Lending Protocol Comparison
Aave vs Compound vs Morpho — comparison of DeFi lending protocols.
DeFi lending protocols are the foundation of the DeFi ecosystem — here's a comparison of the three leaders.
Aave v3:
•TVL: #1 lending (~$15B+)
•Multi-chain: Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, Base
•Isolation Mode — new risky collateral with cap
•Efficiency Mode (eMode) — high LTV for correlated assets
•Portals — cross-chain liquidity
•GHO — Aave native stablecoin
•USDC yield: ~5-8% APY (variable)
•Risk: smart contract (audited multiple times)
Compound v3 (Comet):
•TVL: smaller than Aave
•Simpler design (base asset model)
•Each market has "base token" (USDC on ETH mainnet)
•Collateral doesn't earn interest (tradeoff for security)
•COMP token governance
Morpho:
•"Optimizer" — optimizes Aave/Compound yield
•P2P matching: matches lenders and borrowers directly
•If no P2P match → fallback to Aave/Compound
•Better rates than direct Aave/Compound
•Morpho Blue (2024) — own markets
Spark Protocol:
•MakerDAO fork of Aave v3
•DAI/USDS focus
•SparkLend — lending with MakerDAO integration
Which to choose:
•Security: Aave (longest track record)
•Yield: Morpho (optimized yield)
•Simplicity: Compound v3
•Stablecoin yield: Pendle for fixed rates