Web3 grant statistics 2026: 99 programs analyzed

How do Web3 grant programs fund work?

As of October 31, 2026, 78 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory (79%) are rolling programs that accept applications at any time. Fixed-window rounds are a minority at 14 programs, and retroactive and quadratic funding together account for 7.

Most chain foundations and DAO treasuries in the directory review applications as they arrive. Rounds are more common for fellowships and for community funds that review in monthly or quarterly batches. For the trade-offs between the two, see rolling grants vs grant rounds.

How much do Web3 grants pay?

As of October 31, 2026, the median published maximum grant in web3grant's directory is $50,000, among the 50 of 99 programs (51%) that publish a ceiling. The other 49 set amounts per proposal or publish no maximum, so the median describes advertised caps, not typical awards.

The extremes need context. MoonDAO Projects caps each quarterly grant at a quarter of a small USDC pot. The Polkadot OpenGov Treasury figure is the cap of its largest on-chain spending track, a maximum that token holders vote on, not a grant anyone is offered.

Grant ceilings by size band

Programs that publish no ceiling are not in this table, and some of them fund large projects. The ranked list is in the largest Web3 grants, and the bottom band is covered in small Web3 grants.

How many Web3 grants pay in milestones?

As of October 31, 2026, 55 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory (56%) pay grants in milestone tranches. The other 44 pay in one payment or another arrangement, such as a monthly stipend, a retroactive reward or a payment made directly to an audit firm.

Milestone payment means you receive part of the grant up front or after approval and the rest as you deliver agreed results. It lets the funder stop paying if the work stalls, so your budget and timeline need to hold up.

What currency are Web3 grants paid in?

As of October 31, 2026, 39 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory pay only in a native or other token, and 33 can pay in stablecoins or US dollars, alone or as one option. The rest publish no currency, pay a stipend or salary, or pay auditors directly.

USD figures for token-paid programs are conversions at late-September 2026 prices, so a grant quoted at $50,000 in a token can be worth more or less when it arrives. The 33 stablecoin and USD programs are listed in Web3 grants paid in USDC.

How long does a Web3 grant decision take?

As of October 31, 2026, the median typical time from application to decision across the 99 programs is 4 weeks. Only a few programs publish a review time; the rest are web3grant estimates from each program's process description or past rounds, so treat these as rough guides.

21 programs usually decide in 3 weeks or less, and 14 take 8 weeks or more. The fastest are Ronin Proof of Distribution, which reviews each monthly season for a week before paying, and Tezos Commons Small Grants. The slowest are the two OpenSats funds, including the OpenSats General Fund, at 13 weeks. The quick ones are listed in fast Web3 grants.

Which blockchains have the most grant programs?

As of October 31, 2026, Ethereum has the most grant programs in web3grant's directory, 15 of 99, followed by Bitcoin with 13. Six programs are multichain, meaning they are not tied to one chain, and the directory covers 48 ecosystems in total, counting multichain as one.

Program counts say nothing about money: one Polkadot treasury can outspend several smaller programs. The Polkadot count includes Kusama programs, such as the Kusama OpenGov Treasury. Most of Bitcoin's 13 programs pay individual developers, designers or educators to work on open-source Bitcoin software.

What kind of work gets funded most?

As of October 31, 2026, infrastructure is the most common focus: 71 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory fund it. Developer tooling (46) and DeFi (36) follow. A program can be in several categories, so the counts add up to more than 99.

Gaming is the thinnest category, with 6 programs, behind AI at 13. Category pages such as Web3 infrastructure grants list the programs in each field.

How many grant programs are run by DAOs?

As of October 31, 2026, 20 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory are decided by token holders, a DAO committee or an on-chain vote. Examples include the Polkadot and Kusama treasuries, Compound, Lido, Rocket Pool and TheDAO Security Fund. In these programs your proposal is usually public, and approval can depend on a vote as much as on a reviewer. DAO grants covers how they differ from foundation programs.

How many grant programs are open right now?

On October 31, 2026, 80 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory were always open, 7 had an open application round and 12 were closed between rounds. Two retroactive programs, Ronin Proof of Distribution and Algorand xGov, have no application window, so they count as always open.

"Always open" means there is no deadline, not that every program is actively funding. Several carry a notice in the directory: the Ethereum Foundation's Ecosystem Support Program had no Wishlist or RFP items to apply to as of October 1, 2026; Compound paused new proposals in its main domain in April 2026; and the Uniswap Foundation is spending down its remaining grants budget. Check each program's notice before you apply, and use the Web3 grant deadline calendar for the rounds.

How many Web3 grant programs closed or paused?

Of 222 candidate programs web3grant checked between October 1 and October 29, 2026, 123 are not in the directory. Of those, 26 were discontinued, 23 were paused and 48 had no way to apply that we could find.

Discontinued programs include the Web3 Foundation Grants Program, Aave Grants DAO, the Optimism Grants Council and Polygon's Community Grants, which were replaced by treasury investments. Paused programs include TON's grants and Superteam's regional Instagrants. "Active but left out" covers programs that exist but give credits, gas or discounts instead of cash, run prize competitions, use private application forms, or published too little for us to verify. The full list is in Web3 grant programs closed in 2026.

Methodology

The data comes from web3grant's directory and research ledger, compiled by reading each program's own sources. Each number above is a count across the 99 listed programs as of October 31, 2026.

1. Discovery. We built a list of 222 candidate programs from foundation and DAO sites, governance forums, ecosystem funding pages and searches, and checked them between October 1 and October 29, 2026.
2. Verification. Each candidate was checked against its own website, docs, governance forum, GitHub or official announcement. Every directory entry records the pages it was checked against and the date it was verified, both shown on its program page.
3. Inclusion. A program is listed when it pays outside builders and has a way to apply, or pays automatically for measured on-chain activity. Credit and gas schemes, prize competitions, private application forms and programs with too little verified information were left out. Three audit-subsidy programs that pay auditors directly are included and counted separately.
4. Recheck. Closed rounds and programs flagged for follow-up were checked again on October 29, 2026.

Limits of the data

• Review times are mostly estimates. Only a few programs publish a decision time. The rest are our estimates from each program's process description or past rounds.
• Token amounts are conversions. USD figures for programs that pay in tokens are conversions at late-September 2026 prices and move with the market.
• Some ranges are observed, not published. For The Graph, Octant, FIL-RetroPGF, Optimism Retro Funding and Zcash, the range comes from actual past awards rather than a published range.
• Ceilings are maximums. Half of the programs publish none, and a ceiling is the most a program says it will pay, not what most grantees receive.
• Counts are not dollars. The directory counts programs, and one large treasury can outspend many small programs.
• It is not a census. The directory lists programs a builder can apply to. Investment funds, prize competitions and invite-only programs are not counted, and programs we could not verify are left out.

FAQ

How many Web3 grant programs are there?

Web3grant's directory lists 99 Web3 grant programs that builders could apply to as of October 31, 2026, out of 222 candidates checked in October 2026. That is not a count of every crypto funding source: investment funds, prize competitions and invite-only programs are excluded, and 123 checked programs were left out, most because they had ended, paused or published no way to apply.

What is the average Web3 grant size?

Web3grant reports the median published ceiling instead of an average: $50,000 across the 50 programs that publish a maximum, as of October 31, 2026. An average would be distorted by the Polkadot OpenGov Treasury's $12,000,000 track cap. A ceiling is also the most a program will pay, so typical awards in many programs are lower than the published maximum.

What share of Web3 grants are paid in stablecoins?

As of October 31, 2026, 33 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory can pay in stablecoins or US dollars, either as the only currency or as one option. Another 39 pay only in a native or other token, which means the grant's dollar value moves with the token price between approval and payment.

Are Web3 grant review times getting faster?

Web3grant's October 2026 data cannot answer that, because it is a snapshot and most review times are estimates rather than published commitments. What it does show is the spread on October 31, 2026: a median of 4 weeks, 21 programs that usually decide in 3 weeks or less, and 14 that take 8 weeks or more.

How often is the Web3 grant data updated?

Every program in web3grant's directory carries the date it was last verified and the sources it was checked against, shown on its program page. The statistics in this study describe the directory as of October 31, 2026; programs that change status after that date will differ from these counts until the study is revised.