Is Etherscan or Lido better?

Neither clearly leads. Etherscan starts at Free and Lido at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Etherscan or Lido?

Etherscan starts at Free and Lido at Free.

Does Etherscan or Lido run on more platforms?

Etherscan runs on Web, Api. Lido runs on Web.

Can I use Etherscan for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Etherscan best used for?

Etherscan is most often used for looking up ethereum transactions, addresses and token transfers in a block explorer, reading and verifying deployed smart contract source code, pulling on-chain data into an application through the explorer api. Of those, looking up ethereum transactions, addresses and token transfers in a block explorer and reading and verifying deployed smart contract source code are not what Lido is typically brought in for.

What can Etherscan do that Lido cannot?

Etherscan covers Block Explorer, Transaction Tracking, Token Tracker, Contract Verification. Lido covers Liquid Staking, stETH Token, No Minimum, DeFi Composable. Both handle Web support.

Crypto · head to head

Etherscan vs Lido

Etherscan

Crypto

The Ethereum blockchain explorer

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Lido

Crypto

Liquid staking for Ethereum and beyond

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Etherscan the free API plan is capped at 3 calls per second and 100,000 calls per day; Lido no traditional pricing plans published
They diverge on capability: Etherscan covers Block Explorer, Lido covers Liquid Staking.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Etherscan and Lido actually diverge.

Attributes where Etherscan and Lido differ
Attribute	Etherscan	Lido
Pricing model	freemium	free
Platforms	Web, Api	Web
Founded	2015	2020

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Crypto).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Etherscan

Block Explorer
Transaction Tracking
Token Tracker
Contract Verification
Gas Tracker
Ethereum mainnet
Testnets
Api support

Only in Lido

Liquid Staking
stETH Token
No Minimum
DeFi Composable
LDO Token
Multi-chain

Both cover

Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Etherscan

Looking up Ethereum transactions, addresses and token transfers in a block explorernot Lido
Reading and verifying deployed smart contract source codenot Lido
Pulling on-chain data into an application through the explorer APInot Lido

Lido

Liquid staking of ETH and other proof of stake tokensnot Etherscan

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Etherscan

The free API plan is capped at 3 calls per second and 100,000 calls per day
The free plan requires attribution and covers only selected chains rather than all supported chains
API Pro endpoints are withheld below the Standard plan at $199 per month
The $49 per month Lite plan raises the rate limit to only 5 calls per second and keeps the same 100,000 calls per day as the free tier
Rate limits top out at 30 calls per second even on the $899 per month Pro Plus plan
The Address Metadata endpoint requires Pro Plus at $899 per month and is limited to one app license
Metadata CSV export and dedicated support are only in Metadata Enterprise, which is quoted by contact with no published price
The 10% and 15% discounts apply only to quarterly and yearly prepayment

Lido

No traditional pricing plans published
APR and APY rates displayed instead of subscription fees
Liquid staking protocol with variable yield rates

Pricing, plan by plan

Etherscan

Free

FreeFree
- 3 calls per second rate limit
- Up to 100,000 API calls per day
- Selected chains with 90% coverage
Lite$49/month
- 5 calls per second rate limit
- Up to 100,000 API calls per day
- All supported chains with community endpoints
Standard$199/month
- 10 calls per second rate limit
- Up to 200,000 API calls per day
- API Pro endpoints access
Advanced$299/month
- 20 calls per second rate limit
- Up to 500,000 API calls per day

Lido

Free

FreeFree
- Liquid staking
- stETH token
- DeFi integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Etherscan if

You need block explorer.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want transaction tracking.

Etherscan review

Choose Lido if

You need liquid staking.
You want to start without paying.
You also want steth token.

Lido review

Questions people ask

Is Etherscan or Lido better?: Neither clearly leads. Etherscan starts at Free and Lido at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Etherscan or Lido?: Etherscan starts at Free and Lido at Free.
Does Etherscan or Lido run on more platforms?: Etherscan runs on Web, Api. Lido runs on Web.
Can I use Etherscan for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Etherscan best used for?: Etherscan is most often used for looking up ethereum transactions, addresses and token transfers in a block explorer, reading and verifying deployed smart contract source code, pulling on-chain data into an application through the explorer api. Of those, looking up ethereum transactions, addresses and token transfers in a block explorer and reading and verifying deployed smart contract source code are not what Lido is typically brought in for.
What can Etherscan do that Lido cannot?: Etherscan covers Block Explorer, Transaction Tracking, Token Tracker, Contract Verification. Lido covers Liquid Staking, stETH Token, No Minimum, DeFi Composable. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Etherscan: Is Etherscan API free to use?

Etherscan offers a free plan with a 3 calls per second rate limit and up to 100,000 API calls per day. The free tier provides access to selected chains with 90% coverage and requires attribution. Additional premium plans start at $49 per month.

Source

Lido: Does Lido have a cost?

Lido is a liquid staking protocol without traditional pricing. Users deposit ETH to receive stETH tokens. The protocol generates yields reported as APR/APY rates rather than subscription fees.

Source

Etherscan: What are Etherscan's rate limits?

Etherscan provides different rate limits based on plan: Free plan allows 3 calls per second, Lite allows 5 calls per second, Standard allows 10 calls per second, Advanced and Professional allow 20-30 calls per second, and Pro Plus allows 30 calls per second with up to 1,500,000 API calls per day.

Source

Lido: What are the current APR and APY rates?

According to the Lido homepage, stETH APR is 2.3%, EarnETH APY is 3.1%, and EarnUSD APY is 6.4%. These rates are subject to change.

Source

Etherscan: Can I get a refund for Etherscan API payments?

No. Etherscan explicitly states that all payments made are non-refundable. Accounts are activated within 24 hours for API Pro accounts, and auto-renewal is enabled by default through Stripe.

Source

Etherscan vs Lido

Etherscan

Lido

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Etherscan

Only in Lido

Both cover

What people use each for

Etherscan

Lido

Where each one falls short

Etherscan

Lido

Pricing, plan by plan

Etherscan

Lido

Which should you pick?

Choose Etherscan if

Choose Lido if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Etherscan

More on Lido

Keep looking

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