smart-contract and validator / slashing risk; stETH can trade slightly off pegAaveScore 51Onchain lending and borrowing — supply assets, borrow against themStrength: Job fit — 9/10Watch-out: Borrowing carries liquidation risk if collateral value falls; rates are variable
Quick facts
At a glance
1 of 3 rows read the same for both.
FactLidoAave
PricingSnapshotLido's Protocol Fee page (lido.fi/how-lido-works/protocol-fee, fetched 30 September 2026): "Lido charges a protocol fee (currently 10%) on the rewards accumulated by the staked ETH underlying the protocol." Stakers keep "90%" of rewards in every staking module; the other 10% is split between node operators and the DAO treasury in proportions that differ by module (Curated Module: 5% and 5%). The rate is set by Lido DAO governance, and the fee "is waived during periods of negative net rewards". No deposit or withdrawal fee appears on the Lido pages read; Ethereum gas applies.Aave's FAQ (aave.com/faq, fetched 30 September 2026): suppliers earn and borrowers pay variable, per-asset rates shown in the Markets tab of the V3 Interface or Aave Pro (V4). "Each borrowable reserve in an Aave market has a parameter called reserve factor, which is the percentage of borrow interest accumulated to the treasury and is determined on a per-asset basis by Aave Governance." Transactions "may incur gas fees", which are "typically highest on Ethereum, and significantly cheaper on all other networks". A liquidated borrower pays a penalty that "depends on the asset used as collateral". The FAQ lists no separate platform or access fee.
Asset coverageEditorialLiquid-staked ETH (stETH) and supported staking assetsSupplied and borrowed assets across supported money markets
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, globalus, europe, global
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
Lido
64#5 of 10
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Lido if confidence matters most — it scores 8/10 to Aave's 7/10 there (weight 24).
Strength
Job fit — 9/10
Tradeoff
Staking carries smart-contract and validator / slashing risk; stETH can trade slightly off peg
AA
Aave
51#8 of 10
Pick it when
Pick Aave if ecosystem matters most — it scores 8/10 to Lido's 7/10 there (weight 24).
Strength
Job fit — 9/10
Tradeoff
Borrowing carries liquidation risk if collateral value falls; rates are variable
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
LidoLeads
Choose Lido if confidence matters most
Confidence: 8/10 against 7/10 for Aave (weight 24)
Operating style: 7/10 against 3/10 for Aave (weight 22)
LidoScore 64Liquid staking — stake ETH and stay liquid with stETHStrength: Job fit — 9/10Watch-out: Staking carries smart-contract and validator / slashing risk; stETH can trade slightly off peg
AAAave
Choose Aave if ecosystem matters most
Ecosystem: 8/10 against 7/10 for Lido (weight 24)
AaveScore 51Onchain lending and borrowing — supply assets, borrow against themStrength: Job fit — 9/10Watch-out: Borrowing carries liquidation risk if collateral value falls; rates are variable
Criterion by criterion
Scorecard
Published criteria · weight in points of 868 of 8 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology
Job fit
weight 7.2 of 86Tie
Lido9/10 out of 10
Aave9/10 out of 10
Ecosystem
by 1 of 10weight 5.8 of 86Aave leads
Lido7/10 out of 10
Aave8/10 out of 10
Operating style
by 4 of 10weight 5.3 of 86Lido leads
Lido7/10 out of 10
Aave3/10 out of 10
Confidence
by 1 of 10weight 5.8 of 86Lido leads
Lido8/10 out of 10
Aave7/10 out of 10
Score dimensions
weights sum to 86
The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.
Availabilityweight 20 of 86
Lido14/20Aave14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Lido18.8/30Aave16.7/30
Lido leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86
Lido5.3/10Aave2.7/10
Lido leads
Trust recordweight 8 of 86
Lido6.4/8Aave6.4/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Lido6.9/18Aave6.9/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Lido unless the term Aave leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick Aave if ecosystem matters most — it scores 8/10 to Lido's 7/10 there (weight 24).
The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .
From the published order
Next best action
If this isn't your case
Other matchups worth comparing
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
None of this ranking's criteria scores a way of losing money; the families that apply are listed below as not assessed.
Not assessed by this ranking: Contract failure, Control failure, Regulatory failure, Execution failure, Exit failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: Use-case fit (30%), Ecosystem fit (24%), Operating style (22%), Confidence signal (24%).
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Lido scores 13 points above Aave, led by confidence and operating style. Published scores, out of 100: Lido 64 (rank 5 of 10 web3 apps), Aave 51 (rank 8 of 10).
Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
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