Web3 Identity And Governance — small scale stack.
For each requirement below, pick the option that fits your build — recommended first, then free and cheaper alternatives — or skip what your project doesn't need. Tap the info icon next to any requirement to see why it matters.
DID Platform
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSpruce DIDKit Free OSS self-hosted (gas only, infra ~$20/mo); Veramo Free OSS; ION Free OSS Bitcoin-anchored (~$0.10/anchor); Ceramic Free 100k writes/mo, Pro $50/mo for 1M writes, overage $0.05 per 1k writes
Verifiable Credentials Issuance
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSpruce Credible Free OSS self-hosted; Dock Free 100 credentials/mo, Pro $49/mo 1k credentials, overage $0.05/credential; MATTR Free 1k credentials/mo, Pro $99/mo 10k credentials, overage $0.10/credential
DAO Governance Platform
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSnapshot Free OSS + $0 gas (off-chain voting); Aragon Free 1 DAO, Pro $50/mo 10 DAOs, overage $5/DAO; Tally Free 1 DAO, Pro $199/mo 10 DAOs, overage $20/DAO; OpenZeppelin Governor Free OSS
Token Voting Infrastructure
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSnapshot Free OSS unlimited proposals/votes; Boardroom Free 1 DAO, Pro $99/mo 10 DAOs, overage $10/DAO; Tally Free 1 DAO, Pro $199/mo 10 DAOs, overage $20/DAO
Naming System (ENS/UD/Lens)
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsENS Free registration + $5/yr per name + gas, ENS API Free 100k req/mo, overage $0.01/req; Lens Protocol Free OSS; Unstoppable Domains Free registration $20/yr per name, API Free 10k req/mo, Pro $49/mo 100k req
Web3 Authentication (SIWE / Wallet Auth)
How users sign up, log in, and are authorized. Getting roles and access control right early prevents painful rewrites.Pricing & free-tier limitsSIWE Free OSS self-hosted (~$10/mo infra); Privy Free 1k MAU, overage $0.10/MAU, Pro $199/mo includes 2.5k MAU; Dynamic Free 1k MAU, overage $0.10/MAU, Pro $250/mo includes 2.5k MAU
Off-Chain Identity Database
Persistent storage for your app’s data — users, products, orders. The single most important architectural decision for most projects.Pricing & free-tier limitsCeramic Free 100k writes/mo, Pro $50/mo 1M writes, overage $0.05/1k writes; Supabase Free 500MB DB + 50k MAU auth, Pro $25/mo 8GB DB, overage $0.125/GB + $0.00325/MAU over 50k
Decentralized Storage for Identity Docs
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsKubo Free OSS self-host (~$15/mo infra); Web3.Storage Free 5GB, Pro $20/mo 100GB, overage $0.15/GB; Pinata Free 1GB, Pro $20/mo 100GB, overage $0.15/GB; Arweave $5/GB one-time permanent storage
Key Management & Wallet Infrastructure
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsWeb3Auth Free 1k MAU, overage $0.10/MAU, Pro $199/mo 2.5k MAU; Lit Protocol Free 100k decryptions/mo, Pro $99/mo 1M decryptions, overage $0.0001/decryption; Privy Wallets Free 1k wallets, overage $0.05/wallet
Verifiable Data Registry / DID Resolver
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsDIF Universal Resolver Free OSS self-host (~$20/mo infra); Veramo Resolver Free OSS; Infura DID Free 100k req/mo, Pro $50/mo 1M req, overage $0.05 per 1k req, Enterprise $1000/mo 20M req
Sybil Resistance / Proof of Personhood
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsGitcoin Passport Free 5k verifications/mo, overage $0.02/verification; BrightID Free OSS; World ID Free OSS verification (gas only); Civic Free 1k checks/mo, Pro $99/mo 10k checks, overage $0.05/check
Delegation Infrastructure
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsOZ Governor Delegation Free OSS; Snapshot Delegation Free OSS registry; Boardroom Free 1k delegations/mo, Pro $99/mo 10k; Tally Free 1 DAO + Free 10k API req/mo, Pro $199/mo 10 DAOs, overage $20/DAO + $0.01/1k req
Multisig Treasury for DAO
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSafe Free deployment + gas (factory ~$10-50 one-time); Self-hosted Safe UI Free OSS (~$10/mo infra); Safe{Core} API Free 100 tx/mo, Pro $50/mo 1k tx, overage $0.05/tx
Access Control & Encryption (Lit/TACo)
Controls who can do what inside your admin tooling. Limits blast radius if an account is compromised.Pricing & free-tier limitsLit Free 100k decryptions/mo, Pro $99/mo 1M decryptions, overage $0.0001/decryption; Threshold TACo Free OSS, TACo nodes ~$0.02/decryption gas; Seal Protocol Free OSS
Attestation Service (EAS)
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsEAS Free OSS (gas only $0.01-$0.10/attestation); Verax Free on Linea/Base (gas only $0.005/attestation); AttestationStation Free OSS, schema deploy $5 one-time + gas
Gasless Voting / Relayer
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSnapshot gasless Free unlimited off-chain votes; Biconomy Free 500 tx/mo, Pro $99/mo 10k tx, overage $0.01/tx; Gelato Free 1k tasks/mo, Pro $99/mo 10k tasks, overage $0.02/task + gas
Identity Indexing & Query
How users sign up, log in, and are authorized. Getting roles and access control right early prevents painful rewrites.Pricing & free-tier limitsThe Graph Studio Free 100k queries/mo, Pro $50/mo 1M queries, overage $0.04 per 1k queries; Alchemy Subgraphs Free 100k queries/mo, Pro $49/mo 1M, overage $0.04/1k; Ceramic Index Free with writes
Reputation / Credential Verification API
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSpruce Verification Free OSS; Gitcoin Passport Scorer Free 5k scores/mo, overage $0.02/score; Dock Verify Free 100 verifs/mo, Pro $49/mo 1k verifs, overage $0.05/verif; MATTR Free 1k verifs/mo, Pro $99/mo 10k, overage $0.10/verif
DAO Proposal Execution Framework
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsOZ Governor Free OSS MIT; Aragon OSx Free 1 DAO, Pro $50/mo 10 DAOs, $5/DAO over; Zodiac Free OSS; OZ Defender Free 10 admin tx/mo, Pro $99/mo 1k tx, overage $0.10/tx + gas
How this small scale web3 identity and governance checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a small scale web3 identity and governance build typically needs. Pick one of the four researched options — recommended, free, cheaper or paid — add your own with "Other", or skip the requirement if your project doesn't need it. Nothing is mandatory; the plan on the right tracks what you've decided so nothing gets forgotten.
Your picks are saved in this browser automatically, so you can come back anytime. Options are researched per build level and refreshed as vendors change their plans — always verify details on the provider's page before committing.