Blockchain
3 open source tools compared. Sorted by stars — scroll down for our analysis.
| Tool | Stars | Velocity | Language | License | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Foundry Blazing fast Ethereum dev toolkit | 10.2k | +28/wk | Rust | Apache License 2.0 | 79 |
 Hardhat Ethereum development environment | 8.5k | +9/wk | TypeScript | — | 65 |
| 712 | — | Swift | — | 41 |
Our Analysis
Foundry is the Ethereum dev toolkit that makes Hardhat feel slow. Tests run in Solidity (not JavaScript), execute 10-100x faster, and the built-in fuzz testing catches edge-case vulnerabilities that unit tests miss. Forge, Cast, Anvil, and Chisel give you testing, RPC interaction, local chains, and a REPL — all in one Rust-powered CLI. If you're writing Solidity and care about test speed and security, Foundry is the move. Hardhat still powers 60% of projects with better JavaScript integration, TypeScript support, and a larger plugin ecosystem. Truffle is legacy — don't start new projects on it. Remix is the browser IDE for quick prototyping. The catch: Foundry means Solidity-only testing. No JavaScript, no TypeScript. If your team writes frontend integration tests alongside contracts, you'll need both Foundry and Hardhat. The Solidity testing DSL (vm.prank, vm.deal) has its own learning curve. And Foundry's documentation, while improving, still assumes you already understand EVM internals deeply.
Hardhat is the Ethereum development environment that made Solidity development feel like real software engineering. Local blockchain for testing, console.log in Solidity (finally), stack traces for reverts, and a TypeScript-first plugin ecosystem. If you're building smart contracts and your team thinks in JavaScript/TypeScript, Hardhat is still the most productive choice. Foundry is the rising challenger — Rust-powered, Solidity-native testing, and 5-10x faster compilation. It's eating Hardhat's market share among performance-focused teams. Brownie serves Python developers. Truffle is the legacy option — don't start new projects there. Hardhat's plugin ecosystem is its moat. Ethers.js integration, deployment scripts, verification tools, and gas reporting all work out of the box. The Hardhat Network gives you a local EVM that actually tells you why your transaction reverted. The catch: Foundry is just faster. If your team can write Solidity tests in Solidity (instead of JS), compilation is 3-4x quicker and test execution is dramatically faster. Many serious DeFi teams now use Foundry for core contracts and Hardhat only for deployment scripts and frontend integration.