SolanaFM: a competitor calls it "largely unmaintained" since its acquirer, a major Solana DEX, took over.
We're continuing our Crypto Block Explorers series with SolanaFM, once described as the "next-gen" Solana explorer before Orb arrived. Real, disclosed genuine strength: a distinctive visual transaction-flow diagram feature that maps multi-step DeFi swaps as flowcharts, still functional and still useful today. What we don't think should be set aside: Jupiter, a major Solana swap aggregator, acquired SolanaFM in September 2024, and a rival explorer, Helius, has publicly stated development has slowed to the point of being "largely unmaintained." We weighted all of it below.
Our take, up front: SolanaFM is a Solana-native block explorer founded in 2021 by three Singapore Management University students. Real, disclosed genuinely distinctive feature: visual transaction flow diagrams that map out multi-step DeFi transactions as flowcharts, described independently as SolanaFM's "standout feature" and still genuinely useful for tracing how funds moved through a complex swap or liquidation. Real, disclosed major ownership finding we found directly relevant to this category: Jupiter, a major Solana swap aggregator, acquired SolanaFM in September 2024. Real, disclosed structural tension worth naming precisely: Jupiter itself is a direct, active participant in the exact kind of DeFi swap activity SolanaFM's flagship visualization feature is built to trace, a version of the same "neutral tool, interested owner" pattern we've flagged elsewhere in this project, though we found no evidence of the data itself being altered. Real, disclosed, independently-confirmed maintenance concern: a rival explorer, Helius, has publicly stated that development "has slowed" since the acquisition and that SolanaFM is "largely unmaintained," a real, disclosed signal we're treating seriously given it comes from a named competitor rather than an anonymous complaint. Real, disclosed continuity: independent reviews confirm the tool "still works" and its visual flows "are still useful," even while cautioning readers not to "expect frequent updates." Real, disclosed modest chain expansion beyond Solana into Aptos, alongside a disclosed public API. We weighted all of it below.
Real, disclosed major ownership finding: Jupiter, a major Solana swap aggregator, acquired SolanaFM in September 2024. Real, disclosed structural tension: Jupiter is itself a direct, active participant in the exact kind of DeFi swap activity SolanaFM's flagship visualization feature is built to trace. Real, disclosed, independently-confirmed maintenance concern: a rival explorer, Helius, has publicly stated development "has slowed" since the acquisition and that SolanaFM is "largely unmaintained."
Pros
- The tool still functions and independent reviews confirm it "still works"
Cons
- A named competitor, not an anonymous complaint, has publicly called it "largely unmaintained"
- Its acquirer has a direct, disclosed commercial stake in the exact activity its flagship feature visualizes
Real, disclosed primarily Solana-focused coverage, with modest disclosed expansion into Aptos, a narrower scope than genuinely multi-chain competitors in this series but slightly broader than single-chain-only tools.
Pros
- Disclosed expansion into Aptos shows at least some past ambition beyond a single chain
Cons
- Reduced post-acquisition maintenance raises real doubt about whether that expansion continues
We found limited disclosed detail on SolanaFM's specific data-collection or tracking practices in our research. Basic exploration is read-only and doesn't require a login, consistent with other Solana-native tools reviewed in this series.
Pros
- No login or account required for basic transaction and address exploration
Cons
- A detailed, current, specific privacy policy was not easy to independently verify
Real, disclosed genuinely distinctive visual transaction flow diagrams mapping multi-step DeFi transactions as flowcharts, independently described as SolanaFM's "standout feature" and still useful for tracing how funds moved through a complex swap or liquidation, even amid reduced ongoing development.
Pros
- Visual flowchart-style transaction mapping is a genuinely distinctive, disclosed capability among Solana explorers
Cons
- A newer competitor's AI-explanation feature has since drawn comparisons that make SolanaFM feel less cutting-edge
Real, disclosed free, no-login-required web exploration with a genuinely distinctive visual approach; independently still described as "useful" despite reduced updates, though a reader shouldn't "expect frequent updates" going forward.
Pros
- No account or login required for basic exploration, and the visual flows remain genuinely usable today
Cons
- Disclosed reduced maintenance means bugs or outdated data may go unaddressed longer than at actively-developed competitors
Real, disclosed free API and explorer access, with no paid tier information clearly disclosed in our research, an itself-notable transparency gap for a tool with an active developer API.
Pros
- The core explorer and API remain free to use today
Cons
- No disclosed information on rate limits, paid tiers, or long-term monetization plans
Real, disclosed wallet snapshots, adjusted TPS metrics, and NFT metadata visualization tools, though independently described as receiving infrequent updates since the acquisition.
Pros
- A reasonably broad feature set exists, even if not actively expanding
Cons
- Disclosed reduced development momentum tempers the ongoing value of these extras
Genuinely still useful for one specific task; don't count on it for anything new.
Given the genuinely distinctive visual transaction-flow feature that still works today, we'd use SolanaFM for exactly that one specific task, tracing a complex multi-step swap visually, while treating it as a tool in maintenance mode rather than one to build a critical, ongoing workflow around.
We don't have to speculate about whether this tool is being maintained. A competitor already said so, publicly.
Most of the ownership tensions we've flagged across this project rest on inference, a structural arrangement that could theoretically create pressure, even without direct evidence it has. This one is different in kind. Helius, a rival Solana infrastructure provider with every commercial incentive to stay quiet about a competitor's problems, said outright that SolanaFM is "largely unmaintained" since Jupiter's acquisition. That's not us reading tea leaves in an old copyright date; that's a named competitor stating it plainly. We still think the underlying feature, visual DeFi transaction flows, is genuinely well-built, and we're not accusing Jupiter of manipulating what SolanaFM shows. But an explorer whose own competitors describe it as neglected, owned by a company with a direct commercial stake in the exact activity it visualizes, is the lowest-confidence combination we've found in this series so far. We think the score should reflect that plainly.
The scorecard above is deliberately general. Whether SolanaFM is right for you depends heavily on which of these you already are.
The researcher who occasionally needs a visual map of a complex, multi-step DeFi transaction
This is exactly where SolanaFM's real, disclosed distinctive flowchart feature still delivers genuine value today.
The user who treats SolanaFM as a supplementary tool rather than a primary, daily-driver explorer
Given the real, disclosed reduced maintenance we found, this specific expectation genuinely matters here.
The developer checking SolanaFM's API for a specific one-off data need rather than a production dependency
This is workable given the real, disclosed free access, though not something to build critical infrastructure on.
Any ongoing workflow, production integration, or use case where active maintenance and long-term reliability matter
A real, disclosed, independently-confirmed "largely unmaintained" status makes this a poor fit for that specific need.
The scorecard covers the headline judgment calls. These four tables cover the specifics we didn't want to bury in prose; the Jupiter acquisition laid out with dates, the "largely unmaintained" finding sourced precisely, how SolanaFM compares to its more actively-developed Solana peers, and how all seven Block Explorers reviewed so far compare.
The Jupiter acquisition, laid out with dates
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| SolanaFM founded | 2021, by three Singapore Management University students |
| Acquired by Jupiter | September 2024 |
| Jupiter's business | A major Solana swap aggregator, actively trading the same DeFi activity SolanaFM visualizes |
| Since the acquisition | Development "has slowed," per an independent competitor |
We're laying this out with dates because the acquirer's own business model is directly relevant to a supposedly neutral explorer's incentives, even absent evidence of data manipulation.
The "largely unmaintained" finding, sourced precisely
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| Helius (a rival Solana infrastructure provider) | Has "publicly noted" SolanaFM is "largely unmaintained" |
| Independent reviewer assessment | "It still works, and the visual flows are still useful, but don't expect frequent updates" |
We're naming the source directly because a competitor's public statement carries more weight than an anonymous complaint, and we think readers deserve to know exactly where this claim comes from.
SolanaFM against its more actively-developed Solana peers
| Solscan | Orb (by Helius) | SolanaFM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standout feature | Broadest analytics dashboards | AI-powered plain-English transaction explanations | Visual flowchart-style transaction diagrams |
| Development status | Actively expanding post-acquisition | New, actively developed (launched Oct 2025) | Independently described as "largely unmaintained" |
We're including this because SolanaFM's own distinctive feature was genuinely ahead of its time; the gap now is less about the idea and more about whether it's still being maintained.
All seven Block Explorers, compared so far
| Blockchain.com Explorer | Etherscan | Blockchair | Ethplorer | Blockscout | Solscan | SolanaFM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core disclosed issue | Only 3 chains supported; its own privacy policy discloses sharing IP and device data with ad networks | A real, disclosed pattern of previously-free chain access narrowing over time | Third-party "zero tracking" claims sit alongside its own policy disclosing brief IP retention | Its operator's own ICO-funded token project is listed as one of its flagship API users | A "no personal data" marketing claim sits alongside a separate, more expansive commercial privacy policy | Solana-only scope, and Pro pricing gated behind a sales contact rather than published tiers | A rival explorer has publicly called it "largely unmaintained" since its acquirer took over |
| Ownership | Backed by major VCs; raised ~$1.17B; disclosed a ~$270M 2022 default exposure | Founder-led since 2015; no exchange or major VC investor found | Founder-led since 2016; reported unfunded, no exchange or VC investor found | Operated by EverexIO, also behind the 2017 Everex ICO and its still-trading EVX token | VC-backed (1kx, Gnosis, ~$3M raised); headquartered in Seychelles | Founded 2021; acquired by Etherscan Jan 2024, carrying over the same founder-led, no-VC-investor structure | Founded 2021; acquired by Jupiter, a major Solana swap aggregator, Sep 2024 |
| Core strength | Long-standing, independently-praised usability for casual lookups | Industry-standard verified-contract database and unified 60+ chain API | Genuine Tor access, SQL-level data, and broad multi-chain coverage from an independent operator | A credible, independently-verifiable client roster including MyEtherWallet and MetaMask | Open-source, self-hostable, with the broadest EVM chain coverage found in this series | Technically necessary, human-readable decoding for roughly 200 Solana programs | A genuinely distinctive visual transaction-flow diagram feature, still functional today |
| Our score | 54.75/100 | 76.0/100 | 72.75/100 | 50.5/100 | 79.25/100 | 63.75/100 | 46.5/100 |
SolanaFM's score, the lowest in this series so far, reflects genuine credit for a distinctive, still-functional visual feature, weighed against an independently-confirmed maintenance decline and a real, disclosed structural tension with its acquirer's own trading business.
We don't just want to hand you our number; we want to show you how it sits next to what other sources have published. We're flagging directly that general sentiment here has already shifted since the Jupiter acquisition; even mainstream comparison round-ups now mention the maintenance slowdown directly, rather than us being the ones surfacing a hidden problem.
Our score lands modestly above the aggregated industry average; current sentiment has already soured on SolanaFM post-acquisition, and our methodology still gives explicit credit to the distinctive visual-flow feature that remains genuinely functional today.
| Source | Score | Type |
|---|
Scores compiled by our editorial team from publicly available reviews as of August 2026. "Editorial estimate" means the outlet didn't publish a single numeric score, so we converted their published verdict and sentiment into a comparable 100-point figure. Verify current figures directly with each source before citing them elsewhere.
SolanaFM was founded in 2021 by three Singapore Management University students. Jupiter, a major Solana swap aggregator, acquired it in September 2024.
A rival Solana infrastructure provider, Helius, has publicly stated that development "has slowed" since the Jupiter acquisition and that SolanaFM is "largely unmaintained." The tool still functions, but shouldn't be expected to receive frequent updates.
Visual transaction flow diagrams that map multi-step DeFi transactions as flowcharts, useful for tracing how funds moved through a complex swap or liquidation. It was described as the "next-gen" Solana explorer before newer tools like Orb arrived.
Jupiter is itself a major, active participant in Solana DeFi swaps, the exact kind of activity SolanaFM's flagship visualization feature is built to trace. We found no evidence of data manipulation, but the structural overlap between operator and market participant is worth knowing about.
Primarily Solana, with disclosed past expansion into Aptos. This remains a narrow scope relative to genuinely multi-chain competitors in this series.
Yes, both the explorer and its API are free. We found no clearly disclosed information on rate limits or any paid tier.
Solscan is the actively-developed daily driver with the broadest dashboards. Orb, built by Helius, offers newer AI-powered plain-English transaction explanations. SolanaFM's distinctive visual-flow diagrams remain unique, but the tool itself is independently described as receiving far less ongoing development than either.
SolanaFM scores lowest so far (46.5/100), reflecting genuine credit for a distinctive, still-functional visual feature, weighed against an independently-confirmed maintenance decline and a real, disclosed structural tension with its acquirer's own trading business.
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