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Web3 grants list 2026: open programs by type

Updated 8 min readBy the web3grant editors

This Web3 grants list groups all 99 programs in web3grant's directory by type, as of October 31, 2026. Seven have an open round right now, 80 accept applications at any time, and 12 are closed between rounds. Each group below shows live rows with today's status, grant size and time left, plus a short note on who the group suits.

Key takeaways

  • As of October 31, 2026, 7 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory have an open round, 80 are always open and 12 are closed between rounds.
  • 78 of the 99 programs (79%) fund on a rolling basis; 14 run fixed rounds, 4 pay retroactively and 3 use quadratic funding.
  • 50 of the 99 programs publish a maximum grant; the median published ceiling is $50,000, from MoonDAO Projects ($2,125) to the Polkadot OpenGov Treasury ($12,000,000).
  • 55 of the 99 programs (56%) pay in milestone tranches rather than all at once.
  • Several well-known programs are listed but not usable right now: ESP has no open Wishlist or RFP items, Optimism Retro Funding has been paused since January 2026, and Gitcoin has run no round since October 2025.

Which Web3 grants are open right now?

Seven programs have a fixed application window open as of October 31, 2026. They suit anyone with a proposal nearly ready, because the windows close within weeks. In date order: Rocket Pool's Round 42 closes November 7 (funds are tight, and Round 41 declined every application), Stellar Community Fund #46 closes November 8, the OpenSats Q4 window closes November 30, Prezenti closes December 29 (its site shows both "open" and "concluded", so check first), SDF's academic window closes December 31, and TheDAO Security Fund's Round Two runs to January 31, 2027.

The deadline calendar tracks every window, including the ones that reopen each quarter.

Which chain foundations offer rolling grants?

Chain foundations are the largest group: these 18 programs take applications at any time and fund developers and teams building on one network. They suit builders who have already picked a chain; many pay in the chain's own token, and most pay against milestones. Sizes run from Ink Spark's 500 USDC minimum to Gravity's $200,000 ceiling. Team1 Builder Grants replaced Avalanche's Retro9000, which ended in 2026, and the Hashgraph Innovation Program works more like an investment review than a quick grant.

To narrow these down, see how to choose a Web3 grant program or browse by chain, such as Solana grants.

Which companies and protocols fund builders?

These seven programs are run by a company or protocol for teams that integrate its product: Circle's Arc and USDC stack, dYdX Chain, The Graph's Subgraphs and Substreams, Palladium's Alpend credit engine on Canton, Cardano PRIME's DeFi primitives, the Solana Mobile Stack and STON.fi's DEX SDK on TON. They suit teams whose product already depends on that stack. Several pay in stablecoins: Circle in USDC, STON.fi in USDT and dYdX in USDC or DYDX.

Which DAOs and treasuries give grants?

In these 13 programs, token holders, a DAO committee or an on-chain vote decide who gets paid. They suit people comfortable pitching in public: proposals are posted on forums, and treasuries such as Polkadot, Kusama and Cardano require a deposit before the vote. Web3grant's directory counts 20 DAO- or governance-run programs in total; the rest appear in other groups. MoonDAO and Shutter DAO 0x36 are between rounds, and Shutter's Round 2 is set to launch on November 16, 2026, according to our October 29 recheck.

The guides to blockchain treasury funding and DAO grants explain how these votes work.

Which programs use retro or quadratic funding?

Retroactive funding pays for impact already delivered, and quadratic funding matches community donations from a pool so that many small donors count for more than a few large ones. Four programs pay retroactively and three use quadratic funding, but only one of the seven pays out on its normal schedule as of October 2026: Ronin's Proof of Distribution, which pays monthly RON rewards from a Builder Score based on on-chain activity.

The others: xGov accepts proposals, but payouts wait on a treasury top-up and a newly elected Council. Optimism Retro Funding has been paused since January 2026 for at least 12 months. FIL-RetroPGF is paused, with a new framework expected in late 2026 but no dates. Gitcoin has run no round since GG24 in October 2025 and is folding quadratic funding into a local-money pilot. Giveth and Octant have no next round announced. See retroactive public goods funding and quadratic funding.

Which programs pay for security audits?

Three programs subsidize smart contract audits, and they pay the audit firm or discount the bill rather than paying you. They suit teams with audit-ready code: the Arbitrum Security Program pays approved audit firms from a 12-month budget of about $7.8M that started September 28, 2026; Ava Labs collects quotes from 18 vetted firms and can cover up to 75% for Avalanche projects; and the Ethereum Audit Subsidy Program covers up to 30% from a $1M pool. TheDAO Security Fund, in the open rounds above, funds wider Ethereum security work.

More on how these work in smart contract audit subsidies and on the Web3 security and audit grants page.

Which fellowships and residencies pay a stipend?

These five programs pay a person a stipend, salary or monthly sum, usually with mentoring. They suit individuals early in a career or moving into protocol work. Bitshala pays $500 a month in India and South-East Asia, and Brink runs year-long grants plus a London fellowship. The EF PhD Fellowship's 2026 call has closed with no 2027 call announced, and the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship's Cohort 8 dates are not out. World One pays $10,000 a month for three months, in person in San Francisco, to solo builders authorized to work in the US.

See Web3 fellowships and Web3 grants for students.

Which grants fund Bitcoin open source?

Web3grant's directory lists 13 Bitcoin programs; OpenSats, Brink and Bitshala appear in the groups above, and these nine are the rest. They suit individual developers, designers, researchers and educators working on free and open-source Bitcoin software, and several pay monthly or fund a full year of work. Maelstrom pays $50,000 to $150,000 per developer for 12 months, Btrust focuses on developers in the Global South, and Galaxy has set aside up to $5 million for post-quantum work.

Read more under Bitcoin grants and in crypto grants for individuals.

Which grants fund privacy and zero-knowledge work?

These four programs fund privacy-focused chains and zero-knowledge research, and all accept individuals. They suit developers, researchers and cryptographers: the MAGIC Monero Fund takes any developer or researcher regardless of degree, Monero CCS crowdfunds proposals in XMR, Zcash Community Grants have made awards of up to $750,000, and Kusama Vision Bounties fund ZK, proof of personhood and privacy art.

Which grants fund AI, compute and data?

These seven programs fund decentralized AI, GPU compute, storage and network data. They suit AI developers and infrastructure teams: Sentient's $42M program has a grant track for open-source AI, Nosana pays $5,000 to $50,000 in USDC, NOS and GPU credits, and Walrus funds storage apps on Sui through grants and RFPs. The Web3 AI grants page lists every AI-category program.

Which grants pay for growth and go-to-market?

These four programs fund distribution, rewards or traction for products already live. They suit teams past launch: SDF Marketing Grants pay up to $500,000 for user acquisition on Stellar, Kaia's IOK Fund pays up to about $20,000 for go-to-market, Polymarket pays grants and weekly volume rewards to apps that route orders, and Unichain Grants pay up to $7,500 to DeFi projects with $250,000 or more in TVL. See Web3 startup grants for more.

Which programs offer small grants and bounties?

These three programs pay small, fast amounts for defined work. They suit first-time applicants, writers and translators: Nym Squad League pays up to about $2,700 in NYM, Tether's task-based grants run from $1,500 to $5,000, and Tezos Commons Small Grants answer within days but only serve applicants in the US and Canada. The small Web3 grants guide covers more options.

Which listed programs should you check before applying?

These 12 programs are in the directory but carry a warning as of October 2026. Read each program page before you spend time on a proposal:

For programs that have closed for good, see Web3 grant programs closed in 2026.

FAQ

How many Web3 grant programs are there in 2026?

Web3grant's directory lists 99 Web3 grant programs as of October 31, 2026. They come from 222 candidate programs checked between October 1 and October 29, 2026; the other 123 were left out because they were discontinued, paused, replaced or unclear, or for reasons such as paying in credits rather than cash. The 99 programs span 48 ecosystems, led by Ethereum with 15 and Bitcoin with 13.

Which Web3 grants can I apply to today?

As of October 31, 2026, 80 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory are always open and 7 have an open round, so 87 accept applications today. Some always-open programs carry warnings, though, such as ESP, which has no open Wishlist or RFP items. Check each program page for its notice, and use the deadline calendar for the seven programs with closing dates.

Why are some well-known Web3 grant programs missing from this list?

Some well-known Web3 grant programs are missing because they no longer take applications. Web3grant removed programs such as the Chainlink Grant Program, Aave Grants DAO, the Web3 Foundation Grants Program and Superteam Instagrants after checking their sites in October 2026. Of the 123 programs checked but not listed, 26 were discontinued and 23 were paused. Anyone can suggest a program through the submit page.

What is the largest grant on this Web3 grants list?

The largest published ceiling on this Web3 grants list is the Polkadot OpenGov Treasury's, about $12,000,000, a treasury that funds large proposals by on-chain vote. After the Polkadot and Kusama treasuries ($1,750,000 for Kusama), the highest figures are Zcash Community Grants ($750,000, based on past awards) and TheDAO Security Fund ($640,000). The largest Web3 grants guide compares them.

Related guides

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