World ID is the best web3 identity tool for proving you are a unique human, but it is available in the US except New York State. Human Passport is the lighter option: it scores a wallet from Stamps and uses 20 as its default passing threshold. For a readable on-chain name, ENS costs $5 in ETH a year, and for app login Privy and Web3Auth each have free plans.
Quick answer
World ID for the strongest proof of personhood, Human Passport for sybil checks on airdrops and grants, and ENS for a name and profile tied to your wallet.
- 01World ID: Best proof of personhood
- 02Human Passport: best for sybil checks
- 03ENS: Best on-chain name
- 04Basenames: Best name on Base
- 05Galxe: Best credential quests
The 7 best Web3 identity tools
World ID verifies you at an Orb that scans the eyes and face; the data is encrypted, sent to your phone and deleted from the Orb. The protocol launched in July 2023, and World ID contracts are public under MIT.
- Chains
- World Chain (Ethereum L2)
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, SDK
- US availability
- Available in the US except New York State
- Launched
- Protocol launched late July 2023
- Company
- Tools for Humanity (San Francisco and Munich); protocol stewarded by World Foundation
Pros
- Available in the US except New York State
- Proofs reveal no name, email or birthdate
- Contracts are public on GitHub under MIT license
Cons
- Top-level Proof of Human requires an in-person Orb visit
- Requires scans of the eyes and face
- Not available to New York State residents
Skip it if you live in New York State: World says it is available in the US except there.
Human Passport, formerly Gitcoin Passport, scores a wallet from verified Stamps, with 20 as the default threshold. Its homepage lists 2M+ passports and 120+ partners, and the API for Passport data is free.
- Chains
- Onchain Passport on Arbitrum, Base, Linea, Optimism, Scroll, Shape and zkSync
- Platforms
- Web, API
- Free plan
- Free API access to Passport user data
- Company
- Part of human.tech
- Pricing
- Free app and API; Government ID Stamp $5 (or $3 NFC passport) plus gas; onchain mint about $3 plus gas
Pros
- Free API for Passport user data
- No biometrics required: score comes from Stamps
- Integrated with Guild, Galxe and Snapshot
Cons
- Default pass threshold of 20 can block users with few Stamps
- API key needs a wallet login to the developer portal
- Stamps API needs a separate Scorer ID for each use case
Skip it if you need a proof that one person holds one account: a score is an estimate.
ENS maps a .eth name to your address, site and profile records. 5+ character names cost $5 in ETH a year, and the homepage lists over 37 million names.
- Chains
- Ethereum, with names resolvable across many chains and apps
- Platforms
- Web
- Custody
- Self-custody
- Pricing
- 5+ characters: $5 in ETH per year; 4 characters: $160; 3 characters: $640
- Fees
- Annual renewal; 90-day grace period after expiry, then a premium that falls over 21 days
Pros
- 5+ character .eth names cost $5 in ETH per year
- 90-day grace period after expiry before a name is released
- No maximum registration length, so you can prepay many years
Cons
- Names must be renewed; a lapsed name can be registered by anyone
- 3 and 4 character names cost $640 and $160 per year
- Registration and renewal also cost Ethereum gas
Skip it if you will not renew: a lapsed name is released after a 90-day grace period.
Basenames gives a .base.eth name built on ENS technology. Coinbase Verification holders can get one 5+ letter name free for a year; after that, 5 to 9 characters cost 0.001 ETH a year.
- Chains
- Base; names usable for sending on other EVM chains
- Platforms
- Web
- Custody
- Self-custody
- Pricing
- Annual: 3 chars 0.1 ETH; 4 chars 0.01 ETH; 5 to 9 chars 0.001 ETH; 10+ chars 0.0001 ETH
- Free plan
- One free 5+ letter name for one year for eligible users, such as Coinbase Verification holders; one discount per address
Pros
- 10+ character names cost 0.0001 ETH per year
- One free 5+ letter name for a year with Coinbase Verification and other listed criteria
- Contracts are in a public GitHub repo
Cons
- Names are rented per year and must be renewed
- 3 character names cost 0.1 ETH per year
- Profile data you publish is recorded on-chain
Skip it if you want profile data kept private: it is recorded on-chain.
Galxe runs quest campaigns that issue credentials, with partners such as Optimism, Arbitrum and Polygon. Its docs describe Galxe Quest as serving over 22 million users.
- Platforms
- Web, API
- Token
- G (Gravity), upgraded from GAL in 2024
- Pricing
- Optional Galxe+ subscription (Mini, Premium, Unlimited); fees non-refundable, auto-renews
- Fees
- Free to join quests; claim fee based on $0.08 per claim on Gravity, up to 75% off by loyalty level
- Security audits
- SlowMist (March and June 2022), Certik (June 2021)
Pros
- Quest campaigns from projects such as Optimism and Arbitrum
- Sybil-resistant credentials limit bot farming
- No-code tools for projects to launch campaigns
Cons
- Galxe+ subscription fees are non-refundable and auto-renew
- Rewards are set by each project and are not guaranteed
- GAL holders had to migrate to the G token
Skip it if you want guaranteed rewards: each project sets its own, and Galxe+ fees are non-refundable.
Privy, owned by Stripe since 2025, adds login by email, SMS, social accounts and passkeys, plus embedded wallets. Its free plan covers 500 monthly active users.
- Chains
- EVM and Solana
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android, API
- Pricing
- Core $299/month (500 to 2,499 MAU); Scale $499/month (2,500 to 9,999 MAU)
- Free plan
- Up to 500 MAU, 50K signatures and $1M volume per month
- Company
- Stripe (acquisition announced June 11, 2025)
Pros
- Free plan covers up to 500 MAU, 50K signatures and $1M transaction volume per month
- Wallet connectors for EVM and Solana
- Login by email, SMS, social accounts and passkeys
Cons
- Paid plans start at $299 per month for up to 2,500 MAU
- Webhooks, SSO and dedicated support need an Enterprise contract
- Owned by Stripe since 2025, so the roadmap depends on a payments company
Skip it if you need more than 500 MAU on a small budget: paid plans start at $299 a month.
Web3Auth, now MetaMask Embedded Wallets from Consensys, creates wallets for users who sign in with email, SMS or social accounts. Base is free for 1,000 monthly active wallets, then $0.050 each.
- Chains
- EVM chains, Solana and Bitcoin
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android, SDK
- Pricing
- Base free; Growth $69/month; Scale $399/month; Enterprise custom. Extra monthly active wallets $0.050 to $0.040 each
- Free plan
- Base plan: 1,000 monthly active wallets free, then $0.050 per additional wallet
- Company
- Consensys Software Inc. (acquired Web3Auth)
Pros
- Free Base plan includes 1,000 monthly active wallets
- Chain-agnostic: EVM networks, Solana and Bitcoin
- Web SDK source is public on GitHub
Cons
- Whitelabeled login UI starts at the $69/month Growth plan
- MPC TSS for web and mobile is Enterprise-only
- Farcaster login is deprecated in the current SDK
Skip it if you need MPC key management: it is Enterprise only.
Not on this list
civic: civic.com now sells a sales and marketing AI agent; Civic Auth appears only as a beta dashboard, so we did not rank it.
Web3 Identity Tools compared
Select a name to jump to its review.
| Name | Best for | US availability | Fees | Pricing | Free plan |
|---|
| World ID | Unique-human checks | Available in the US except New York State | Not verified | Free to join | Yes: free to join; World App is free and does not require a verified World ID |
|---|
| Human Passport | Airdrops, grants and quests | Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions | Not verified | Free app and API; Government ID Stamp $5 (or $3 NFC passport) plus gas; onchain mint about $3 plus gas | Free API access to Passport user data |
|---|
| ENS | Name and profile for a wallet | Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions | Annual renewal; 90-day grace period after expiry, then a premium that falls over 21 days | 5+ characters: $5 in ETH per year; 4 characters: $160; 3 characters: $640 | No free .eth names; gasless DNS import of your own domain needs no gas or transaction |
|---|
| Basenames | Base and Coinbase users | Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions | Annual registration fee by name length: 0.0001 ETH (10+ chars) to 0.1 ETH (3 chars) | Annual: 3 chars 0.1 ETH; 4 chars 0.01 ETH; 5 to 9 chars 0.001 ETH; 10+ chars 0.0001 ETH | One free 5+ letter name for one year for eligible users, such as Coinbase Verification holders; one discount per address |
|---|
| Galxe | Earning on-chain credentials | Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions | Free to join quests; claim fee based on $0.08 per claim on Gravity, up to 75% off by loyalty level | Optional Galxe+ subscription (Mini, Premium, Unlimited); fees non-refundable, auto-renews | Not verified |
|---|
| Privy | Email and social login | Available: terms name no country restrictions | Not verified | Core $299/month (500 to 2,499 MAU); Scale $499/month (2,500 to 9,999 MAU) | Up to 500 MAU, 50K signatures and $1M volume per month |
|---|
| MetaMask Embedded Wallets | 1,000 free wallets | Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions | Per monthly active wallet above plan quota: $0.050 (Base), $0.045 (Growth), $0.040 (Scale) | Base free; Growth $69/month; Scale $399/month; Enterprise custom. Extra monthly active wallets $0.050 to $0.040 each | Base plan: 1,000 monthly active wallets free, then $0.050 per additional wallet |
|---|
“Not verified” means we could not confirm the value on the project’s own pages.
How we rank Web3 identity tools
- 01What it proves: unique personhood, a humanity score, a name or a login.
- 02Cost: price for the user or developer, from the tool’s own pages.
- 03US availability: any US limits stated by the tool itself.
- 04Privacy: what data leaves your device and what is recorded on-chain.
- 05Adoption: counts the tool publishes, such as names or passports issued.
No project paid to be listed or ranked. Full rules: methodology.
What we did not test
- We did not open accounts, deposit money or place trades with these services.
- We did not audit smart contracts, reserves or security claims ourselves; we report what the project and its auditors publish.
- Fees, limits and availability change; the list date shows when we last checked them.
Rubric last updated Oct 1, 2026. Crypto assets are not insured by the FDIC or SIPC, and you can lose all the money you put in. This page is educational content, not financial advice.
How to choose
01Match the tool to the question
Is this a unique human? World ID or Human Passport. Who owns this wallet name? ENS or Basenames. How does a user sign in without a seed phrase? Privy or Web3Auth.
02Weigh biometric data
World ID relies on an Orb scan of the eyes and face. Human Passport uses Stamps from existing accounts and credentials instead.
03Remember names are public
ENS and Basenames records are visible on-chain and link a name to every transaction from that address.
04Check free-tier limits
Privy is free up to 500 monthly active users and Web3Auth up to 1,000 monthly active wallets.
Who should skip all of these
- Anyone who needs government-grade KYC for a regulated business: these tools are not KYC providers.
- Users who want to stay pseudonymous: a name or proof links activity to one identity.
- New York State residents looking for World ID.
Bottom line
Use World ID where one-person-one-account matters and Human Passport where a score is enough.
Give your wallet an ENS or Basenames name, and pick Privy or Web3Auth for app login based on the free-tier limit you need.
Educational content, not financial advice. Crypto assets are volatile; do your own research.
FAQ
Is World ID available in the US?
±
Yes, except New York State, according to World’s own about page.
What happened to Gitcoin Passport?
±
It is now Human Passport, part of human.tech. It still scores wallets from Stamps, with 20 as the default threshold.
Is an ENS name an identity?
±
It is a readable name and profile for a wallet address, not a proof that you are a unique person.
Do these tools require KYC?
±
No. World ID uses an Orb scan and Human Passport uses Stamps; neither is a regulated KYC check.
Is Human Passport free?
±
Mostly. Creating a Passport, verifying most Stamps and API access to Passport data are free. The Government ID Stamp, worth 16 points, costs $5 plus gas for an ID scan or $3 for an NFC passport scan, and minting an onchain Passport costs about $3 plus gas.
What changed in this list
2026-09-26First version: 7 web3 identity tools, checked on each tool’s own pages.
2026-10-01Added a FAQ on what Human Passport costs.
Who made this page
✓
Fact check
Checked against 10 sourcesLast check: Oct 1, 2026
A value we could not confirm on the project’s own pages is marked “Not verified” instead of estimated.
How we review