DeFiLlama is the reference for one specific job: reading total value locked across chains and protocols. For that job it is excellent, free to browse and community-built — and this page will not pretend otherwise. It is for people whose job has grown past TVL: they now need to know whether a token can actually be sold, which wallets are accumulating, and what Bitcoin's on-chain cycle is doing, without stitching four tools together.
DeepGyre launched in September 2026. Its DeFi TVL views are shallower than DeFiLlama's, and we say so below. What it offers instead is a public methodology, a token scanner that simulates a real buy and sell before calling a token safe, whale and entity tracking across 45 chains, and a Pro plan at $20 a month.
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The reasons we hear most often fall into four groups:
If chain-and-protocol TVL is genuinely all you need, DeFiLlama is likely the better fit today — it is free, and we link it unaffiliated. If the four points above describe your week, read on.
<h3>A public methodology — every rule, in writing</h3>
DeepGyre publishes the rules every figure follows on its Methodology page: sixteen rules, each with the measured cost of breaking it. Each on-chain metric in the metric library states what it measures, how it is built and how to read it. Three of those rules shape everything else:
<h3>A token scanner that simulates the trade</h3>
Most security checkers read a contract's code and settings. DeepGyre's token scanner does that, and on Ethereum, BNB Chain and Base it also simulates a real buy and a real sell against the token's own liquidity pool. Nothing is signed or sent; it is a simulation on the current chain state. The sale is simulated a few blocks after the buy, so anti-bot rules that block same-block sells are not mistaken for a honeypot. When neither the simulation nor the reference check could tell whether a token can be sold, the report says "Sell not verified" instead of calling the token safe — the honeypot checker page documents every verdict type.
<h3>Whales, entities and the Bitcoin cycle</h3>
Competitor description as of October 2026, from DeFiLlama's own site. Check the vendor's page before deciding — products change fast.
<table><thead><tr><th></th><th><strong>DeepGyre</strong></th><th><strong>DeFiLlama</strong></th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td><strong>Core job</strong></td><td>Token security, whales and entities, Bitcoin on-chain, derivatives</td><td>DeFi TVL and liquidity analytics</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>Token security</strong></td><td>Honeypot check + simulated buy/sell on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Base</td><td>Not offered</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>Whale / wallet tracking</strong></td><td>Yes — whale tracker, watchlists, alerts</td><td>Protocol aggregates, not wallets</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>Entity attribution</strong></td><td>~40.8 million labelled addresses (~956,000 curated); ~2,500 curated entity address claims</td><td>Not offered</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>Bitcoin on-chain metrics</strong></td><td>MVRV, SOPR, NUPL, supply in loss, exchange reserves — construction published</td><td>Outside scope</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>TVL depth</strong></td><td>DeFi sectors and chain TVL views, shallower</td><td>Deepest in class, community-built</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>Methodology</strong></td><td>Public: 16 rules + per-metric construction</td><td>Open-source code; per-metric write-ups vary</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>Entry paid plan</strong></td><td>Pro — $20/month</td><td>Browsing free; API tiers for higher limits</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>"Unavailable" shown as unavailable</strong></td><td>Yes, by rule</td><td>Varies by chart</td></tr> <tr><td><strong>Track record</strong></td><td>New (launched September 2026)</td><td>Established</td></tr> </tbody></table>
A comparison that only lists our strengths is an advertisement. These are the areas where DeFiLlama leads today:
<h2>Who DeepGyre is built for</h2>
It depends on the job. For TVL and liquidity analytics, DeFiLlama itself remains the strongest and it is free to browse. If you need token security, whale tracking and Bitcoin on-chain metrics beside your DeFi data, DeepGyre is built for that combination. For deep wallet labeling, see our Nansen alternative and the comparison of 7 Nansen alternatives.
DeepGyre has a permanent Free tier — 10 token scans a day, 3 alert rules, 5 tracked wallets — and a 7-day trial that opens every feature with no card required. DeFiLlama's dashboards are free to browse and its API has paid tiers for higher limits. Full pricing for both is on DeepGyre pricing and DeFiLlama's own site.
Partly. DeepGyre carries DeFi sector views and chain TVL growth, and every figure states its construction. DeFiLlama's protocol-level TVL coverage is much deeper, and we recommend it for that specific job. DeepGyre's DeFi data exists to support the security, whale and cycle views — not to replace a TVL specialist.
Yes. The token scanner runs reference security checks on every supported chain and, on Ethereum, BNB Chain and Base, additionally simulates a real buy and a real sell against the pool. When it cannot verify that a sell would succeed, it reports "Sell not verified" instead of a reassuring verdict.
DeepGyre has a whale tracker with watchlists and alerts, and entity pages that group an organization's tracked addresses across chains. Its label store (~40.8 million labelled addresses, about 956,000 curated) is far smaller than Nansen's 500M+ — that trade-off is described honestly on our Nansen alternative page.
The token scanner's registry covers 45 chains. The buy/sell simulation runs on Ethereum, BNB Chain and Base; other chains get reference security checks, with a clear "not verified" when a sell test was not possible. DeepGyre does not pretend a code-read is a trade.
Start with the sell path: run the honeypot checker on the exact contract. Then look at holders and large transfers in the whale tracker, then the protocol's TVL trend on DeFiLlama. DeepGyre's scanner pages link the related surfaces so the sequence takes minutes, not an afternoon.