Technical comparison of three smart contract languages from someone who's shipped on all three. Solidity dominates by ecosystem size but carries well-known vulnerability classes. Soroban brings Rust's memory safety to Stellar with built-in resource metering. Plutus offers formal verification through functional programming but demands significant learning. Practical analysis of trade-offs for enterprise projects.
Smart contract language choice determines hiring, security, and costs. This comparison from someone with production experience on Ethereum, Stellar, and Cardano cuts through hype. Solidity powers the largest ecosystem but inherits vulnerability classes from its 2014 origins. Soroban brings Rust's memory safety to Stellar with built-in resource metering and finality. Plutus leverages Haskell for formal verification but demands academic programming expertise. Language choice shapes team composition, hiring timeline, security scope, and maintainability. For regulated financial applications, provable guarantees matter more than ecosystem size.
