# Solana

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Solana and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for high throughput, a large user base and a capable chain to build on. Critics most often say it trades decentralization for speed.

## Why people recommend it

- Good chain to build on (2 comments): "you have to admit that Solana is a good chain to build on" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46678925)) "a well designed network like Ethereum or Solana" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49608168))
- High throughput and performance (3 comments): "its performance and economic model are sufficient to pay for your local café" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46182181)) "You can see yourself that Solana does 130-140M/day consistently." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48419893)) "it shows the capability is there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48418832))
- Large user base and volume (2 comments): "Solana is great because fees are so low, the wallet apps are great, there's loads of stable coins and there's a big pool of users." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46677899)) "You can see yourself that Solana does 130-140M/day consistently." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48419893))

## What people warn about

- Centralized validator set (2 comments): "Existing blockchain architectures simply cannot solve the trilemma – that includes Solana, Hyperledger, etc. They all essentially sacrifice decentralization." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49504862)) "Solana has a highly centralized validator set that will keep shrinking over time as the cost to run one out paces the rise in the SOL price." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46678717))
- Sacrifices decentralization for throughput (2 comments): "Existing blockchain architectures simply cannot solve the trilemma – that includes Solana, Hyperledger, etc. They all essentially sacrifice decentralization." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49504862)) "Solana is junk - it abandons proper consensus mechanism in favor of throughput." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45999476))
- Questioned design and sequencing choices (2 comments): "Some joker who built Solana actually thought Berkeley Packet Filter language would be better than WASM for their runtime" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46551732)) "SOL has issues with sequencing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48083127))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Monero (XMR)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/monero.md): 102 recommend
- [Ethereum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ethereum.md): 28 recommend
- [Zcash](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zcash.md): 10 recommend
- [Base](https://hackerapproved.com/p/base.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Solana", https://hackerapproved.com/p/solana/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).