Comparison
| Dimension | Solana | EVM L1 (Ethereum) | EVM L2 (Arbitrum/Optimism/Base) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical confirmation cadence | 400–600 ms slots; fast confirms, short path to finalization | 12s slots; economic finality after ~2 epochs ≈ 12–13 min | Seconds to “sequencer confirmed”; “safe” in minutes; L1 finalization later |
| Fee model | Fixed base fee per signature + optional priority fee per compute unit | EIP-1559 base + priority tip | L2 execution fee + L1 data fee (much cheaper post-EIP-4844) |
| Ballpark fees | Typically fractions of a cent; base = 5,000 lamports per signature | Dollars during busy times | Often ~$0.01–$0.20 for simple tx after 4844 |
| RNG options | Switchboard VRF, ORAO VRF; commit-reveal designs | Chainlink VRF widely used; other VRFs; commit-reveal | Same as EVM, fastest adoption for Chainlink VRF |
| Dev tooling | Rust + Anchor, SVM parallelism | Solidity + Hardhat/Foundry, biggest auditor/tooling ecosystem | Same EVM toolchain as L1; very fast deploy/iterate |
| When it shines | High-throughput micro-bets, real-time tables, tiny fees | High-value liquidity, composability with established DeFi/NFT | Cost-speed sweet spot for most apps; cheap, fast UX with Ethereum security anchors |
Solana slot and confirmation details, plus the 5,000-lamport base fee and priority-fee model are from Solana’s docs.
Ethereum slot/epoch timing and finality expectations are from Beacon/PoS explainers and engineering write-ups; OP’s “safe/finalized” semantics document L2 timing.
Post-EIP-4844 rollup fee impacts and L2 fee structure are from official resources and trackers.
Latency and finality: live betting’s critical path
Solana
Solana leaders produce blocks in roughly 400–600 ms slots; developers should treat blockhashes as expiring after about 60–90 seconds, which shapes UX around retries and priority fees. Fast “confirmed” status is followed by short-delay finalization under Tower BFT.
The network’s 2025 health report highlights 16+ months of continuous uptime and major scheduling improvements after the 2024 congestion episodes, relevant for production reliability.
EVM L1 and L2
On Ethereum, slots are 12 seconds; designers often wait for two epochs (~12–13 minutes) for strict finality, though day-to-day confirms usually stick much sooner.
On optimistic rollups, users see near-instant sequencer confirmations, with “safe” blocks typically a few minutes later, and eventual L1 finality after the settlement window. Plan cashier and withdrawal flows accordingly.
Costs you can actually model
Solana’s fee math
Each transaction pays a fixed base fee of 5,000 lamports per signature, plus an optional priority fee priced per compute unit. During load, setting a compute-price tip materially improves inclusion.
Helius’ fee deep-dives and Solana Learn also detail the same base-fee value and how priority fees interact with local fee markets.
EVM L1 and L2 fees
Ethereum fees are EIP-1559 base + tip; rollups add an L1 data component. Dencun/EIP-4844 introduced blob space that cut rollup costs by orders of magnitude, pushing many simple txs into low-cent territory.
Base’s docs break down L2 execution vs L1 security fees; public trackers like L2Fees show current ballpark costs across rollups.
Provably fair randomness: what’s available where
EVM chains
Chainlink VRF remains the most deployed production RNG for gaming and raffles across EVM chains, with clear security notes and integration guides.
Solana
Solana developers commonly use Switchboard VRF or ORAO VRF. The official Solana course explains Switchboard’s on-chain proof verification and callback flow; it is heavier than EVM VRF and must be budgeted in compute/tx counts.
Switchboard has continued to invest in speed with the newer Surge architecture, while ORAO provides a multi-node VRF option.
Commit-reveal designs remain a neutral fallback on both stacks when you can tolerate an extra round.
Developer velocity and tooling
Solana stack
Rust + Anchor is the dominant path. Official docs, the Anchor book, and Solana’s dev site cover install, PDAs, CPIs, and testing. Anchor emits an IDL and client bindings that feel familiar to EVM teams.
EVM stack
Solidity + Hardhat/Foundry dominate production workflows, with first-class fuzzing/property testing and huge auditor mindshare.
Electric Capital’s 2024 Developer Report shows Solana as the top ecosystem for new developers, while Ethereum/EVM remains the largest overall dev base and codebed—useful context when hiring, buying audits, or choosing libraries.
Parallelism vs sequential execution: why it matters to casinos
Solana’s Sealevel runtime executes non-conflicting transactions in parallel by requiring programs to declare read/write accounts up front; this is ideal for high-volume betting if you avoid hot-account contention in your program design.
Ethereum’s execution is historically single-threaded to preserve state determinism; while research and custom VMs explore speculative/parallel EVMs, today’s mainstream EVM chains remain effectively sequential at the protocol level.
Wallets, on-ramp UX, and payments
For EVM, MetaMask and a long tail of wallets are ubiquitous; rollup users inherit that UX with broadly similar signing flows. For Solana, Phantom and friends deliver slick UX and social-gaming-friendly flows. If you already rely on EVM rails for KYC’d on-ramps or fiat partners, L2s minimize switching costs; Solana’s very low per-tx fees can materially change game design for micro-wagers and rapid settlement. Official materials on both ecosystems’ dev tooling reinforce these UX choices.
Compliance-friendly token features
Solana Token Extensions ship first-class features like Transfer Hooks and Confidential Transfers, which can help implement region gating or privacy-respecting chips/credits.
On EVM, standards such as ERC-20 Permit (EIP-2612) and OpenZeppelin’s extensions enable gasless approvals, vault accounting, pausing, and more. Be cautious with ERC-777-style hooks due to reentrancy risks documented by security researchers.
Operational realities you should plan for
- Solana’s 2024 congestion taught teams to set sane compute/priority fees and to design around hot accounts; the 2025 network-health report shows sustained improvements, new schedulers, and multiple client diversity including Frankendancer.
- On optimistic rollups, model the difference between near-instant sequencer confirms and L1 finality when settling jackpots, cross-chain payouts, or bridging treasury funds.
Decision guide: which stack for which gambling product?
- Choose Solana when you need sub-second UX, extremely low fees for micro-wagers, and you can engineer around account hot-spots with parallel-friendly program layouts. Expect to integrate Switchboard/ORAO VRF.
- Choose EVM L2s for the broadest tooling/auditor pool, familiar wallets, and cents-level fees after EIP-4844, especially if your liquidity, KYC partners, or affiliates already live in the EVM world. Use Chainlink VRF.
- Reserve Ethereum L1 for high-value settlement, liquidity access, and compliance integrations where latency and base fees are secondary to composability and security guarantees.
Build checklists
Solana casino or sportsbook
- Model compute units and set priority fees; simulate then add a safety margin.
- Avoid hot writable accounts; shard bankroll, bets, and tables across PDAs to maximize parallel execution.
- Pick VRF (Switchboard/ORAO) and budget for proof verification and callback patterns.
- Consider Token Extensions for private chip balances or transfer-hook compliance rules.
EVM L2 casino or sportsbook
- Decide which rollup fits your fee/latency profile and region. Understand L2 execution vs L1 data fees in your unit economics.
- Integrate Chainlink VRF, fuzz tests with Foundry, and audit-ready Hardhat scripts.
- For cashier UX, use Permit/EIP-2612 to compress approvals and reduce friction.
FAQ
Is Solana actually cheaper at scale?
Yes. The base fee per signature is fixed at 5,000 lamports, and you add a small compute-priced priority fee during busy periods; even under load, fees typically remain far below a cent.
How fast is “final” on EVM vs Solana?
Designers often target two Ethereum epochs (~12–13 minutes) for strict finality, while Solana advances from fast confirms to finalization over a short delay. L2s add a “sequencer confirmed” and “safe” notion before L1 finalization.
Which stack has more devs and audits available?
EVM remains the biggest overall ecosystem for tools and auditors; Solana led 2024 in new-developer inflow, which is useful for hiring growth.
What should I use for randomness?
On EVM, Chainlink VRF is the go-to. On Solana, Switchboard VRF and ORAO VRF are common; you can also use commit-reveal if latency permits.
