OpenSea vs. Rarible – Which NFT Marketplace Stands Out?

The introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has given creators more control when it comes to displaying and selling their work. The concept behind NFTs is that people get to create, trade, and own distinguishable digital assets without engaging the traditional art industry gatekeepers. It’s therefore essential for these platforms to provide an open forum for successful NFT transactions.

If you want to buy or sell NFTs, marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible are great places to start. However, they each have unique features that will determine which platform would better suit your needs. This article evaluates what these marketplaces have to offer, helping you find the one that would best work for you.

OpenSea at a Glance

OpenSea is a New York-based decentralized exchange that allows users to buy and sell non-fungible tokens. It’s one of the most popular NFT marketplaces, and in 2020, the platform sold digital assets worth $21 million.

OpenSea is the brainchild of Alex Atallah and Devin Finzer. After creating the CryptoKitties platform in 2017, the founders developed a new marketplace for digital art. They named their project OpenSea.

Aside from being the first NFT marketplace, OpenSea also has the largest number of crypto-collectible users. The platform utilizes the Wyvern Protocol, allowing members to trade NFTs and other digital assets effortlessly.

OpenSea users can easily browse over 34 million digital assets through its various categories, including videos, graphics, music, and art. They can also sort through different types of crypto art and collectibles, such as those from CryptoPunks, Decentraland, and Axie Infinity.

Initially, OpenSea was only powered by the Ethereum blockchain. However, it has since evolved into a cross-chain marketplace that uses Polygon and Klatyn.

Rarible at a Glance

Rarible is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that allows users to create and share digital art. It was launched in early 2020 in Russia by Alexei Falin and Alexander Salnikov. The platform aims to foster a creative community that contributes to the growth and governance of the marketplace.

Rarible enables users to mint and index their digital assets through smart contracts. Creators can then set up the royalties they would like to earn from future sales of their products.

Through the platform categories, potential buyers can browse various assets to find something they may be interested in. Additionally, Rarible also displays the history of an asset, showing previous owners and what they paid for the NFT. Rarible even provides digital asset data developers can use to create new applications. As an NFT platform, Rarible has facilitated thousands of NFT transactions and gained a reputation as a trustworthy marketplace.

OpenSea vs. Rarible: Audience

OpenSea is the world’s first NFT marketplace and has gained a solid reputation and a large community of creators and traders. Its goal is to make it easier for people to buy and sell digital assets.

While it has a vast database, Rarible focuses on making it easier for its community to have a voice in the company’s future. To this end, its founders have set up a governance token, which allows users to vote on future updates.

Both Rarible and OpenSea work with the same smart contracts, which are thought to be the gold standard for NFT transactions. All of the data stored on the blockchain is non-fungible, making it easy to track ownership.

While OpenSea provides a marketplace that makes it easy for users to buy and sell digital assets, Rarible is more focused on creating a space where creators have a say in how the platform is governed. The company gives them ownership of not only their art but of the marketplace itself. In other words, OpenSea is centered on the art while Rarible is centered on the artist.

OpenSea vs. Rarible: Currencies

While Rarible only accepts ETH as a payment method, OpenSea allows users to use DAI, ETH, and other Ethereum-based tokens to buy and sell NFTs. That means you can trade with more than 150 different cryptocurrencies on OpenSea. However, Rarible allows you to make purchases using your credit card, an option that OpenSea doesn’t offer.

Rarible also has its own currency, RARI, earned through the platform’s liquidity mining. However, you can’t buy or sell anything on the platform using this token. Its sole purpose is to allow users to vote on future marketplace changes.

Unfortunately, there are some problems with the Rarible project that can affect its operations. One of these is wash trading, where users create several accounts that they then use to trade their own tokens. This has caused the value of the tokens to be compromised.

OpenSea vs. Rarible: Wallets

OpenSea supports MetaMask, a popular cryptocurrency wallet. It also works with other companies such as Bitski, Coinbase, and Fortmatic.

Rarible also supports various wallet integrations, including Ethereum, Metamask, and MyEtherWallet.

Because both platforms integrate with many wallets, chances are high that you will find your crypto wallet supported on either marketplace.

OpenSea vs. Rarible: Platform Fees

OpenSea and Rarible have lower transaction fees than most other NFT marketplaces.

While OpenSea only charges the buyer a 2.5% fee, Rarible makes that same 2.5% from both the buyer and the seller. In contrast, some marketplaces, like SuperRare, ask for commissions as high as 15%.

OpenSea vs. Rarible: Minting

OpenSea and Rarible have introduced lazy minting, allowing artists to sell their NFTs without creating smart contracts on the blockchain. Through this technique, these platforms have made it possible for people to mint NFTs without having to pay network fees.

It’s essential to note that many blockchain transactions, including the minting of NFTs, attract a network fee that goes towards validating the trade. Because Ethereum gas fees can be pretty high, OpenSea’s and Rarible’s lazy minting features are very attractive to users, as they get to avoid making these network payments.

OpenSea vs. Rarible: Royalty Fee

One of the most critical aspects of an NFT platform is the availability of a royalty program. This enables creators to earn passive income on NFTs sold in the secondary market. OpenSea provides a fixed royalty fee of 10%, while Rarible allows creators to determine this payment themselves. Users can set royalty fees as high as 50% of the original cost if they choose.

OpenSea vs. Rarible: Security

Understandably, security is paramount when it comes to assets and payments. As NFTs are traded online, they are vulnerable to hacks, fraud schemes, and data breaches. OpenSea and Rarible have both had scandals centered on fraud and counterfeit products. There have also been instances where copyright laws have been infringed upon. While both platforms have experienced security breaches, OpenSea seems to have been hit harder than Rarible. Most recently, OpenSea has had to deal with a smart contract issue that left NFTs exposed to the threat of theft.

Bottom Line

Your choice of platform will largely be determined by what you prioritize. For example, if you are more interested in having many cryptocurrencies to trade with, OpenSea is a great pick. However, if paying for your purchases via credit card makes sense to you, then Rarible will better suit your needs. This guide highlights the areas where these platforms shine and where there is still work to be done. Therefore, you are now better equipped to decide on the NFT marketplace that would best suit your needs.

Have you used either OpenSea or Rarible? What did you like about the platform? Let us know in the comments below.