15 Best Decentralized Applications (DApps) in 2023

Decentralized applications, or dApps, have become increasingly popular in recent years, driven by the desire for more secure, transparent applications that serve different verticals, including DeFi, gaming and entertainment, social, marketplaces, and more.

These DApps run on blockchain technology, which allows them to operate in a decentralized and trustless manner without the need for intermediaries or centralized control. DApps are designed to offer a wide range of benefits, from enhanced privacy and security to lower fees and faster transactions.

When deciding on which ones to use, you should consider a few factors. First, you should look for dApps that have a strong community and development team, as these are often indicative of a well-maintained and secure platform. Additionally, look for those that have a clear use case and offer real value to their users. Finally, you should be mindful of the potential risks associated with using dApps, such as smart contract vulnerabilities and scams, and take steps to mitigate these risks.

In this article, we’ll be exploring the top 15 dApps in the finance, gaming, and social media categories. We will also discuss why people use them, what to look for when deciding on which ones to use, and how to ensure that they are secure.

Defi

Uniswap V3

Uniswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Ethereum blockchain, which allows users to trade cryptocurrencies without an intermediary. The DEX uses an automated market maker (AMM) system, which relies on a mathematical algorithm to determine the price of assets. One of the main advantages of Uniswap is its ease of use, as anyone with an Ethereum wallet can access the platform and start trading. Additionally, Uniswap has a large user base and an active development community, which has contributed to its popularity and reliability.

Pros:

• No need for an intermediary, which reduces fees and increases the speed of transactions.
• Offers a wide range of tokens for trading, including newer and smaller projects.
• Open and transparent smart contracts make it easier to audit and verify the platform’s security.

Cons:

• Vulnerable to front-running attacks and other forms of market manipulation.
• Lack of advanced trading features, such as limit orders and margin trading, commonly found on centralized exchanges.

PancakeSwap

Built on the Binance Smart Chain, PancakeSwap offers lower fees and faster transaction speeds compared to Ethereum-based DEXs. PancakeSwap uses an AMM system similar to Uniswap but also offers yield farming, staking, and liquidity provision features. 

PancakeSwap offers low fees and high yields. It has more than $438 billion in total trading volume and over $2.5 billion in total liquidity locked. However, PancakeSwap is still relatively new and untested, and its reliance on the Binance Smart Chain means that it is subject to centralization risks.

Pros:

• Lower fees and faster transaction speeds compared to Ethereum-based DEXs.
• Offers yield farming, staking, and liquidity provision features, which can increase returns for users.
• Strong community support and active development, which helps to improve the platform’s reliability and functionality.

Cons:

• Centralization risks due to reliance on the Binance Smart Chain, which is controlled by a single entity.
• Limited range of tokens available for trading compared to Uniswap.
• High level of competition from other Binance Smart Chain-based DEXs.

Yearn Finance

Yearn Finance is a decentralized yield aggregator that enables users to earn the highest possible yield on their cryptocurrency holdings. It achieves this by automatically moving funds between different liquidity pools and yield farming strategies based on real-time market data. 

One of its main advantages is its automation and optimization of yield farming strategies, which can help users maximize their returns. However, Yearn Finance is a complex system that requires a certain level of technical expertise to use, and its smart contract code is not fully audited, which poses security risks.

Pros:

• Automated optimization of yield farming strategies, which can help users maximize their returns.
• User-friendly interface and dashboard, which make it easier for users to manage their investments.
• Large and active community, which contributes to the platform’s development and security.

Cons:

• Requires a certain level of technical expertise to use effectively.
• Smart contract code is not fully audited, which poses security risks.
• Users could incur high gas fees during times of Ethereum network congestion.

Compound

A decentralized lending and borrowing platform built on the Ethereum blockchain, Compound allows users to earn interest on their cryptocurrency holdings or borrow cryptocurrency by using their existing holdings as collateral. 

Its high-interest rates and low fees make it an attractive option for users looking to earn passive income or obtain loans. However, Compound is vulnerable to smart contract exploits and lacks the same level of regulatory oversight and protection as traditional lending institutions.

Pros:

• High-interest rates and low fees compared to traditional lending institutions.
• Easy-to-use platform with a user-friendly interface.
• Automatic liquidation feature, which helps to reduce counterparty risk.

Cons:

• Vulnerable to smart contract exploits and hacks, which can result in loss of funds.
• Lack of regulatory oversight and protection compared to traditional lending institutions.
• Limited range of assets available for lending and borrowing.

Maker Protocol

The Maker Protocol is an Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that allows users to borrow a stablecoin called DAI by using cryptocurrency as collateral. It is governed by the MakerDAO community through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

The Maker Protocol works by allowing users to deposit cryptocurrencies such as Ether into a smart contract called a Collateralized Debt Position, which then generates DAI, a stablecoin pegged to the value of the US dollar. Users can then use this DAI to buy other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies.

The value of the collateral is continually monitored by the protocol, and if the value falls below a certain threshold, the Collateralized Debt Position is automatically liquidated to protect the system from losses.

Pros:

• Stability and predictability of DAI’s value, which is pegged to the US dollar.
• Decentralized governance system, which allows users to vote on changes to the platform.
• Provides a way to obtain loans without the need for a traditional credit check.

Cons:

• Vulnerable to smart contract vulnerabilities and liquidity risks, which can result in loss of funds.
• Complex system that requires a certain level of technical expertise to use effectively.
• Limited range of assets available for borrowing compared to centralized lending platforms.

Gaming

Splinterlands

One of the first and most successful web3 games, Splinterlands is a blockchain-based trading card game that allows players to collect, trade, and battle with digital monsters.

The game is built on the Hive blockchain and utilizes non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to represent the cards, which can be traded on decentralized third-party marketplaces. Splinterlands has a strong and active community and offers several gameplay modes and tournaments.

Pros:

• Gameplay that combines elements of strategy and collectible card games.
• Strong and active community that is passionate about the game.
• NFTs can be bought and sold on secondary markets, potentially allowing players to earn real money from playing.
  

Cons:

• Requires upfront purchase of NFTs.
• Some players may find the gameplay repetitive over time.

Sorare

Sorare is a blockchain-based fantasy soccer game that allows players to collect, trade, and manage digital player cards. The game is built on the Ethereum blockchain and utilizes non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to represent the player cards. Each card is unique and has its own set of statistics and abilities, which can be used to compete in tournaments and leagues. 

Sorare has partnerships with several major soccer leagues, including the French Ligue 1 and the Premier League. Due to the French National Gambling Authority’s concerns about gambling addiction, child protection, and money laundering on the platform, the company decided to expand free excess.

Pros:

• Unique and engaging gameplay that combines elements of strategy and collectible card games with real-world sports.
• Strong partnerships with major soccer leagues help to ensure the long-term viability of the game.
• NFTs can be bought and sold on secondary markets, potentially allowing players to earn real money from playing.
  

Cons:

• High gas fees on the Ethereum network can make playing the games expensive.
• Prices of NFT may fluctuate wildly.

Alien Worlds

Alien Worlds is a sci-fi fantasy blockchain-based game that allows players to earn cryptocurrency by participating in a virtual mining and resource management system. It’s built on the Wax blockchain and supports Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. The game utilizes NFTs to represent in-game assets such as land, tools, items, weapons, and avatars. Players can embark on missions to earn the in-game currency, Trilium, which can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies.

Pros:

• Gameplay that combines elements of resource management and NFTs.
• Players can potentially earn cryptocurrency by playing the game.

Cons:

• Requires prior web3 knowledge to get started with the game and to manage the NFTs.
• Some players may find the gameplay repetitive over time.

Guild of Guardians

Guild of Guardians (GOG) is a fantasy-themed MMORPG that combines elements of strategy, dungeon-crawling, and NFTs. Players can create and manage their own guilds, recruit heroes, and battle other players in real time. The game is built on the Ethereum blockchain and utilizes the GOG token as its native currency.

Slated for a full mainnet release in Q2 this year, GOG already has over 230,000 players on the waitlist. Players are not required to make an upfront investment in NFTs before playing the game but will earn the game’s native currency as they progress through the game.

Pros:

• Engaging gameplay that combines elements of strategy, dungeon-crawling, and NFTs.
• Strong community support and active development.
• GOG tokens can be used to earn rewards and participate in governance.

Con:

• The game may experience bugs or technical issues in its early stages.

Illuvium

Illuvium is a blockchain-based RPG game that allows players to collect, battle, and trade digital creatures known as Illuvials. The game uses non-fungible tokens to represent the Illuvials, each with unique characteristics, abilities, and elemental alignments. 

Players can capture, train and evolve their Illuvials and participate in battles to earn rewards and increase their rankings. The game is built on the Ethereum blockchain and uses its own native token, called ILV, which is used for in-game transactions and governance.

Pros:

• Illuvials are represented as NFTs, allowing players to truly own their digital assets and potentially earn real money from trading.
• The game has a strong community of players and developers, which helps to ensure its long-term viability.

Cons:

• The game is still in its early stages and may experience bugs or technical issues.
• The learning curve for new players can be steep, with many mechanics to understand and master.

Social

Galxe

Galxe is a decentralized data network that allows developers and brands to build products and engage with their web3 communities. The platform helps web3 developers leverage credential data to build better products and communities while data curators contribute to the credential data network and earn income once the data is utilized.

Galxe provides a platform for individuals to build digital credentials that can be used by applications to calculate credit scores, find target audiences, and reward community contributors. It’s built on the Ethereum blockchain, which ensures security and decentralization.

Pros:

• Galxe’s infrastructure supports curating credentials through multiple data sources.
• On-chain and off-chain communities can curate and contribute credentials.
• Curators are rewarded when credentials are used in Galxe’s Application Modules, Credential Oracle Engine, and Credential API.

Cons:

• Requires a high level of web3 knowledge in order to use its tools effectively.

Lenster

Lenster is a social media web application built on Lens Protocol that is composable, decentralized, and permissionless. It is the first full-featured web3 social experience to leverage Lens Protocol. Its layout and execution are similar to Twitter, and it provides support for NFTs.

The open-source social media app is built on the Polygon network. Users can log in with just a username and wallet address. They can create and comment on a post, follow other user profiles, collect publications, and more.

Pros:

• Users don’t have to provide personal data.
• User-friendly interface.

Cons:

• Users need to pay gas for everything.
• Posts are not moderated, and all content is public, which could give rise to offensive content.
• Content cannot be removed from the app, even from admins.

Hooked Protocol

Hooked Protocol is a cryptocurrency project that aims to onboard new users into the web3 movement through a gamified learning experience that provides incentives for crypto adoption. By incorporating classic web3 mechanics and interactive learning, Hooked hopes to attract a largely untapped audience to the world of cryptocurrency.

In addition to incentivized learning, Hooked is developing various onboarding solutions to help businesses and the community transition into web3. Its user-friendly decentralized applications infrastructure is designed to build and secure web3 digital assets. It has created Wild Cash, a Learn and Earn dApp to help new users learn about the web in a fun way.

Hooked Protocol is powered by a dual-token mechanism consisting of HOOK and HGT, with an advanced tokenomics structure that facilitates common use case functions by its community.

Pros:

• Users can learn about web3 through games and videos.
• Earn tokens while answering quizzes.
• Users get rewarded for sharing their web3 social graph through Wild Cash with others.

Cons:

• Marketing is mainly targeted at users in Asia.

Cyberconnect

CyberConnect provides a composable social graph for developers to deliver richer social features and restore data ownership to users. The social graph protocol represents over 12 million connections across more than 650,000 addresses that helps dApps build personalized social experiences and bootstrap network effects.

It completed its $15 million Series A round in May 2022. Cyberconnect supports multiple blockchains for app development and allows dApps to access and use social graph data provided by users.

Pros:

• Any Web3 application that has the follow function can easily integrate CyberConnect.
• Developers can plug the social graph module into their applications with simple codes.
• Users will own their social graph on web3.

Cons:

• For developers only.
• Non-web3-natives will find it too complex to understand.

DSCVR

DSCVR is a decentralized social content platform that runs on the Internet Computer blockchain. It allows users to control both the content and the platform itself. Users earn governance rights via tokens, with two types of tokens representing 50% of the voting rights: Social tokens and Service tokens. 

These tokens allow users to make product decisions, guide the direction of the platform, and earn governance rights and tokens by receiving upvotes on posts, comments, and portals they manage and create. The platform recently integrated Bitcoin for airdrops and tipping.

Pros:

• Reddit-like user interface that feels familiar.
• Users can earn tokens via upvotes.
• Bitcoin airdrops and tipping.

Cons:

• It’s targeted at the crypto community.
• Requires some prior web3 knowledge.

DApp Spreadsheet

DApp	Unique Active Wallets/Monthly Active Users/Trading Volume (30 days)	Pros	Cons
Uniswap	659.54k UAW	– No need for an intermediary, which reduces fees and increases the speed of transactions. – Offers a wide range of tokens for trading, including newer and smaller projects. – Open and transparent smart contracts, which make it easier to audit and verify the security of the platform.	– Vulnerable to front-running attacks and other forms of market manipulation. – Lack of advanced trading features, such as limit orders and margin trading, that are commonly found on centralized exchanges.
PancakeSwap	1.44m UAW	– Lower fees and faster transaction speeds compared to Ethereum-based DEXs. – Offers yield farming, staking, and liquidity provision features, which can increase returns for users. – Strong community support and active development, which helps to improve the platform’s reliability and functionality.	– Centralization risks due to reliance on the Binance Smart Chain, which is controlled by a single entity. – Limited range of tokens available for trading compared to Uniswap. – High level of competition from other Binance Smart Chain-based DEXs.
Yearn Finance	$10.15M TVL	– Automated optimization of yield farming strategies, which can help users maximize their returns. – User-friendly interface and dashboard, which make it easier for users to manage their investments. – Large and active community which contributes to the platform’s development and security.	– Requires a certain level of technical expertise to use effectively. – Smart contract code is not fully audited, which poses security risks. – Users could incur high gas fees during times of Ethereum network congestion.
Compound	$623.02M TVL	– High-interest rates and low fees compared to traditional lending institutions. – Easy-to-use platform with a user-friendly interface. – Automatic liquidation feature, which helps to reduce counterparty risk.	– Vulnerable to smart contract exploits and hacks, which can result in loss of funds. – Lack of regulatory oversight and protection compared to traditional lending institutions. – Limited range of assets available for lending and borrowing.
Maker Protocol	$8.35B TV:	– Stability and predictability of DAI’s value, which is pegged to the US dollar. – Decentralized governance system, which allows users to vote on changes to the platform. – Provides a way to obtain loans without the need for a traditional credit check.	– Vulnerable to smart contract vulnerabilities and liquidity risks, which can result in loss of funds. – Complex system that requires a certain level of technical expertise to use effectively. – Limited range of assets available for borrowing compared to centralized lending platforms.
Splinterlands	321.7k UAW	– Gameplay that combines elements of strategy and collectible card games. – Strong and active community that is passionate about the game. – NFTs can be bought and sold on secondary markets, potentially allowing players to earn real money from playing.	– Requires upfront purchase of NFTs. – Some players may find the gameplay repetitive over time.
Sorare	250k MAU	– Unique and engaging gameplay that combines elements of strategy and collectible card games with real-world sports. – Strong partnerships with major soccer leagues, which helps to ensure the long-term viability of the game. – NFTs can be bought and sold on secondary markets, potentially allowing players to earn real money from playing.	– High gas fees on the Ethereum network can make playing the games expensive. – Prices of NFT may fluctuate wildly.
Alien Worlds	538.42k	– Unique gameplay that combines elements of resource management and NFTs. – Players can potentially earn cryptocurrency by playing the game.	– Requires prior web3 knowledge to get started with the game and to manage the NFTs. – Some players may find the gameplay repetitive over time
Guild of Guardians	n/a	– Engaging gameplay that combines elements of strategy, dungeon-crawling, and NFTs. – Strong community support and active development. – GOG token can be used to earn rewards and participate in governance.	– The game may experience bugs or technical issues in its early stages.
Illuvium	716 UAW	– Illuvials are represented as NFTs, allowing players to truly own their digital assets and potentially earn real money from trading. – The game has a strong community of players and developers, which helps to ensure its long-term viability.	– The game is still in its early stages and may experience bugs or technical issues. – The learning curve for new players can be steep, with many mechanics to understand and master.
Galxe	462.64k UAW	– Galxe’s infrastructure supports curating credentials through multiple data sources. – On-chain and off-chain communities can curate and contribute credentials. – Curators are rewarded when credentials are used in Galxe’s Application Modules, Credential Oracle Engine, and Credential API.	– Requires a high level of web3 knowledge in order to use its tools effectively.
Lenster	112.77k total profiles minted	– Users don’t have to provide personal data. – User-friendly interface.	– Users need to pay gas fees for the function. – Posts are not moderated, and all content is public, which could give rise to offensive content. – Content cannot be removed from the app, even from admins.
Hooked Protocol	373.13k UAW	– Users can learn about web3 through games and videos. – Earn tokens while answering quizzes. – Users get rewarded for sharing their web3 social graph through Wild Cash with others.	– Marketing is mainly targeted at users in Asia.
Cyberconnect	303.86k UAW	– Any web3 application that has follow function can easily integrate CyberConnect. – Developers can plug the social graph module into their applications with simple codes. – Users will own their social graph on web3.	– For developers only. – Non-web3-natives will find it too complex to understand.
DSCVR	n/a	– Reddit-like user interface that feels familiar. – Users can earn tokens via upvotes. – Bitcoin airdrops and tipping.	– It’s targeted mainly at the crypto community. – Requires some prior web3 knowledge.

FAQ

People use dApps because they provide a decentralized, transparent, and secure way to access various services, such as finance, gaming, social media, and more. They offer users more control over their data and assets and can often operate without the need for intermediaries, such as banks or social media platforms.

Consider factors such as the project’s team, their track record, the dApp’s security features, user reviews, and the overall utility and functionality of the dApp. It’s also essential to ensure that the dApp aligns with your personal values and that you understand its underlying technology and use cases.

Do your research, review the dApp’s code and security audits, and ensure that the project has a strong track record of security and user protection. It’s also essential to use secure wallets and follow best practices for managing your private keys and other sensitive information.

The ease of use for dApps can vary depending on the specific project and the user’s technical proficiency. Some dApps may have a more user-friendly interface, while others may require more technical expertise. However, as the industry continues to grow, we can expect to see more user-friendly dApps emerge.

To use a dApp, you typically need a cryptocurrency wallet that supports the network the dApp runs on. You can then interact with the dApp by sending transactions to its smart contract or using its user interface.

Conclusion

It’s clear that the dApp space has continued to grow and evolve in 2023, with exciting developments and innovations emerging from various projects. From decentralized exchanges and lending platforms to blockchain-based gaming and social media applications, there is a wide variety of dApps to explore.

Some of the top performers in the space include Uniswap, Aave, and MakerDAO for DeFi, Splinterlands and Sorare for gaming, and Lenster and DSCVR for social media. These projects have demonstrated their ability to attract users, deliver valuable products, and pave the way for the continued growth of the decentralized ecosystem. As more people become aware of the benefits of decentralized systems, we can expect to see continued innovation and adoption of these exciting technologies.