In 2021, the market for non-fungible tokens (NFT) exploded, with some cryptocurrencies and other digital collectibles selling in the millions.
In this NFT marketplace list, learn about the top NFT marketplaces to buy, sell, and collect NFT.
What is an NFT marketplace?
Although they may appear to be self-explanatory, NFT marketplaces are more complex than they appear. Therefore, to understand why some are better than others, we must first talk about how they work.
At first glance, NFT platforms are nothing more than a place where you can find different types of non-fungible tokens and buy whatever you want.
On the other hand, if you are a seller (for example, a digital creator who has a collection of 3D art, or a musician with a new album), you could use the best NFT marketplace for artists to advertise and sell your creations.
This, in fact, is true. Buying, selling and auctioning are the main objectives of an NFT platform. However, most of them have another important goal; The creation of NFT collectibles.
This means that you do not need to visit third-party platforms to create your NFT, and then import it to one of the best NFT marketplaces to sell. With the best NFT marketplace for artists, all you need is the digital art file of your creation: a photo, GIF, drawing, etc., and voila!
Obviously, this is super important when it comes to simplicity. The best NFT marketplace with this functionality allows everyone to create and sell their own digital art projects. That is, you do not need any prior knowledge on the subject, nor any technical competence with the blockchain technology behind the NFTs.
Furthermore, when talking about the best NFT marketplace to sell, security is another term that comes to mind when we think of the fact that all processes related to NFTs can be performed on a single platform. Not having to juggle multiple platforms is a huge security win, and allows your cryptocurrencies to remain intact within your digital wallet.
That said, what is the best NFT marketplace?
What makes the best NFT marketplace?
Now that we will talk about the best NFT marketplaces, what do you think are the main points to keep in mind?
Obviously, when choosing the top NFT art marketplace, you should consider security and reliability. You probably don't want to create NFTs in a marketplace with a somewhat shady reputation, right?
Next, you should pay attention to whether the best NFT marketplaces for beginners allow you to create your NFTs on it, or if it only offers the import option. This is an important point to keep in mind, especially if you are new to the world of NFTs, and you plan to create some.
Another factor to consider is royalties. Most NFT top marketplace will have a royalty system. This means that when someone resells your NFT, you will receive a certain percentage of the sale, even if you are no longer the seller. The percentage itself usually varies: some of the best NFT marketplace to sell offer 10%, others up to 50%. Without a doubt, an important point to keep in mind!
Finally, there is the variety of NFTs and the general reputation of the market itself. A wide variety of types of NFTs will allow you to have a wide range of options, and perhaps find a very specific NFT token that you might like.
As for fame, obviously, the more well-known an NFT market is, the more information you can find about it, and the more trustworthy it will seem.
Without further ado, what are the most popular NFT marketplaces?
OpenSea
If there's an NFT marketplace you've heard of, it's very likely OpenSea. Without a doubt, OpenSea is the most popular NFT marketplace in the entire market.
OpenSea is a New York-based non-fungible token market founded in 2017. As one of the most used NFT marketplace, users can buy and sell collectibles, art, music, domain names, trading cards, virtual worlds, among other things.
Because OpenSea is the top NFT marketplace, the website is simple and easy to navigate. Users can access all the NFTs on the market, the statistics of the main NFTs on the platform, and the help center for guidance. Beginners will find it easy to buy and sell NFT on OpenSea. Users also enjoy nearly gas-free listings after posting their first NFT.
Being the best NFT marketplace to sell, NFT creators on OpenSea have the advantage of earning royalties every time a buyer purchases their item. You can set a license fee of up to ten percent. Additionally, users can add items from other NFT markets such as Rarible and Mintable.
OpenSea users can use Chainlist to add other networks besides Ethereum to their wallets. Some of the best performing non-fungible tokens in this market at the time of this writing were CryptoPunks, Sorare, and Ethlings.
Mintable
Mintable is another top NFT marketplace where you can mint your memes, audio or video files into NFTs. The platform is built on the blocks of the Ethereum and Zilliqa blockchains, and you need a MetaMask wallet to sign up for the platform. Each time you buy an NFT, Mintable rewards you with a MINT token.
Like other top NFT art marketplace, Mintable takes a share of every item sold. But this cut is not a flat rate. Instead, Mintable charges 2.5%, 5%, and 10% for regular, non-network, and printable NFTs, respectively.
Also, on Mintable, all payments are made in ETH, but you can also buy NFTs using your credit card.
Mintable also offers royalties each time an NFT you previously owned is resold, but it doesn't have a fixed percentage. Instead, users can toggle on the sliding scale and decide how much or how little royalties they want for all future sales.
Rarible
Founded in 2020, Los Angeles-based Rarible is the biggest NFT marketplace that classifies its NFTs into Art, Photography, Music, Domains, DeFi, Games, and Metaverse. This is the best NFT marketplace to sell, buy, and create non-fungible tokens.
Because it is the largest NFT marketplace, the Rarible website is quite crowded. As such, it may take you a minute to figure out how to get started.
On the home page, you can also see the best-selling NFTs and the most popular collections. This gives visitors an idea of what is happening in the market. Rarible is also showing various celebrity NFTs. The license fee is 10%.
The platform offers verified badges to authentic and dedicated collectors and creators. Users must complete a form to be verified. Plus, you can view and manage your rare collectibles on OpenSea.
You can also list NFT in OpenSea in RARI. This is the rare governance token. Active users who influence the market decision-making process are rewarded in RARI. Ultimately, Rarible aims to evolve into a fully decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) where all the decisions are made by users.
SuperRare
SuperRare, a Delaware-based NFT platform founded in 2018 for rare digital artwork, also made it to our NFT marketplace list. Artists present their work on this platform by invitation only, as SuperRare only wants to display high-quality work. Plus, you want a proportionate number of active artists and collectors.
SuperRare uses a simple design that allows users to easily find what they are looking for. The platform also promotes new art publications to support its artists.
SuperRare has built-in royalties for its artists on secondary sales. The primary and secondary sales commissions for creators are 85% and 10%, respectively. Buyers pay a 3% fee on all purchases.
MakersPlace
MakersPlace is a fine art NFT marketplace based in San Francisco and founded in 2018. If you are searching for the best NFT marketplace for artists, MakersPlace is right for you as it is designed for digital creators such as artists, writers, and photographers.
This platform has made it to our NFT marketplace list because it gathers talented creators who allow them to sell their creations.
The platform offers escrow services and the ability to accept credit card payments for secondary sales. Also, market like Nifty Gateway is releasing new illustrations through Drops. MakersPlace adds creators through invitations and charges a 15% fee on all ETH purchases. The license fee is 10%.
Binance NFT
Binance is a reputable and world-leading cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2017. Interestingly, this crypto exchange entered the NFT sector on 24 June 2021.
Although relatively new, has become the most popular NFT marketplace.
Binance NFT marketplace already has a lot to offer to all of its users. One of the most notable features of the market is the fact that you will be able to trade with the non-fungible tokens BEP-721 and BEP-1155, it is currently the only place to do it!
With Binance being so highly respected in the industry, the reputation factor plays a big role here. Binance has quickly become the best NFT marketplace due to a large number of users it has attracted and accumulated in a short period of time.
How has Binance been able to do it? Well, among other things, users share their accounts with the exchange part of the platform. This means that if you are a registered user on the Binance exchange, you can use the same account to buy NFT. How practical!
Aside from a wide selection of different NFTs and even Mystery Boxes, another great aspect worth mentioning regarding Binance's NFT market is the fact that it is a centralized project. This means that the market is legitimate, and the number of potential malicious users is greatly minimized.
NBA Top Shot
NBA Top Shot is an exclusive NFT marketplace. Dapper Labs Inc. is the company behind this popular NFT marketplace.
The NBA Top Shot allows sports fans to buy, sell, and trade NFTs of NBA video highlights, instead of static images of players. The NBA Top Shot cards contain video clips from past games. Each clip is a unique token.
This is exclusive NFT marketplace is designed to be intuitive and accessible for sports fans and collectors who are not necessarily familiar with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. As of early February 2021, NBA Top Shot had sales of $43 million.
The sandbox
The Sandbox NFT marketplace was founded in 2021 by Sebastian Borget and Arthur Madrid and allows you to create, buy and sell assets in the Decentraland meta-universe using LAND tokens.
The first sale of territories in the LAND space took place at the end of 2019, and in February of this year, the developers sold land plots for the second time.
Shortly after the second pre-sale, 6,192 blocks of virtual space were sold for a total of 800 ETH or more than $200,000.
Among the buyers are both ordinary gamers and large gaming companies - CryptoKitties, My Crypto Heroes, Old Skull Games, as well as Dapp.com, a website dedicated to ranking and analyzing decentralized applications.
Which art marketplace is best for You?
Now that you know what is the most popular NFT marketplaces, choosing from a multitude of NFT marketplaces can be challenging, especially when there is no right answer as to where you should sign up.
However, the first step to choosing the best free NFT marketplaces is to identify your use case – what are you interested in and what exactly are you looking for?
For example, if you are an expert artist who wants to be part of a unique NFT market, SuperRare will do wonders for you.
If you don't have a specific use case, the most popular NFT marketplaces, has a low transaction fee, and allowing you to mint NFTs for free would be fine. OpenSea, Rarible and Mintable are great choices for the average NFT creator.