Syndica’s December 2025 Deep Dive report provides a comprehensive look at the state of developers on Solana. The report includes data through December 31, 2025, and focuses exclusively on Solana’s ecosystem.
The findings show that Solana’s developer base has stabilized above 1,000 active developers after two major growth waves, while the total number of developers reached 6,000 in 2025, up almost tenfold since 2020.
Record Number of New Developers
Solana welcomed 3,830 new developers in 2025, surpassing the previous high of 3,470 in 2024. Although the share of new professional developers declined each year, falling from 46% in 2020 to 18% in 2025.
Professionals may account for 18% of all developers but generate most of the activity. They produce 90% of commits, 67% of pull requests, and 90% of code reviews. Professionals also stay engaged significantly longer. On average, they remain active for 485 days between first and last contribution and record 52 active days. Hobbyists have an average tenure of 85 days and just 4 active days. Professionals therefore stay 5.7 times longer and contribute 13 times more active days.
Although activity pulled back from the May peak in recent months, the ecosystem has stabilized above 1,000 active developers.
In cumulative terms, the developer base reached 6,000 in 2025. Professionals grew nearly 7 times from 280 to 1,900 since 2020, while hobbyists increased 12 times from 350 to 4,100.
Developer Geography Shifts East
Geographically, Asia now represents 32% of Solana developers, doubling its share since 2020 and overtaking North America while equaling Europe. The United States remains the largest single country at 21%, but its share has fallen by more than one-third since 2020. India grew tenfold from 1.3% to 13% and now ranks second globally.
The United Kingdom holds 5%, while Canada and China each account for 4%. The top ten countries represent more than 60% of all Solana developers.
Among professional developers, Europe now hosts 37%. North America’s share of professionals declined from 38% in 2020 to 31% in 2025, while Asia grew to 23%. The United States increased its share among professionals to 27%, and the United Kingdom ranks second, ahead of India.
Validator Clients Show High Contributor Concentration
Solana client implementations show uneven developer distribution. Agave leads total commits with 30,600, including 5,740 original commits and 24,850 inherited from the original Solana client. Sig follows with 9,840 commits, and Firedancer records 7,200.
A small group of developers drives most code changes. In Agave, just 12 contributors, representing the top 1%, account for 70% of code line changes. The top 5% account for more than 93%. Across Sig and Agave, three developers account for nearly 75% of commits. In the original Solana client, the top three contributors account for around 35% of commits, whereas in Firedancer, they account for more than 40%.
Developer Ecosystem Initiatives
Ecosystem initiatives continue to target developer growth. The MONOLITH Solana Mobile Hackathon, organized by RadiantsDAO, offers $125,000 in prizes and gives builders five weeks to ship mobile applications to the Solana dApp Store by March 9, 2026. The event follows the inaugural Solana Mobile hackathon, which produced several widely used mobile applications.
SafePal also announced a $3 million Solana Builder’s Grant for 2026. The program allocates $2 million in hardware wallet sponsorships and $1 million in marketing resources to support eligible Solana projects.
At the policy level, the Solana Policy Institute has called for stronger legal protections for software developers following the guilty verdict against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. Institute leaders argue that the case tests how regulators treat open source software development and warn that legal uncertainty could influence where developers choose to build.
Taken together, the data and broader ecosystem developments show that Solana’s developer base has matured. Growth now reflects sustained global participation rather than a single cycle surge. While retention challenges remain and contributions concentrate among a small professional core, the ecosystem continues to expand geographically and structurally as it enters its next phase.
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