OpenSea Review
MIT-licensed and Trail of Bits audited
of 10
OpenSea publishes a 1% selling fee included in the displayed price, 10% on primary drop mints and 0% on swaps, handles royalties as enforced or optional per collection, and licenses its Seaport protocol under MIT with a Trail of Bits audit.
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Selling fee
1%, included in the displayed price
Primary mint fee
10%
Swaps
0%
Royalties
Enforced or optional, per collection
Licence
MIT (Seaport); audited by Trail of Bits
Scores
Each criterion carries equal weight. The overall score is the average of these 5 scores — (8.0 + 7.0 + 10.0 + 4.0 + 9.0) ÷ 5 = 7.6.
Pros
- Selling fee published at 1%, included in the price shown to buyers
- 0% fee on swaps and, currently, on private listings
- Seaport protocol is MIT-licensed
- Audited by Trail of Bits, April to May 2022, stated in the repository
- Verified account badge documented, with a clear caveat that it is not a guarantee
Cons
- Royalty enforcement depends on the collection — enforced for some, optional for others
- The supported-chain list is not stated on the fees page
- The 10% primary-mint fee is high relative to the 1% secondary fee
Open code, named audit
OpenSea's Seaport protocol carries the MIT licence, and the repository states it was audited by Trail of Bits between April and May 2022. An open licence and a named auditor on the contracts that settle every trade are the strongest parts of this entry.
Fees, mostly clear
The selling fee is 1%, included in the price a buyer sees, with 0% on swaps and, at present, on private listings. The one high figure is the 10% fee on minting in a primary drop, which the review notes plainly.
Royalties depend on the collection
OpenSea states that where royalties are enforced the set percentage is paid at sale, and where they are optional the owner chooses whether to pay. That is honest about a model many creators dislike, and this rubric scores the clarity of the disclosure rather than taking a side on the policy.
The company behind it
OpenSea is operated by Ozone Networks, Inc., and its about page states plainly that Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah launched it in 2017, with Finzer as chief executive and Atallah as chief technology officer. Its $SEA token is issued by the OpenSea Foundation. As the largest and oldest of the marketplaces here, with named founders and a named company disclosed on its own site, it offers among the fullest accountability in the category.
How it compares
OKX NFT
Zero listing fees, few published numbers
Element
Royalty support stated, little else published
Blur
Zero marketplace fees, thin public documentation
LooksRare
MIT-licensed, candid about zero royalties
Zora
MIT-licensed, itemised trading fee
SuperRare
Fees and splits published in full
Rarible
MIT-licensed and ChainSecurity audited
Magic Eden
Clear fee, but coverage is narrowing
Tensor
Full royalty enforcement, clearly stated
Sources
Scored from published primary sources rather than hands-on use. Every figure above comes from one of the pages below, on the date shown. Manufacturers change prices and specifications without notice — if something here no longer matches the source, tell us and we will correct it.
- 1.OpenSea — fees — checked
- 2.OpenSea — verified accounts and badged collections — checked
- 3.OpenSea — Seaport (MIT licence and Trail of Bits audit) — checked
- 4.OpenSea — about page — checked
Frequently asked questions
What does OpenSea charge to sell an NFT?
A 1% selling fee, included in the price shown to buyers, plus 10% on primary drop mints and 0% on swaps.
Does OpenSea enforce creator royalties?
It depends on the collection. Where royalties are enforced the set percentage is paid at sale; where they are optional, the owner chooses whether to pay.
Nothing here is financial advice. Editorial policy · How we score · How we're funded.