DAppscout (by Blockscout) – Your DeFi Homepage

What is DAppscout?

DAppscout is a marketplace feature that offers a quick and secure way to explore and interact with top DApps on your favorite blockchains. 

It’s just one feature of Blockscout, a larger open-source tool that lets you explore transactions across various EVM blockchains. With support for over 600 different chains, Blockscout is the most extensive block explorer available today. 

Here, we’ll take a closer look at some of DAppscout’s key features and give you a walkthrough of how to use the platform.

DAppscout Overview

In a nutshell, DAppscout is like your homepage for DeFi. You can open it up to kick-start your DeFi activities, for quick access to the tools and apps on the blockchain you want to use.

Just in case the similar names are confusing:

• Blockscout is the broader explorer platform.
• DAppscout is just one feature of that platform, for popular chains.

Vetted Protocols

Instead of trying to discover DApps through Google, DAppscout offers a curated list of vetted protocols for you to choose from.

These integrations protect you from dodgy search results or phishing sites, which often pop up in malicious search engine ads or from mistyping URLs.

Embedded Access

When you click on a DApp in DAppscout, it opens directly within your Blockscout window. For supported DApps, it automatically connects to your Blockscout-linked wallet – no more annoying connection approvals! 

You still have to manually approve any transactions involving tokens, though, so your funds are safe.

Favorites

DAppscout lets you “favorite” your most-used DApps by clicking the heart icon, making them easily accessible whenever you need them – sort of like web browser bookmarks.

Keep in mind that DAppscout isn’t available for all 600 chains that Blockscout supports. It does, however, cover several of the most popular EVM networks. In addition, DAppscout is also available for a whole range of different testnets and alternative chains, covering all bases.

Action Shortcuts

The cherry on top is Blockscout’s DeFi dropdown menu in the top-right corner, which contains shortcuts for swaps, batching transactions, sending payments as links, and gas top-ups. We’ll go over these in a future article, so keep your eyes peeled!

Choosing a DApp on DAppscout

DApps on DAppscout are neatly organized into categories like Swaps, Bridges, Liquid Staking, Lending, and more. This makes it easy to find the DApp you need, or discover new ones – even if you’re unsure of the exact platform. 

DAppscout also offers a bunch of extra features and labels to help you choose the right DApp, which are all displayed nicely within a single card, per DApp.

What exactly does that involve? Let’s break it down:

Safety Ratings

DAppscout assigns a safety rating to the most popular apps, using SolidityScan to assess their trustworthiness. Users can quickly assess how safe a DApp is, with a detailed breakdown of threats and vulnerabilities rated from “low” to “critical.” 

The rating also includes the DApp’s relative gas usage and an overall score, making it easy to understand at a glance.

Clicking the “Analyzed contracts” link will take you to a complete list of the smart contracts that were examined, along with individual scores for each.

User-Generated Ratings

DAppscout also features user-generated ratings for all DApps, based on a 5-star scale. 

Only users who have completed at least 5 transactions on the relevant chain can leave a rating, ensuring that reviews are genuine and from real users.

DApp Information

Each DApp on DAppscout includes an information box that provides a brief overview in 1-2 sentences, giving you a quick snapshot of what the DApp does. 

This handy feature helps you easily understand the purpose of each DApp before diving in.

Sorting

As a bonus, DAppscout allows you to sort any list of DApps by their security score or user-generated rating. 

This sorting makes it easy to find the most trusted and highest-rated DApps, so you can make informed choices with confidence.

How to Use DAppscout

1. Find Your Chain

To get started with DAppscout on your favorite chain, visit the Blockscout Chains & Projects page.

This page contains a list of all of Blockscout’s supported chains, making it quick to search and select for your network of choice.

From here, simply click on the blockchain you want to use. For this guide, I’m going to keep things simple and go with mainnet Ethereum. 

I scroll down to find Ethereum on the list, hover the cursor over the Ethereum card, and click “Blockscout Explorer.”

This will open the Blockscout explorer for Ethereum mainnet in a new window.

Once this page is open, we can navigate to the DAppscout page specifically, by selecting “DApps ⚡️” in the sidebar on the left.

This is the DAppscout page, where we can get things rolling.

Pro tip: For quicker navigation to any DAppscout page, check out the list of links at the bottom of this article.

Now that I’m here, I’m in a pretty cool DeFi safe space. I click on the “Connect wallet” button in the top-right corner to get started.

As a cool extra feature, you can choose your UI theme using the “Settings” gear icon in the top-right corner, for lighter or darker colors.

2. Pick a DApp

Say I want to use a bridge to get funds from one chain to another, but I don’t know what DApp I need, specifically. I can toggle over to the “Bridge” category tab and see a list of vetted options:

Now, I’m still not so sure what I can trust, or what the best app is… This is where the sorting function comes in handy. I want a safe option, so I’m going to sort by security score:

At just a glance, I can see which protocols have the best SolidityScan safety ratings – of which Omni Bridge is the highest. However, I’d also like to follow community feedback, too. 

I see Synapse has both a high safety rating and a solid 4-star rating from the community, AND it has the little green connection icon. This means that it will connect instantly to my Blockscout-connected wallet, to make things faster.

3. Use the DApp

After clicking on Synapse, it opens within my Blockscout window and automatically connects to my wallet.

As you’ll notice, I still have my Blockscout controls handy on the page: A back button to return to the DApp list, DAppscout info and ratings for the DApp I’m using, as well as quick links for gas, UI settings, and more.

I can conduct my bridging transaction within the window, and then return to the previous DAppscout page when I’m done, by clicking the back arrow.

4. Favorite & Rate It

I had a good experience with Synapse, so I’ll add it to my favorites tab by clicking on the heart icon. I’ll also give it a 5-star rating so that other DAppscout users can benefit.

Now, whenever I connect my wallet to Blockscout, I’ll have a safe link and connection to Synapse ready to go.

This process can be used over and over, letting you easily curate a list of your favorite DApps on each chain.

To Sum It Up

DAppscout is your go-to tool for safely exploring and interacting with DApps across a wide range of blockchains. 

It offers a curated list of top DApps, complete with safety ratings and user reviews, making it easier to find and use the best tools in the DeFi space. 

Whether you’re looking to swap tokens, bridge assets, or engage in other blockchain activities, DAppscout provides a secure and user-friendly platform to do so.

Want to Submit Your Own DApp to DAppscout?

DAppscout makes it easy for any project to get listed, by allowing DApps to fill out a simple form to add their app to the platform. 

Listing is completely free, giving DApps a great opportunity to expand their reach and attract new users. This open approach ensures a diverse and growing selection of DApps for users to explore.

DAppscout Quick Links

Here are some quick links to DAppscout for popular chains. Feel free to bookmark them for easy access, at any time:

• Ethereum: https://eth.blockscout.com/apps 
• Arbitrum: https://arbitrum.blockscout.com/apps 
• Base: https://base.blockscout.com/apps 
• Optimism: https://optimism.blockscout.com/apps 
• Gnosis: https://gnosis.blockscout.com/apps
• Shibarium: https://www.shibariumscan.io/apps 
• Lightlink: https://phoenix.lightlink.io/apps 
• Zetachain: https://zetachain.blockscout.com/apps 
• Mode: https://explorer.mode.network/apps 
• Degen: https://explorer.degen.tips/apps 
• Zora: https://explorer.zora.energy/apps