Lido vs Swell Network
A detailed head-to-head comparison of Lido and Swell Network — pricing, features, and which one wins for different use cases.
Lido
The largest liquid staking protocol for ETH — stake any amount and receive yield-bearing stETH
Lido is the dominant liquid staking protocol for Ethereum, controlling roughly 28–33% of all staked ETH and making it the largest single DeFi protocol by TVL at over $20 billion. The core value propos…
Full review →Swell Network
ETH liquid staking and restaking with swETH and rswETH
Swell Network is an Ethereum liquid staking and restaking protocol offering swETH (liquid staking) and rswETH (liquid restaking), aiming to provide a full staking-to-restaking product suite with a str…
Full review →Feature Comparison
| Feature | Lido | Swell Network |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid Token | ✓ | swETH / rswETH |
| Minimum Stake | No minimum | None |
| Reward Frequency | Daily (rebase) | Continuous |
| Defi Compatible | ✓ | ✓ |
| Node Operator Model | Curated permissioned | Decentralized operators |
| Governance Token | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi Chain | ✓ | ✗ |
| Slashing Protection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Withdrawal Enabled | ✓ | ✓ |
| Insurance Fund | ✗ | ✗ |
Lido Pricing
Lido
Free (10% fee on rewards)
Free
- ✓No minimum ETH
- ✓stETH liquid token
- ✓DeFi composable
- ✓Daily reward rebase
- ✓Ethereum + Polygon + Solana
Swell Network Pricing
Swell Network
Free (protocol fee on rewards)
Free
- ✓Liquid staking (swETH)
- ✓Liquid restaking (rswETH)
- ✓Swellchain L2 ecosystem
- ✓Decentralization focus
- ✓SWELL governance token
Verdict: Which Should You Choose?
Lido is the better pick if you need largest liquid staking tvl — deepest steth liquidity and defi integration. Swell Network wins when both liquid staking and restaking in one protocol. Both are production-ready — the right choice depends on your team's workflow and budget.