Jito vs Marinade: 2026 Comparison

Last reviewed: 2026-05-03

Jito and Marinade are the two largest Solana liquid-staking protocols. Jito is the #1 Solana LST (~$3B+ TVL) issuing jitoSOL — its key differentiator is that MEV revenue captured by validators in the Jito network is shared back to stakers, materially boosting yield vs vanilla Solana staking. Marinade is the original Solana LST (~$1.5B TVL), issuing mSOL with a governance-led delegation strategy that distributes stake across hundreds of validators based on performance + decentralisation criteria, plus Marinade Native — a non-LP "delegated staking with no token" path. The choice usually comes down to whether you optimise for raw yield + MEV-share (Jito) or governance-led validator decentralisation thesis (Marinade).

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	Jito	Marinade
Launched	2022 (jitoSOL)	2021 (Marinade Finance, original Solana LST)
LST issued	jitoSOL (non-rebasing, value-accruing)	mSOL (non-rebasing, value-accruing)
TVL (2026-05, approx.)	~$3B+ (#1 Solana LST)	~$1.5B
Share of all staked SOL	~12-15% (largest single LST)	~5-7%
MEV-share to stakers	Yes — Jito-Solana validator client captures + returns MEV to stakers (key differentiator)	No direct MEV-share program (validators may run Jito client independently)
Validator selection	Performance + MEV-capture metrics; smaller curated set	Governance-led delegation strategy across ~400+ validators (decentralisation-first)
Governance token	JTO	MNDE
Non-LP staking option	No (jitoSOL only)	Yes — Marinade Native (direct stake, no LP, no token)
Fee on staking rewards	~4% (split: validator + protocol)	~6% (split: validator + protocol + treasury)
DeFi composability	Deep — jitoSOL is the most-integrated Solana LST in Kamino, Drift, MarginFi, Orca	Strong — mSOL has long-tail integration in older Solana DeFi
DAO governance maturity	JTO live since Dec 2023 — governance ramping up	MNDE governance has been live since 2021 — most mature Solana-DAO process
Best for	Max yield (incl. MEV-share) + institutional-friendly + technical edge	Governance-led validator decentralisation + Marinade Native non-LP path + ecosystem partnerships

Where Jito wins

#1 Solana LST by TVL — ~2x Marinade in deposited value, with the deepest jitoSOL liquidity on every major Solana DEX (Orca, Raydium, Jupiter routing).
MEV-share is the structural differentiator — Jito-Solana validator client captures MEV from priority-fee arb and tips, then returns the bulk to stakers. This adds typically 50-150bps of APR vs vanilla SOL staking.
Strong institutional adoption — jitoSOL is the LST most often used in fund staking allocations and the most-integrated as collateral on Kamino, Drift and MarginFi.
JTO governance launched Dec 2023 with a clean tokenomics design and active treasury — the protocol revenue and fee parameters are governance-controlled.
Technical-edge focus — the Jito team also ships the Jito-Solana validator client that powers MEV-capture, so the protocol has unique upstream control over the MEV stack on Solana.

Where Marinade wins

Governance-led validator selection — Marinade's delegation strategy distributes stake across ~400+ validators chosen by performance + decentralisation criteria. This is the strongest decentralisation thesis in Solana liquid staking and a major argument for Marinade among Solana-aligned stakers.
Marinade Native lets you stake SOL directly (delegated to Marinade's validator set) without minting mSOL or interacting with an LP — useful for users who want decentralisation without taking LST liquidity risk.
Original Solana LST since 2021 — longest continuous operating history, most mature Solana-DAO governance process, and a track record of gradual fee/strategy iteration.
Broader ecosystem partnerships outside DeFi — Marinade has integrations and grants programs touching more Solana ecosystem tooling and infrastructure.
Stake distribution algorithm is transparent and auditable — anyone can see which validators are selected and why, and propose strategy changes via MNDE governance.

Best for which user

Choose Jito if:

You want maximum yield including MEV-share (typically 50-150bps higher net APR), need the deepest LST DeFi composability on Solana, or want the institutional-friendly LST with direct exposure to Solana's MEV economy.

Choose Marinade if:

You prefer governance-led validator selection (decentralisation thesis), want to use Marinade Native for non-LP delegated staking, or value the longest operating history and most mature DAO governance in Solana liquid staking.

Use both if:

You diversify LST counterparty risk on Solana — many serious SOL stakers split between jitoSOL (MEV-share + composability) and Marinade Native (decentralised validator set, no LP risk). Same underlying SOL, different governance and risk vectors.

Pricing detail

Both protocols charge a fee on staking rewards rather than upfront. Jito takes ~4% (split between validators and the protocol). Marinade takes ~6% (split among validators, protocol and treasury). The headline difference is MEV-share: Jito stakers receive MEV revenue captured by Jito-client validators, which typically adds 50-150bps to net APR. As a result, even though Marinade's underlying staking yield is comparable, Jito's effective net APR is consistently higher when MEV revenue is positive (most of the time on Solana). Marinade Native is a special case — no LP, no token, fees apply only to the explicit staking-strategy rewards.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Jito give MEV share but Marinade doesn't?

The Jito team builds the Jito-Solana validator client, which captures MEV from priority fees, tips and arbitrage and routes it back to stakers via the jitoSOL pool. Marinade does not run a custom validator client and does not have a direct MEV-capture pipeline — its validators may run the Jito client independently, but any MEV they capture goes to the validator, not Marinade stakers. Most of the structural-yield gap between jitoSOL and mSOL comes from this design difference.

Is Jito or Marinade bigger?

Jito by a wide margin — ~$3B+ TVL vs Marinade at ~$1.5B as of 2026-05. Jito has been the #1 Solana LST since late 2023, driven primarily by the MEV-share economics.

What is Marinade Native?

Marinade Native is a non-LP staking option where users delegate SOL directly to Marinade's validator set without minting mSOL. You get the decentralisation benefit of Marinade's ~400+ validator distribution but no LST token and no DeFi composability — the SOL stays staked natively in your wallet. Useful for users who want decentralised delegation without taking LST liquidity risk.

Which is safer, Jito or Marinade?

Both have strong audit and operational records and neither has lost user funds. Marinade has the longer continuous track record (since 2021). Jito's validator-client + LST stack is younger but has been heavily audited and battle-tested through major Solana congestion events without incident. Different risk profiles (Jito = more concentrated curated set + MEV pipeline; Marinade = broad validator distribution).

Can I use jitoSOL or mSOL as collateral on Solana DeFi?

Yes — both are accepted as collateral on Kamino, MarginFi, Drift and most Solana lending protocols. jitoSOL has materially deeper integration and tighter risk parameters at most venues thanks to higher liquidity. mSOL is supported but listing depth and LTV may be lower at newer venues.

Audit history side-by-side

Jito:
ottersecneodyme

Marinade:
ackee blockchainkudelskiottersec

Switch from Jito to Marinade

Export your data from Jito. Download trade history, address book, and tax CSVs from the account-settings export panel before disabling 2FA or rotating keys.
Set up your Marinade account. Complete KYC if required, enable hardware-backed 2FA, fund a small test deposit, and verify withdrawal works end-to-end before moving size.
Migrate balances and recreate workflows. Move funds in tranches rather than one transfer; re-create recurring orders, watchlists, API keys and alerts on Marinade; keep Jito live for 30 days as a fallback.

Reverse direction works the same way — see Marinade vs Jito if you're moving the other way (page may not exist; the steps above invert cleanly).