Starknet and zkSync Era tie on score at 63; the published tie-break orders them. Starknet is ahead on track record and exit window. zkSync Era ranks #9 and Starknet #8 of 15 published L2 blockchains. The ledger below shows where each side is ahead — pick by the criterion that matters to you.
zkSync Era63
vs
Starknet63
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #9 and #8 of 15
Starknet and zkSync Era tie on score at 63; the published tie-break orders them. Starknet is ahead on track record and exit window.
zkSync Era #9 of 1563
Starknet #8 of 1563
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termStarknet leads on 3 of 8 published criteria; zkSync Era on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
TermStarknetzkSync EraWeightPoints
EVM equivalence0/106/102.4−3.7for zkSync Era−1.9 of 32
Track record8/106/102.4+1.2for Starknet+0.6 of 32
Exit window2/101/102.4+0.6for Starknet+0.3 of 32
Rollup stage7/103/101.9+2.0for Starknet+1.0 of 32
Net of the terms+0.1
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+0.3
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below63630.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
A row-above bound on one row means the criterion arithmetic does not reproduce the displayed gap exactly.
zkSync EraScore 63ZK rollup with validity proofs; EVM-compatible via an LLVM zkEVMStrength: Proof system — 10/10Watch-out: EVM-compatible, not equivalent — some contracts need recompilation/adaptationStarknetScore 63ZK rollup on the Cairo VM (non-EVM), with STARK validity proofsStrength: Proof system — 10/10Watch-out: Non-EVM (Cairo) — existing Solidity contracts do not run unchanged
Quick facts
At a glance
FactzkSync EraStarknet
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, globalus, europe, global
Security postureSnapshotZK rollup; data availability: Ethereum L1 (blobs).ZK rollup; data availability: Ethereum L1 (blobs).
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
zkSync Era
63#9 of 15
Pick it when
Pick zkSync Era if EVM equivalence matters most — it scores 6/10 to Starknet's 0/10 there (weight 10).
Strength
Proof system — 10/10
Tradeoff
EVM-compatible, not equivalent — some contracts need recompilation/adaptation
Starknet
63#8 of 15
Pick it when
Pick Starknet if track record matters most — it scores 8/10 to zkSync Era's 6/10 there (weight 10).
Strength
Proof system — 10/10
Tradeoff
Non-EVM (Cairo) — existing Solidity contracts do not run unchanged
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
zkSync Era
Choose zkSync Era if EVM equivalence matters most
EVM equivalence: 6/10 against 0/10 for Starknet (weight 10)
zkSync EraScore 63ZK rollup with validity proofs; EVM-compatible via an LLVM zkEVMStrength: Proof system — 10/10Watch-out: EVM-compatible, not equivalent — some contracts need recompilation/adaptation
Starknet
Choose Starknet if track record matters most
Track record: 8/10 against 6/10 for zkSync Era (weight 10)
Exit window: 2/10 against 1/10 for zkSync Era (weight 10)
Rollup stage: 7/10 against 3/10 for zkSync Era (weight 8)
StarknetScore 63ZK rollup on the Cairo VM (non-EVM), with STARK validity proofsStrength: Proof system — 10/10Watch-out: Non-EVM (Cairo) — existing Solidity contracts do not run unchanged
Criterion by criterion
Scorecard
Published criteria · weight in points of 8616 of 16 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology
EVM equivalence
by 6 of 10weight 2.4 of 86zkSync Era leads
zkSync Era6/10 out of 10
Starknet0/10 out of 10
Track record
by 2 of 10weight 2.4 of 86Starknet leads
zkSync Era6/10 out of 10
Starknet8/10 out of 10
Data on Ethereum
weight 3.4 of 86Tie
zkSync Era9/10 out of 10
Starknet9/10 out of 10
Rollup stage
by 4 of 10weight 1.9 of 86Starknet leads
zkSync Era3/10 out of 10
Starknet7/10 out of 10
Proof system
weight 4.3 of 86Tie
zkSync Era10/10 out of 10
Starknet10/10 out of 10
Exit window
by 1 of 10weight 2.4 of 86Starknet leads
zkSync Era1/10 out of 10
Starknet2/10 out of 10
Forced withdrawals
weight 4.3 of 86Tie
zkSync Era5/10 out of 10
Starknet5/10 out of 10
Censorship resistance
weight 2.9 of 86Tie
zkSync Era5/10 out of 10
Starknet5/10 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 · constant here
zkSync Era14/20Starknet14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
zkSync Era14.6/30Starknet14.7/30
Starknet leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
zkSync Era2.7/10Starknet2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
zkSync Era3.2/8Starknet3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
zkSync Era5.5/18Starknet5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Same published score — pick by the criterion that matters to you.
Pick zkSync Era if EVM equivalence matters most — it scores 6/10 to Starknet's 0/10 there (weight 10).
Pick Starknet if track record matters most — it scores 8/10 to zkSync Era's 6/10 there (weight 10).
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
Control failure: a key or vote changes the rules, freezes or mints.
Scored by Exit window before an upgrade · 10% (zkSync Era 1/10, Starknet 2/10)
Verification failure: an invalid state or transfer is accepted.
Scored by Ethereum data availability · 14% (zkSync Era 9/10, Starknet 9/10)
Scored by Proof system · 18% (zkSync Era 10/10, Starknet 10/10)
Liveness failure: the operator stops, censors you or loses data.
Scored by Withdrawals if the operator stops · 18% (zkSync Era 5/10, Starknet 5/10)
Scored by Transactions if the sequencer censors you · 12% (zkSync Era 5/10, Starknet 5/10)
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: EVM equivalence (10%), Maturity & track record (10%), Rollup stage (8%).
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Starknet and zkSync Era tie on score at 63; the published tie-break orders them. Starknet is ahead on track record and exit window. Published scores, out of 100: zkSync Era 63 (rank 9 of 15 l2 blockchains), Starknet 63 (rank 8 of 15).
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.
Answer a few quick questions and get one clear recommendation based on how you actually plan to use crypto — with rationale, tradeoffs, and a path to monitor the decision.
No signup·Free first pass · Private·No spam · No account
Not financial advice · Independent · Always do your own research
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research