Tensor Review

How Tensor scores in NFT marketplaces

This entry rates Tensor, the Solana NFT marketplace at tensor.trade and the on-chain programs that settle its trades, in our NFT marketplace ranking. Governance of those programs sits with the Tensor Protocol Foundation, a Cayman foundation, and the TNSR token; the app's own terms sit behind a bot check and could not be read. The basis is desk research of Tensor's trading docs, the foundation's documentation and the tensor-foundation GitHub organization, checked on November 1, 2026. No wallet was connected and nothing was bought or listed. The category uses five equally weighted criteria, each marked 0 to 10, as set out in our ratings methodology.

The overall score is the plain average: (9 + 9 + 9 + 4 + 5) ÷ 5 = 36 ÷ 5 = 7.2. The previous overall was 5.2.

Two marks were changed on November 1, 2026. Licence and code openness rose from 2 to 9 because the foundation's GitHub organization publishes the source of the deployed programs under the Apache-2.0 licence. Verification and audits rose from 2 to 5 because the foundation's audits page now names two audit firms. The earlier entry found neither on the pages it read.

Strongest criteria: fees, royalties and open programs

Fee transparency (9)

The fees page sets one rule. Whoever fills an order pays 2%; whoever placed it pays nothing. A seller who lists is a maker, so a 10 SOL listing filled by a buyer earns the seller 10 SOL while the buyer pays 0.2 SOL in fees on top, plus royalties and network fees. A seller who accepts a 10 SOL bid is the taker and pays the 2%. Tensor's display toggle shows prices from either side. The mark stops at 9 because the fees page carries no date, and the foundation's governance pages show that TNSR holders can vote to change protocol fee parameters.

Royalty policy (9)

Tensor states not only whether royalties are paid but who pays them. On collections with enforced royalties it requires the full rate, always from the taker and never from the maker, and says this is in line with Metaplex's MIP-1 rules for programmable NFTs. On collections with optional royalties, the taker chooses to pay none, half or all of the rate, at checkout or in settings. In a collection with a 5% enforced royalty, a 10 SOL purchase costs the buyer about 10.7 SOL before network fees. The rule is complete and specific. Optional collections still let the taker skip the royalty, which keeps the mark at 9.

Licence & code openness (9)

The tensor-foundation organization publishes repositories for the Marketplace, AMM, Escrow, Whitelist and Fees programs, each under Apache-2.0. The marketplace README gives the program ID TCMPhJdwDryooaGtiocG1u3xcYbRpiJzb283XfCZsDp, and the AMM README gives TAMM6ub33ij1mbetoMyVBLeKY5iP41i4UPUJQGkhfsg, matching the deployed addresses on the foundation's protocols page. A reader can therefore find and reuse the code behind each program. The mark stops at 9 because the foundation's own pages do not link the source or say whether each deployed program matches a verifiable build, so the link has to be made by matching IDs.

Weakest criteria: audits and chain coverage

Verification & audits (5)

The foundation's audits page says Tensor protocols have been audited by OtterSec and Neodyme and links both firms. It gives no dates, does not say which programs or versions were reviewed, and offers reports only on request. That is more than the marketplaces in this category that name no auditor, which score 2, and less than OpenSea and Rarible, which name an auditor and link the report for a 9. A named audit is still not a guarantee against loss. Tensor's whitelist program, which the repository describes as on-chain collection verification, helps a buyer check that an NFT belongs to the collection it claims; copycat collections are common, and our guide to wallet scams and phishing covers related traps.

Chain coverage (4)

Tensor is documented as a Solana marketplace and trades settle in SOL. A single, clearly documented chain earns 4 in this category, the same as Magic Eden on Solana and SuperRare on Ethereum. This is a design choice rather than a disclosure gap, but the criterion measures breadth, and a trader on any other chain cannot use it.

What the score does not cover

• Market-making returns. Tensor's AMM orders carry impermanent loss and pricing risk, which its docs describe; returns are not assessed.
• The TNSR token. Its supply, vesting and governance are outside this rating.
• The app operator. The tensor.trade terms could not be read, so the contracting entity is not stated here.
• Liquidity and execution. Volume and fill quality were not measured.

Tensor vs Magic Eden and OpenSea

Magic Eden, the other long-running Solana marketplace, averages 7.6 on current marks, 0.4 ahead. Both score 9 on fees and royalties and 4 on chains. Magic Eden is a point higher on licence (10 against 9) and audits (6 against 5), where it links Halborn audits. OpenSea, which added Solana NFTs for selected collections in August 2026, scores 8.4. It leads Tensor on chain coverage (8 against 4), licence (10 against 9) and audits (9 against 5), where it links its audit report. Tensor leads on fees and royalties, 9 against OpenSea's 8 and 7.

Who this rating suits

The score describes a Solana marketplace with the clearest fee and royalty rules in the category and open, licensed program code, but audit reports that are not public. It is most useful to a Solana trader or market maker who wants to know exactly who pays which fee and royalty on each fill, and who can read the program source. It is less useful to anyone who needs a published audit report or trades on other chains. The score assesses published documentation and is not a recommendation to buy any NFT.