From being a tiny market to now generating billions of dollars in volume, NFTs took the world by storm in late 2021. While NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Crypto Punks, Doodles, and more are booming, NFT marketplace such as Opensea is recording higher volumes on monthly basis with the latest record being $5 billion in January 2022 alone.

However, for those who are looking to launch their collection – the question remains, where to launch? Should I let my buyers mint on my own website or mint on a marketplace? What do I have to lose if I select the simpler marketplace option?

In this article, we focus on the biggest NFT marketplaces. We’re comparing the top 3 NFT marketplaces to help you find the best marketplace that suits your requirements. We highlight the key differences between Opensea, Rarible, & Mintable and compare their volume of traffic and transactions to build a clear picture of the size of their community.

Website Traffic Analysis

*Similar Web – Opensea vs. Rarible vs. Mintable (Last 12 months) – Jan 2021 – Jan 2022

Opensea leads the way

Total visits on Opensea in 12 months (from January 2021 – January 2022) have topped 483.3 million users. With January 2022 recording a peak of 121.7 million users and the highest transaction volume ever recorded at ~$5 billion compared to Rarible transaction volume of ~$274 million and Mintable transaction volume of ~$30 million in a single month.

1. Opensea

Starting our journey with the biggest NFT marketplace, OpenSea was launched in 2018 and is leading in the volume of transactions with $5 billion during January 2022 and a lifetime volume estimated at ~$15+ billion. Opensea managed to attract all types of NFTs by empowering users to create and mint their NFTs or collection of NFTs on the platform seamlessly.

Opensea is the largest marketplace by far, with more than 10x more traffic than Rarible, which is ranked 2nd.

Opensea supports the following blockchains

• • • Ethereum
    • Polygon
    • Klaytn
    • Solana

Although Opensea supports three different blockchains, Ethereum is still leading by far. NFTs that are minted on the Ethereum blockchain has seen higher demand, however, with the high cost associated with the gas prices people are now moving to alternatives like Polygon a level 2 layer over the Ethereum blockchain, Opensea supports both blockchains and is able to capture the demand.

When to launch on Opensea?

• • • When you are looking for the biggest marketplace with the biggest NFT collections on Ethereum
    • Opensea offers deep liquidity allowing you to have higher chances of success in selling your NFTs
    • Opensea has a user-friendly UI making the journey of creating and launching an NFT collection straightforward and easy
    • No concern about positioning – When you don’t mind showcasing your work amongst thousands of other projects – for premium, niche collection it might be a poor choice as your NFTs might go unnoticed.

2. Rarible

Second largest NFT marketplace is Rarible, a unique NFT marketplace that was founded in 2020. Rarible is governed by a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organisation) and operates under a governance token $RARI with a fully diluted market capitalisation of $250 million. Rarible also caters to all types of NFTs, however, they empower users on the platform by enabling them to join the DAO and take important decisions on the future development of the marketplace thus staying true to the power of decentralisation and collaborative consensus.

Rarible supports the following blockchains

• • • Ethereum
    • Flow
    • Tezos

Rarible has also launched an open-source technology stack that allows developers to build on Rarible and integrate cross-blockchain functionality by introducing Polygon and Polkadot.

When to launch on  Rarible?

• • • If you are looking to launch your NFTs on Flow & Tezos, Rarible is the only marketplace that offers that
    • Rarible operates under a DAO governance framework which means that the NFT marketplace is operated by the community and the decisions are driven by them this can offer a sense of decentralization attracting a new layer of people

3. Mintable

A superstar is on the rise, Mintable was launched in 2018 and growing rapidly backed by multi-billionaire investor Mark Cuban and other prominent investors. Mintable positioned itself as the go-to NFT marketplace for everyone by offering gasless free minting to the creators and seamless methods of purchasing through Debit/Credit cards to the buyers.

Mintable supports the following blockchains

• • • Ethereum
    • Immutable X

Mintable has a cross-listing feature with Opensea, meaning all the NFTs listed on Mintable can also be bought directly from Opensea. This collaboration is critical for the growth of the NFT industry. Competition is healthy so are collaborations and partnerships, this is the way that an industry flourishes and blooms.

When to launch on  Mintable?

• • • If you are looking to launch your NFTs on Immutable X, Mintable offers that as a rollup solution
    • If you are looking to save on gas fees, Mintable offers gasless minting for a minimum cost
    • Mintable offers a way to purchase NFTs with debit/credit cards
    • If you are launching an NFT based around Music Mintable supports these kinds of NFTs
    • When you need a professional support – Mintable has a B2B offering for corporates and brands, offering services to support the NFT launch programs 

Opensea vs. Rarible. vs. Mintable