Do you want to learn more about the different blockchain platforms? Here is your guide to them and a comparison between different platforms.

Blockchain platforms

Are you curious about available blockchain platforms?

There are a number of different platforms already. And as blockchain technology develops, new ones are arising. If you understand the different platforms that are available, you can better understand how to harness this technology to its full advantage.

Ready to learn more about blockchain platforms? Keep reading to learn what you need to know!

What Are Blockchain Platforms?

Simply put, a blockchain is a database. Once information is recorded, though, it can’t be changed, making blockchain unique among digital information storage options.

Bitcoin is the most well-known blockchain application, but countless other types of transactions can be made and recorded on a blockchain platform.

There are a number of different blockchain platforms available to host this information. In this guide, we’re going to go over some of the top platforms and compare each one.

1. Ethereum

This platform was founded in 2014. The founders, Vitalik Buterin, Jeffrey Wilcke, and Gavin Wood, wanted to create a competitive blockchain platform that would stand out from the competition.

Their platform is open, meaning that on it, anyone can build blockchain applications, or use them. It’s completely decentralized, just like Bitcoin (one of the best-known blockchain applications in the world).

Because Ethereum is an open-source project, many different people have contributed to its development, making it one of the more successful platforms around.

This is one of the most popular platforms, with more activity from users than most of the competitors. The languages it supports are Python, C++, and Go.

2. Hyperledger

This is another open-source project. It is deliberately collaborative – the founders wanted Hyperledger to be able to advance blockchain technology across different industries.

The collaborators on Hyperledger include people from industries such as finance, supply chains, manufacturing, and banking.

There are a number of different projects associated with this platform – you can look here for more information on them. This is another one of the most active and popular blockchain platforms.

Hyperledger offers both public and private networks and supports Python.

3. MultiChain

This platform is used to make private blockchains for organizations to use in internal communications, or to use between other organizations.

MultiChain’s founders wanted to work around issues with using blockchain technology in the financial fields. That’s why MultiChain offers so much customization and privacy. This allows businesses to use the blockchain while keeping transactions private.

MultiChain is of moderate popularity, with permissioned and private networks. It supports quite a few languages: Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, and PHP.

4. HydraChain

HydraChain was made by the Ethereum project, combined with brainbot technologies, making this a fairly unique project among blockchain platforms.

This is considered an auxiliary to Ethereum, but it is big enough to be talked about as a platform in its own right. With HydraChain, you can create scalable applications within the blockchain, and easily meet regulations.

This platform has low popularity, so far, and offers private and permissioned networks. It only supports Python.

5. Openchain

Openchain was created by Coinprism. This company is responsible for Open Assets, a colored coins wallet for Bitcoin. This web wallet allows both Bitcoin and colored coins to be stored. Now, the creators have developed their own platform.

According to the developers, Openchain is great for organizations that need to provide digital assets and keep them organized. This makes sense coming from the people behind a digital wallet.

However, the same approach used with Bitcoin can’t be used across the blockchain, hence the need for platforms like Openchain.

On this platform, every instance has a single authority to validate transactions. The founders say that this system is both more trustworthy and more efficient than the typical peer-to-peer network.

Openchain has a medium-level popularity. It offers only private networks and supports only Javascript.

6. IBM Blockchain

IBM now has its own competitor in the world of blockchain platforms. It comes along with the Bluemix service catalog.

IBM Blockchain is related to Hyperledger but has deeper security and more infrastructure for businesses.

The popularity of this network is also medium-level. It has private and permissioned networks, and supports JavaScript and Go.

7. Chain

Chain is also on the list of blockchain platforms that are said to be ideal for financial transactions.

A software product called Chain Core provides the basis for this platform. This platform has mid-level popularity, permissioned networks, and supports Ruby, JavaScript, and Node.JS.

8. Iota

This is one of the newest blockchain platforms around.

This platform uses a type of distributed, blockless ledger called Tangle as its basis. On Iota, minuscule payments can be made without paying fees.

Since it’s so new, the popularity of Iota remains low. It will offer public and permissioned networks and supports JavaScript, C, and Python.

9. Microsoft Azure

You might know Microsoft Azure as a cloud computing service. It exists for the purpose of testing, creating, and managing services and applications through global data centers managed by Microsoft.

In addition to offering software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Azure also offers blockchain as a service (BaaS).

Azure actually offers multiple blockchain platforms in the Azure marketplace. You’ll notice that some of the platforms you’ll find through Azure are also independent platforms that you might find on the list above.

Choosing the Right Platform

How can you choose the right platform from this list – or from the other platforms out there?

It can be hard to know exactly what you’re going to build, since blockchain technology is so new. Make sure that you’re using blockchain where it’s necessary – don’t rely on building solutions that don’t need blockchain at all.

Instead, it’s better to shift your focus toward using blockchain to make the systems you have in place run better.

As each platform is used more and more, it will be better understood. Which platform sounds right for you? Leave a comment and let us know!