When you decide to create a crypto token in 2025, one of the first questions is which token standard to use. The two dominant standards — ERC-20 on Ethereum (and compatible EVM chains) and SPL Token on Solana — represent fundamentally different approaches to how tokens work, how much they cost, and what kind of projects and communities they attract.
This guide provides a thorough comparison across every dimension that matters: technical architecture, gas fees, speed, DeFi ecosystem, developer tooling and community culture.
The Basics: What Are These Standards?
ERC-20 (Ethereum Request for Comment 20) is a technical standard for fungible tokens on Ethereum and any EVM-compatible blockchain. Introduced in 2015, it defines a common interface — a set of functions every ERC-20 token must implement — so wallets, DEXes and smart contracts can interact with any ERC-20 token without special integration for each one.
ERC-20 tokens are deployed as independent smart contracts on Ethereum, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, Avalanche and more. Each token has its own contract address and its own logic written in Solidity.
SPL Token (Solana Program Library Token) is Solana's standard for fungible tokens. Unlike ERC-20, SPL tokens are not individual smart contracts. They are instances managed by a single shared program — the SPL Token Program — that handles all token logic centrally.
The latest version, Token-2022 (also called SPL Token Extensions), extends this with additional programmable features including transfer fees, permanent delegation, confidential transfers and non-transferable tokens.
Gas Fees: An Order of Magnitude Apart
ERC-20 on Ethereum mainnet:
- •Token deployment: $30-$200 depending on gas prices
- •Token transfer: $1-$20
- •DEX swap (Uniswap): $5-$50
- •Adding liquidity: $20-$100
ERC-20 on EVM L2s (Base, Arbitrum, Polygon):
- •Token deployment: $0.10-$5
- •Token transfer: $0.001-$0.10
- •DEX swap: $0.01-$0.50
SPL Token on Solana:
- •Token deployment (mint creation): ~$0.002
- •Creating an Associated Token Account: ~$0.002
- •Token transfer: ~$0.00025
- •DEX swap (Raydium/Jupiter): ~$0.0005-$0.005
The difference is stark. Deploying an ERC-20 token on Ethereum mainnet can cost hundreds of dollars. Deploying an SPL token on Solana costs a fraction of a cent. For retail-focused tokens where buyers invest $10-$50, even $1 in gas creates significant friction.
Transaction Speed
Ethereum mainnet: 12-second block times. Transactions take 1-5 minutes for high confidence. During congested periods, confirmation times can extend further.
EVM L2s: 1-2 second block times on Optimism, Base, Arbitrum. Near-instant finality for most transactions.
Solana: 400 millisecond slot times. Transactions typically confirm in under 1 second. This near-instant finality is one of Solana's most significant advantages for the real-time trading experience that memecoins and DeFi require.
Token Architecture: Accounts vs Contracts
ERC-20 architecture: Each token is an independent smart contract with its own address. The contract stores a mapping of wallet addresses to balances. Wallet apps query each contract separately for balances.
SPL Token architecture: There is one global SPL Token Program on Solana. Your token is a mint account managed by this program. Every holder's balance is stored in a separate Associated Token Account (ATA) linked to both their wallet and the token mint.
Practical implications:
- •Before receiving an SPL token, your wallet must have a token account created on-chain (~$0.002 in SOL rent)
- •When someone sends you an SPL token for the first time, your wallet automatically creates your token account, funded by the sender
- •For airdrops, you need to either pre-create token accounts for recipients or include SOL for account creation in each airdrop transaction
DeFi Ecosystem Comparison
Ethereum DeFi:
- •Oldest and most liquid DeFi ecosystem by total value locked
- •Uniswap, Aave, Compound, MakerDAO, Curve — all originated on Ethereum
- •Institutional capital and serious DeFi protocols predominantly use Ethereum
- •Most mature, most audited and most trusted for large capital amounts
- •ERC-20 tokens can access the broadest range of DeFi integrations
Solana DeFi:
- •Growing rapidly. Jupiter, Raydium, Orca, Marinade, Kamino are now major protocols
- •Jupiter has emerged as one of the best DEX aggregators in all of crypto
- •DeFi TVL on Solana grew dramatically in 2024 and continues growing
- •Better suited for high-frequency applications where speed and low cost matter
- •For a new community token, Solana's DeFi ecosystem is more than sufficient
Developer Tooling
ERC-20 development:
- •Mature ecosystem with Hardhat, Foundry as development frameworks
- •Solidity has the largest developer community and most educational resources
- •OpenZeppelin provides audited, battle-tested base implementations
- •Remix IDE allows browser-based contract deployment for simple tokens
SPL Token development:
- •Anchor framework has significantly improved Solana development experience
- •Rust-based development has a steeper learning curve than Solidity
- •@solana/web3.js and @solana/spl-token npm packages handle most token operations in JavaScript/TypeScript — no Rust required for basic token deployment
- •Metaplex provides standardised token metadata (name, symbol, logo) stored on-chain
For deploying a token without writing code, TheCoinLab abstracts all of this away for both standards.
Wallet and User Experience
ERC-20: MetaMask is the dominant wallet with hundreds of millions of users. WalletConnect supports hundreds of EVM wallets. Hardware wallet support (Ledger, Trezor) is excellent.
SPL Token: Phantom Wallet has become one of the most polished crypto wallets in the industry, with 10M+ users. Phantom auto-detects SPL tokens without manual imports. Mobile experience on Solana wallets is generally better than EVM equivalents.
Token Extensions (SPL Token 2022)
One underappreciated advantage of modern Solana tokens is Token-2022 extensions — native features that do not require custom smart contract code:
- •Transfer fees — similar to ERC-20 taxes but enforced at the protocol level
- •Confidential transfers — encrypted transfer amounts using zero-knowledge proofs
- •Non-transferable tokens — tokens that can be minted but never transferred (soulbound tokens)
- •Permanent delegate — an address that can always transfer or burn tokens
- •Interest-bearing tokens — tokens that automatically accrue interest over time
ERC-20 can implement similar features but requires custom smart contract code and auditing. SPL Token 2022 provides them as native, audited protocol-level features.
Which Should You Choose?
| Project Type | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Memecoin or viral community token | SPL Token on Solana |
| DeFi protocol with large TVL | ERC-20 on Ethereum |
| Community token, lower budget | BEP-20 on BNB Chain |
| Gaming token, high transaction volume | SPL on Solana |
| Institutional or DAO governance | ERC-20 on Ethereum |
| First token, unsure | SPL on Solana |
The Honest Answer for 2025
If you are launching a community or meme token and are not already embedded in the Ethereum ecosystem, start on Solana. The fees are negligible, the community is huge, the tools are excellent, and the trading culture perfectly matches the viral, retail-driven launches that have generated the most successful community tokens of the past two years.
If you are building a serious DeFi product that needs protocol-level integrations and institutional liquidity, deploy ERC-20 on Ethereum. The liquidity depth, developer tooling and institutional trust are unmatched.
TheCoinLab supports both standards with equal depth — SPL Token 2022 on Solana and ERC-20/BEP-20 on all EVM chains — from the same interface.