Royalty Standards: EIP-2981 vs Custom Smart Contract Implementations

EIP-2981 excels at ecosystem-wide interoperability because it's a simple, widely-adopted interface. For example, major marketplaces like OpenSea, Blur, and LooksRare automatically recognize and respect EIP-2981 royalties, providing immediate coverage for creators. Its lightweight royaltyInfo function is integrated into over 1.5 million contracts, making it the de facto standard for broad compatibility. However, its simplicity is a constraint, offering only a static recipient and percentage, which can limit complex business logic.

Custom Smart Contract Implementations take a different approach by embedding royalty logic directly into the NFT's core contract or a dedicated manager. This strategy results in maximum flexibility and control, enabling features like dynamic rates, split payments, time-based rules, or on-chain enforcement mechanisms. Protocols like Manifold and Art Blocks use custom systems to tailor royalty flows to their specific creator economies. The trade-off is fragmentation; each custom implementation requires bespoke integration from every marketplace and tool, increasing development overhead and potentially reducing liquidity.

The key trade-off: If your priority is maximizing liquidity and minimizing integration friction across the entire NFT ecosystem, choose EIP-2981. If you prioritize granular control, complex royalty logic, and are building a vertically-integrated platform with the resources to drive marketplace adoption of your custom standard, choose a Custom Implementation. The decision ultimately hinges on whether you value universal compatibility or sovereign control over your economic layer.

EIP-2981 excels at ecosystem-wide interoperability and gas efficiency because it's a simple, single-function interface adopted by major marketplaces like OpenSea and Blur. For example, integrating with a new marketplace that supports EIP-2981 requires zero additional work, and the gas overhead for the royalty lookup is minimal, often under 30k gas. This widespread adoption has made it the de facto baseline, protecting royalties across a multi-billion dollar NFT market.

Custom Smart Contract Implementations take a different approach by embedding complex logic directly into the token contract. This results in superior control and flexibility—enabling features like dynamic royalty tiers, time-based splits, or on-chain enforcement—but at the cost of portability and higher deployment gas. Projects like Manifold's Royalty Registry use custom logic to create a more robust, upgradeable system, but require each marketplace to build specific integrations.

The key trade-off: If your priority is maximizing marketplace coverage and minimizing friction for a standard revenue share, choose EIP-2981. It's the safe, efficient choice for most NFT collections. If you prioritize granular control, complex distribution logic, or need to enforce royalties on non-compliant marketplaces, choose a Custom Implementation. This path is essential for high-value IP or sophisticated DAO treasury models but demands more engineering resources and proactive partnership building.