Hive Engine is one of the aspects of the Hive ecosystem that I have been most impressed with and it's almost hard to imagine Hive without it. Hive Engine is essentially a platform that runs smart contracts which allow for a variety of functionality beyond the "layer one" features of Hive. Some of the new features that are made possible include the creation of tokens, NFTs, liquidity pools, etc.
There are multiple websites that interface with the Hive Engine smart contracts just like there are multiple websites that interface with Hive (such as hive.blog, Peakd, Ecency, etc). Today I'm going to take a look at a few of the most popular options to compare their features and help you decide which one might be best for you.
Feature Comparison
| Hive-Engine | TribalDex | Leo DEX | BeeSwap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallet | X | X | X | X |
| Exchange | X | X | X | |
| Swap | X | X | X | |
| Liquidity Pools | X | X | X | |
| NFT Market | X | |||
| Convert HIVE/SWAP.HIVE | 1% | 1% | 0.25% | 0.25% |
Hive-Engine
Hive-Engine.com is the main website for Hive Engine and usually the first one that new Hive users will discover. It has the most essential features for purposes such as trading or swapping Splinterlands tokens. I find this interface to be the least attractive among the four options being compared. However, the site says that a new version is being worked on with plans to release it in Q1 2022 (this quarter). Until then, it suggests our next option for those who need a full-featured interface.
Best for: New users who are still wary of which sites are trustworthy and want to use the original
TribalDex
TribalDex is another interface that was created by the Hive Engine team. It puts an emphasis on the concept of "tribes" with their own token and offers various services for people who wish to start one. In addition to the features on Hive-Engine.com, TribalDex also has a UI for interacting with many more of the smart contracts. There's not only the "OpenHive" marketplace for buying/selling NFTs, but it also offers options for creating new NFTs and even "packs" directly from the website. I think many of these features have been overlooked and have a lot of potential that hasn't been utilized enough.
Best for: Users who want a more visually appealing interface with all of the features
Leo DEX
Leo DEX was created by the team behind the LeoFinance community and various other projects. While it doesn't appear to offer the swap and liquidity pool features, it does provide a really nice interface for trading tokens. It also shows your LEO and SWAP.HIVE balance in the header which is a nice way of seeing how much you have at a quick glance. Speaking of SWAP.HIVE, this site (and the next) both offer a reduced fee for depositing HIVE to receive SWAP.HIVE on Hive Engine and withdrawing your SWAP.HIVE to receive HIVE in your Hive wallet.
Best for: Users who are actively involved with LEO and/or want to exchange tokens on the market
BeeSwap
BeeSwap is run by the creator(s) of the dCity game and has quickly become a favorite of mine. I first heard about it when I began receiving the BXT token and later discovered the website. It doesn't have market trading that the others have, but where it really excels is in liquidity pools. On Hive-Engine and TribalDex you can see the amount of tokens that you have in various pools, but on BeeSwap you can also see the US$ value of those tokens. Any rewards are also shown along with the US$ value and APR too. This is a valuable feature that makes it so much easier to keep an eye on your portfolio. Like Leo DEX, it also offers converting HIVE/SWAP.HIVE for a 0.25% fee and distributes half of those fees to those who have staked BXT tokens.
Best for: Users who have tokens in liquidity pools and/or like to monitor their asset values in US$