Thousands of projects build on Solana. Grouping them by category helps you navigate without chasing every new launch announcement.
Decentralised finance (DeFi)
Protocols for swapping tokens, lending, borrowing, and providing liquidity. Risks include smart contract bugs, impermanent loss, and oracle failures. Start by understanding how a simple swap works before providing liquidity.
NFTs and digital collectibles
Marketplaces and minting tools for non-fungible tokens. Verify collection authenticity. Minting costs include network fees and sometimes platform fees.
Gaming and entertainment
On-chain games use Solana for asset ownership and transactions. Game quality and token economics vary widely. Separate fun from financial speculation.
Payments and remittances
Tools for sending stablecoins or SOL across borders quickly. Useful for understanding speed benefits; regulatory rules still apply.
Infrastructure
Wallets, explorers, RPC providers, and developer tools. These underpin everything else. Quality infrastructure improves user experience and security.
How we evaluate projects for guides
We teach categories and evaluation frameworks — team transparency, audit history, open-source code — not specific investment picks. Always do your own research.
See desktop tools for learning for practical resources.