Guide to NFT Marketplaces

There are over 200 NFT marketplaces at the moment and it can be hard to know which one is right for your collection. Check out our Guide to NFT Marketplaces which goes into detail about some of the most popular marketplaces, with a table showing fees, formats supported, and more.

Guide to NFT Marketplaces

Table of Contents

About NFT Marketplaces

There are some general differences between NFT marketplaces. Some marketplaces such as Larva Labs sell only their NFTs and do not accept other sellers on the platform. We’ll go into some major ways that differentiate NFT marketplaces.

Open vs. Closed marketplaces

Open marketplaces are open to anyone to join the platform. Most marketplaces are open marketplaces.

Closed marketplaces, sometimes known as invite-only or premium marketplaces, only allow creators that have been invited to join the platform.

The implications are that open marketplaces may potentially have more people seeing your NFTs, but competition with other NFTs may be steep. Closed marketplaces may be more appropriate for high-value NFTs but they may cost more than other marketplaces.

Centralized vs. Decentralized

Centralized and decentralized marketplaces refer to how the blockchain records are stored. When it is stored at a central institution (ie. the marketplace), this is known as a centralized marketplace. Some examples of centralized marketplaces include OpenSea, Coinbase, and Binance.

The alternative is the data records are stored on each computer across multiple locations on the blockchain network, which is then known as a decentralized marketplace. SuperRare, KnownOrigin, Foundation, and LooksRare are some examples of decentralized marketplaces.

What this means for users is that a centralized marketplace may be more susceptible to risks such as outages as it is dependent on the central infrastructure.

Sale styles

There are a number of ways that NFTs may be sold on these marketplaces. Not all sale styles will be supported by all platforms. There are three main styles of sale: fixed price (most common), auctions (including Dutch auctions), and best offer.

A fixed price sale is as the name suggests – the seller sets a price and a buyer has to pay this amount to buy the NFT.

There are a few types of auctions – one is a reserve auction. Bidding starts from a minimum price set by the seller (hence “reserve”) and bidders have a 24-hour period until the auction ends. The other type of auction is a scheduled auction where the starting bidding price is optional and there is a set end time for bidding.

There’s also a completely different style of auction known as the Dutch auction. In a traditional English auction, the price gradually increases as bidders make bids. Dutch auctions are the opposite where the price gradually decreases. The price drops by a set percentage or amount over a period of time, such as 0.1 ETH every 10 minutes. Azuki is a notable project that sold using this style.

Offers, or best offers, is a system where a buyer may offer a price to buy an NFT that may not be up for auction. The seller may or may not take them up on the offer, it is up to their discretion.

Top 5 Most Popular NFT Marketplaces Reviews

OpenSea

OpenSea is currently one of the largest NFT marketplaces with over 140k active traders. The open marketplace recorded $703.38 million in volume traded over the past seven days. According to some estimates, 90% of all NFT trading volume in 2021 took place on OpenSea, although this figure is starting to dwindle with the emergence of new popular marketplaces.

The platform supports NFTs on the ETH, Klatyn, Polygon and Solana chains and takes 2.5% in fees for each transaction, which is about average compared to other popular marketplaces. OpenSea collaborated with the auction house Christie’s and brought in 843 ETH in auctions. Some well-known collections on OpenSea include Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks.

LooksRare

LooksRare is the second largest marketplace on our list. Founded in 2022 as a community-first platform, LooksRare has soared to its position in a short amount of time, so it is definitely one to watch. It takes 2% in fees, which is one of the lowest among the most popular marketplaces. The platform recorded $411.3M in volume traded over a seven-day period, although there have been reports that suggest 90% of their volume traded is from wash-trading.

LooksRare is unique as it offers a trading reward system which rewards all users, buyers or sellers, for being part of the ecosystem. Users on the platform can earn $LOOKS tokens and staking the token can earn its holder as high as 100% of the trading fees taken by the platform. Those who are new to NFTs should definitely consider LooksRare as an alternative to OpenSea.

Nifty Gateway

Nifty Gateway is the third-most popular platform on our list. The NFTs on the platforms are often known as Nifties and are ETH-based. Its unique feature is that it is a custodial platform, where its NFTs are stored in a secure wallet on the platform. This way, transactions can be made without gas fees. The platform also accepts a number of ways to pay for NFTs, including debit and credit cards, which means that buyers can easily purchase an NFT without going through the process of calculating exchange rates and so on.

However, there are some drawbacks to this platform – you do not technically own your NFT until it’s withdrawn from your wallet on the platform, and this process can be quite difficult. One of the most popular auctions held on the platform is the sale of Beeple, Crossroad which sold for a record-breaking 4400 ETH ($6.6M) in 2021.

Rarible

Rarible offers a wide range of digital art including music, pictures, domains, and metaverse items. It is the only platform on our list that supports NFTs on the ETH and Tezos chains. The community-owned marketplace uses the RARI token as its ownership token. Check out our article about DAOs here which goes into detail about ownership tokens. Similar to LooksRare, it has a trading reward system which gifts active traders with their own token.

Initially founded as a centralized marketplace, the platform aims to gradually decentralize to the Rarible DAO. The non-custodial platform accepts a wide range of wallets and buyers will own the NFTs they have purchased. However, the lack of a mobile app and relatively high fees may be a deterrent, especially for new users.

Foundation

Established in 2020, Foundation is the only closed marketplace on our list. The platform has 10k active traders and recorded $351.09k in total volume traded over the past seven days. The focus of Foundation is exclusivity. The closed nature of the platform means that only a curated list of creators will be featured on the marketplace.

The platform takes 5% in fees, which is on the higher end of the scale. However, this higher fee is expected as a premium to its exclusive nature. The platform only accepts ETH at the moment, which might make it difficult for beginner buyers to get into.

Ultimate NFT Marketplace Comparison Table

Here’s a comparison table of the most popular NFT marketplaces, with fees, formats supported, and more.

PlatformType
Active Traders
Fees (%)
Volume Traded (7 days)
Formats supported
Chains supported
Notes
CoinbaseOpen, Centralised-
0 (Limited time only)
-
Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF)
ETH
Newly launched May 2022
Meta--47.5---
Marketplace in the works
SuperRareOpen, Decentralised4k15$50.3k
Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF), Vectors (MP4)
ETH
KnownOriginOpen, DecentralisedUnknown15$1.34k
Images (PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, Webp), 360 Images (PNG, JPG), Videos (WebM, MP4), 3D (GLB)
ETH
FoundationClosed, Decentralised10k5$351.09k
Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF), Vectors (MP4)
ETH
OpenseaOpen, Centralised140k2.5$703.38M
Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, GLB, GLTF), Audios (MP3, WAV), Videos (MP4, Webm)
ETH, Polygon, Klatyn, Solana
One of the largest marketplaces
RaribleOpen, Centralised*58k2.5$577.33k
Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, Webp), Audios (MP3), Videos (MP4, WMV)
ETH, Tezos
*Plans to decentralise to Rarible DAO
Nifty GatewayOpenUnknown2.5
$25M (approx.)
Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, Webp), Audios (MP3), Videos (MP4, WMV)
ETH
2.5% fees on V2
LooksRareOpen, DecentralisedUnknown2$411.3M
Images (Including GIFs)
ETH