The heyday for artists is happening. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are reviving artists after decades of decline. NFTs and NFT platforms are helping artists showcase their skills and earn hefty money.
Almost every day, there are numerous NFT marketplaces popping out. Being an artist you will definitely get confused while choosing the NFT marketplace to list your fine craft artwork as an NFT.
But we have got your back. Whether you are a top-class artist trying to get into the NFT ecosystem or an amateur artist, this article will help you choose the best NFT marketplace.
What to consider when looking for the best NFT marketplaces as an artist
There are three main factors to consider from the artist’s perspective.
NFT Category: Most of the NFT marketplaces support multiple categories of NFTs. For example, you can find collectibles, art NFTs, NFT domains, sports NFTs, and gaming asset NFTs on OpenSea.
It is important to choose art-focused NFT marketplaces to get the desired visibility.
Gas Fee: When you mint or purchase NFTs in any marketplace, you need to pay a gas fee. The gas fee varies from one NFT marketplace to another depending on which blockchain the marketplace runs.
Currently, most of the marketplaces run on Ethereum. However, Solana, Tezos, and Cardano NFT marketplaces are also available and emerging. If the NFT marketplace that you go with runs on Ethereum, you can check the gas fee on Gas Calculator.
Accessibility: Next, the accessibility of the NFT marketplace. Most of the NFT marketplaces have open to all creators. However, a few of them such as the MakersPlace and Foundation.app are invite-only.
If you are an amateur artist, it would be hard to get into those kinds of platforms. At the same time, if you have already an established group of audience and popularity as an artist, it does not matter for you.
Best NFT Marketplaces for Artists
| NFT Marketplace | Blockchain Support | Fees | Wallet Support | Currency Support | Exclusivity | Royalties |
| OpenSea | Ethereum, Polygon, and Klaytn | 2.5% | MetaMask, Trust wallet, Fortmatic, and more | Ethereum (ETH)/WETH, USDC, and DAI | Open | Customizable |
| SuperRare | Ethereum | 15% | MetaMask, Fortmatic, and WalletConnect compatible wallets | ETH | Application required | 10% |
| Rarible | Ethereum, Tezos, and Flow | 2.5% | MetaMask, Torus, Mobile Wallet, and more. | ETH, RARI, WETH, DAI, ATRI | Open | Customizable |
| Nifty Gateway | Ethereum | 5% | MetaMask | Credit card, ETH | Application required | 10% |
| Foundation | Ethereum | 15% | WalletConnect compatible wallets | ETH | Invite-only | 10% |
| MakersPlace | Ethereum | 15% | MetaMask and Civic | ETH and credit card | Invite-only/ Application required | 10% |
| Mintable | Ethereum and Zilliqa | 2.5% for traditional mint & 5% for gasless mint | MetaMask | ETH and credit card | Open | 10% |
| Async Art | Ethereum | 10% | MetaMask, Fortmatic, and WalletConnect compatible wallets | ETH | Application required | 10% |
OpenSea
OpenSea is undeniably the largest NFT marketplace in the world. It has recorded 4.22 billion in sales volume from January 12, 2022, to February 12, 2022.
OpenSea lists over 9 categories of NFTs including art, collectibles, domain names, music, photography, sports, and more.
With 121.7 million monthly traffic, it is an honor to list NFTs on the OpenSea platform for an artist.
Easy to navigate user interface and a dedicated art category tab will give art lovers a wonderful experience.
Lazy minting in OpenSea also allows users to list NFT without any upfront gas fee. Sometimes listing, buying, or selling NFTs on the Polygon blockchain eliminates the need for gas fees; or they can experience very low gas fees.
Artists can customize their royalties.
Famous NFT art projects listed on OpenSea include Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, Karafuru, Lives of Asuna, and more.
Fee
OpenSea charges a 2.5% seller fee on every transaction.
The platform also charges a one-time gas fee for account initialization. This way they can ensure the entry of only serious NFT artists.
Wallet Support
OpenSea supported wallets are MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, WalletConnect compatible wallets, Fortmatic, Kailas, Bitski, Venly, Dapper, Authereum, Torus, Portis, OperaTouch, Trust wallet
Blockchain support
OpenSea supports Ethereum, Polygon, and Klaytn blockchains.
SuperRare
As the name suggests, SuperRare, an exclusive NFT platform, primarily displays unique and authentic digital artworks.
1.4 million monthly traffic and uniqueness it maintains, SuperRare is one of the best platform for artists to showcases their digital artworks.
SuperRare onboards only a small number of artists to maintain its standard. Artists can submit their artists profile and wait for the approval.
SuperRare offers 10% royalties for NFT creators. That is for every secondary sale, the creator of a particular NFT will receive a 10% commission.
Famous NFT artists such as Xcopy, Hackatao, and Justin Blau is known as 3LAU are listed their NFTs here in SuperRare.
Fee
SuperRare has fixed its seller fee by 15%, which is one of the highest fees in the NFT marketplace.
Wallet Support
SuperRare supports MetaMask, Fortmatic, and WalletConnect compatible wallets.
Blockchain Support
SuperRare supports and runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
Rarible
Rarible is a creator-centric NFT marketplace that has its own governance token RARI that can be used on the platform.
Like OpenSea, Rarible also has a feature called ‘lazy minting’ that allows artists to mint NFTs free of cost.
Royalties in Rarible are customizable.
With over 6 million monthly traffic, artists will get high visibility here in Rarible.
Fee
Rarible charges a 2.5% seller fee.
Wallet Support
Rarible supports:
- MetaMask
- Torus
- Mobile Wallet
- Portis
- Coinbase
- MyEtherWallet
- Fortmatic
Blockchain Support
Rarible runs on Ethereum blockchain and supports Tezos and Flow.
Nifty Gateway
Nifty Gateway is one of the leading NFT marketplaces and drop platforms that is owned by Winklevoss Brothers.
Nifty Gateway teams up with top artists and brands to list limited edition and high-quality NFTs to the public.
The site records over 1.7 million monthly traffic and it supports USD purchases via debit/ credit card.
Nifty Gateway offers 10% royalties for NFT creators.
Join with other artists including Pak, Beeple, FEWOCiOUS, Josie Bellini, and Daniel Arsham. Artists can apply here to be a part of Nifty Gateway.
THE COMPLETE MF COLLECTION by Beeple, Hairy by Steve Aoki, and Not Forgotten, But Gone by WhIsBe are some of the most expensive NFTs listed on Nifty Gateway.
Fee
Nifty Gateway charges a seller fee of 5%.
Wallet Support
Nifty Gateway supports only the MetaMask wallet.
Blockchain Support
Nifty Gateway supports and runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
Foundation
Foundation.app is another exclusive invite-only NFT marketplace for artists. It offers a wide range of arts including 3D artworks.
This one-year-old NFT marketplace clocks over 4 million monthly traffic on January 2022 and creators in this platform earned $150 million since its launch.
Nyan Cat, a popular internet meme, minted as an NFT on Foundation. Edward Snowden’s Stay Free NFT is also listed on Foundation.
Fee
The seller fee in Foundation is 15%.
Wallet Support
Foundation supports WalletConnect compatible wallets.
Blockchain Support
Foundation supports and runs on Ethereum.
MakersPlace
MakersPlace is an invite-only premier NFT marketplace for rare and authentic digital artworks.
It has a group of the world’s best creative minds on board.
Artists who wish to get into the MakersPlace NFT marketplace can apply here.
MakersPlace supports Stripe payment.
This premier NFT marketplace clocks around 700k monthly traffic as of January 2022.
Pak, one of the famous NFT artists listed his artwork Metarift on the MakersPlace NFT platform.
Fee
The service fee in MakersPlace is 15%.
Wallet Support
MakersPlace supports MetaMask and Civic wallets.
Blockchain Support
MakersPlace supports and runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
Mintable
Mintable is an NFT marketplace backed by the American billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
Mintable branded itself as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and has its own governance token MINT.
Mintable is famous for its gas-less minting which allows artists to mint NFTs without any upfront gas fee as lazy minting is available in OpenSea and Rarible.
The platform has recorded 2.4 million monthly traffic on January 2022.
Trevor Lawrence NFT and CNBC’s first NFT were the top performed NFTs on Mintable.
Fee
Mintable charges a 2.5% fee for traditional minting and a 5% fee for its gasless minting option.
Wallet Support
Mintable supports MetaMask wallet.
Blockchain Support
Mintable runs on the Zilliqa blockchain and also supports Ethereum.
Async Art
Async Art is a new kind of NFT marketplace that supports dynamic and interactive NFTs with the help of multi-level layering.
With Async Art, artists can create and list programmable arts that are artists can implement features such as controlling the color, background, and even position of a character in their arts.
This NFT platform has seen over $11.4M in bidding and $4.3M in sales volume.
Any interested artists can apply to Async Art here.
Async Art offers 10% royalties for NFT creators.
A notable NFT artist Micah Johnson listed his artwork ˈsä-v(ə-)rən-tē here in Async Art NFT marketplace.
Fee
The fee of Async Art is 10% in the case of primary sale and 1% in the case of secondary sale.
Wallet Support
Async Art supports MetaMask, Fortmatic, and WalletConnect compatible wallets.
Blockchain Support
Async Art supports and runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
Conclusion
Going with a single NFT marketplace is not a good deal since different platforms offer different features.
Newbie artists that yearn to list their NFTs can go with OpenSea, Rarible, and Mintable. These NFT marketplaces will be a good option since they have lazy minting/ gasless minting options.
Professional artists with an already established fanbase can try listing their NFTs with exclusive platforms such as SuperRare, OpenSea, MakersPlace, and Async Art.