Protocol Comparison

Overview

Protocol Comparison provides a comprehensive, sortable table of every major Stacks DeFi protocol. Compare yields, TVL, risk levels, and audit status across lending platforms, DEXs, yield aggregators, and stacking protocols—all with live data from DefiLlama updated every 5 minutes.

Key Features

Live Data Feeds

APY and TVL from DefiLlama refresh every 5 minutes

Multi-Dimensional Sorting

Sort by APY, TVL, risk, protocol name, or any column

Advanced Filtering

Filter by risk level (Low/Medium/High) and protocol type

Audit Status

See which protocols have been security audited

Protocol Table

Columns Explained

Column	Description	Format	Sortable
Protocol	Name with logo	Text + Image	Yes
APY	Annual Percentage Yield	`12.5%`	Yes
TVL	Total Value Locked	`$45.2M`	Yes
Risk	Safety rating	Badge (Low/Med/High)	Yes
Type	Protocol category	Lending/DEX/Yield/Stacking	No
Asset	Accepted tokens	`STX`, `sBTC`, `xBTC`	No
Audited	Security audit status	✓ or ✗	No
Min Dep.	Minimum deposit required	`None`, `100 STX`	No

Row Interactions

Click any row to open the protocol’s website in a new tab. Hover effects highlight the entire row for easy selection.

// Row click handler
onClick={() => window.open(protocol.url, '_blank')}

Sorting & Filtering

Sorting Logic

Click Column Header

Click any column with a sort icon (↕) to sort by that field

Toggle Direction

First click: Sort descending (highest first)
Second click: Sort ascending (lowest first)
Visual indicator: ↓ (desc) or ↑ (asc) in orange

Multi-Column Comparison

Sort by APY to find highest yields, then filter by Low risk to see safest high-yield options

Default sort: APY descending (highest yields first)

Risk Filtering

Filter by risk tolerance:

Low Risk
Medium Risk
High Risk

Characteristics:

Audited smart contracts
Established protocols (StackingDAO, ALEX)
TVL > $10M
APY: 5-10%

Best for: Conservative investors, beginners, large positions

Type Filtering

Filter by protocol category:

Lending - Lend assets to earn interest (e.g., Zest Protocol)
DEX - Decentralized exchanges with LP rewards (e.g., Velar)
Yield - Yield aggregators and vaults (e.g., ALEX)
Stacking - STX stacking services (e.g., StackingDAO)

Strategy: Filter by “Stacking” + “Low Risk” to find safest native yield options. Then compare with “Lending” + “Medium Risk” for higher yields.

Data Sources

DefiLlama Integration

Live data fetched from DefiLlama API:

import { fetchAllProtocolData } from '../services/defiLlamaService';

const { protocols, loading, lastUpdated } = useProtocolData();

// Auto-refreshes every 5 minutes
useEffect(() => {
  const interval = setInterval(load, 5 * 60 * 1000);
  return () => clearInterval(interval);
}, []);

Data Structure

const protocol = {
  id: 'stackingdao',
  name: 'StackingDAO',
  logo: 'https://...',
  url: 'https://stackingdao.com',
  type: 'Stacking',
  asset: 'STX',
  risk: 'Low',
  audited: true,
  minDeposit: 'None',
  
  // Live data from DefiLlama
  apy: 9.5,              // Current APY
  apyDisplay: '9.5%',    // Formatted string
  tvl: '$45.2M',         // Formatted TVL
  tvlRaw: 45200000,      // Raw number for sorting
  
  // Metadata
  color: '#F7931A',      // Brand color
  apySource: 'defillama' // 'defillama' or 'fallback'
};

Fallback Data

If DefiLlama doesn’t have current APY for a protocol, Staxiq uses the protocol’s last published rate marked with a ~ symbol.

Example: ~9.5% indicates fallback data

Summary Statistics

Four key metrics displayed below the table:

┌────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┐
│ Highest APY    │ Largest TVL    │ Protocols      │ Audited        │
│ 15.2%          │ $45.2M         │ 12             │ 8/12           │
│ Zest Protocol  │ StackingDAO    │ On Stacks      │ Protocols      │
└────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┘

Calculations

// Highest APY
const topApy = protocols
  .filter(p => p.apy)
  .reduce((a, b) => a.apy > b.apy ? a : b);

// Largest TVL
const topTvl = protocols
  .filter(p => p.tvlRaw)
  .reduce((a, b) => (a.tvlRaw ?? 0) > (b.tvlRaw ?? 0) ? a : b, {});

// Audit count
const audited = protocols.filter(p => p.audited).length;

Use Cases

1. Finding Best Yield

Sort by APY

Click APY column header to sort descending

Filter by Risk

Select your risk tolerance (start with “Low” or “Medium”)

Check Audit Status

Look for ✓ in Audited column

Compare TVL

Higher TVL = more liquidity and battle-tested contracts

Verify Minimum

Check Min Deposit to ensure you meet requirements

Example result: Velar Finance (12% APY, Medium Risk, Audited, $8.5M TVL, No minimum)

2. Diversifying Portfolio

Filter by Type

Select “All” to see all protocol types

Pick 3-4 Protocols

Choose different types:

1x Stacking (Low risk base)
1x Lending (Medium risk)
1x DEX (Medium/High for growth)
1x Yield (Optimization)

Use Yield Calculator

Model returns for each protocol with your planned allocation

Verify Assets

Ensure you have the required assets (STX, sBTC, xBTC)

3. Risk Assessment

Sort by Risk

Click Risk column to group by risk level

Compare Within Tier

Within “Medium Risk” group, sort by APY or TVL

Check Audit Status

Audited protocols reduce smart contract risk

Research TVL

TVL > $5M indicates strong community trust

Code Reference

Key implementation files:

Page: src/pages/CompareProtocols.jsx - Main table UI
Hook: src/hooks/useProtocolData.js - Data fetching and caching
Service: src/services/defiLlamaService.js - DefiLlama API integration
Sorting: src/pages/CompareProtocols.jsx:60-73 - Multi-column sort logic

Advanced Features

Responsive Table

Table adapts to screen size:

<div className="overflow-x-auto -mx-4 px-4 md:mx-0 md:px-0">
  <div style={{ minWidth: '700px' }}>
    {/* Table content */}
  </div>
</div>

Mobile: Horizontal scroll enabled
Tablet+: Full table fits viewport
Desktop: Expanded columns with more padding

Loading States

While fetching live data:

APY shows … spinner
TVL shows … spinner
Filter area displays: ⏳ Fetching live data…
Existing data remains visible during refresh

Hover Effects

onMouseEnter={e => e.currentTarget.style.background = hoverColor}
onMouseLeave={e => e.currentTarget.style.background = originalColor}

Row background lightens on hover
Cursor changes to pointer
Entire row is clickable
Visual feedback confirms interactivity

Protocol Logos

Logos fallback to initials if image fails:

function ProtocolLogo({ logo, name, color }) {
  const [err, setErr] = useState(false);
  
  if (err) {
    return (
      <div style={{ background: `${color}33`, color }}>
        {name[0]} {/* First letter */}
      </div>
    );
  }
  
  return (
    <img 
      src={logo} 
      onError={() => setErr(true)} 
    />
  );
}

Troubleshooting

APY shows ”—” for all protocols:

DefiLlama API may be down—check status at defillama.com
Network connection issue—refresh page
Some protocols don’t report APY to aggregators

Table not sorting correctly:

Click column header again to toggle direction
Check if filter is applied—may be hiding some rows
APY/TVL sort uses raw numbers, not formatted strings

Protocol link doesn’t work:

Some protocols use testnet URLs during development
Check browser’s pop-up blocker settings
Try right-click → “Open in new tab”

Data seems outdated:

Data refreshes every 5 minutes automatically
Check ”🟢 Live · [time]” badge for last update
Hard refresh page (Ctrl+Shift+R) to force update

Best Practices

Compare Before Investing

Spend 5-10 minutes comparing protocols before committing funds

Diversify by Risk

Mix Low/Medium/High risk protocols—don’t chase highest APY only

Verify Externally

Click protocol links to verify audit reports and documentation

Monitor TVL Trends

Growing TVL indicates healthy protocol—check monthly

DefiLlama Attribution

Data sourced from DefiLlama - The leading DeFi data aggregator. TVL and APY update hourly on DefiLlama’s backend.

Get Started

Core Features

Guides

Protocols

​Overview

​Key Features

Live Data Feeds

Multi-Dimensional Sorting

Advanced Filtering

Audit Status

​Protocol Table

​Columns Explained

​Row Interactions

​Sorting & Filtering

​Sorting Logic

​Risk Filtering

​Type Filtering

​Data Sources

​DefiLlama Integration

​Data Structure

​Fallback Data

​Summary Statistics

​Calculations

​Use Cases

​1. Finding Best Yield

​2. Diversifying Portfolio

​3. Risk Assessment

​Code Reference

​Advanced Features

​Responsive Table

​Loading States

​Hover Effects

​Protocol Logos

​Troubleshooting

​Best Practices

Compare Before Investing

Diversify by Risk

Verify Externally

Monitor TVL Trends

​DefiLlama Attribution

​Next Steps

Yield Calculator

AI Copilot

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Key Features

Protocol Table

Columns Explained

Row Interactions

Sorting & Filtering

Sorting Logic

Risk Filtering

Type Filtering

Data Sources

DefiLlama Integration

Data Structure

Fallback Data

Summary Statistics

Calculations

Use Cases

1. Finding Best Yield

2. Diversifying Portfolio

3. Risk Assessment

Code Reference

Advanced Features

Responsive Table

Loading States

Hover Effects

Protocol Logos

Troubleshooting

Best Practices

DefiLlama Attribution

Next Steps