Pimlico excels at providing a modular, developer-first toolkit for teams building custom wallet experiences. Its core strength is the Paymaster-as-a-Service, which processed over 3.5 million user operations in a single month, demonstrating massive scale. By offering unbundled components like the permissionless.js SDK and a robust bundler, it gives developers fine-grained control to integrate with any smart account standard, including Safe, ZeroDev, and its own. This makes it ideal for protocols like Aevo and Friend.tech that require deep, flexible integration.
LABS
Comparisons
Pimlico vs Biconomy: ERC-4337 Account Abstraction Tooling
A technical analysis comparing Pimlico and Biconomy as infrastructure providers for implementing ERC-4337 account abstraction, focusing on bundler performance, paymaster services, SDK support, and cost structures for engineering teams.
Chainscore © 2026
introduction
THE ANALYSIS
Introduction: The ERC-4337 Infrastructure Battle
A data-driven comparison of Pimlico and Biconomy, the leading platforms providing critical infrastructure for ERC-4337 account abstraction.
Biconomy takes a different approach by offering a fully managed, end-to-end Smart Account stack. This strategy results in faster time-to-market through its all-in-one dashboard, bundled gas sponsorship, and simplified APIs like @biconomy/account. The trade-off is less architectural flexibility compared to a modular setup. Biconomy's network handles significant volume, powering over 1.1 million unique smart accounts, and is trusted by dApps like Decentraland and Torus that prioritize rapid deployment and user onboarding over granular infrastructure control.
The key trade-off: If your priority is maximum control, modularity, and integration depth for a bespoke wallet experience, choose Pimlico. If you prioritize speed of deployment, a managed service, and abstracted complexity to launch quickly, choose Biconomy.
tldr-summary
Pimlico vs Biconomy
TL;DR: Core Differentiators
Key strengths and trade-offs at a glance for the leading ERC-4337 infrastructure providers.
01
Pimlico: Unmatched Bundler Performance
Specific advantage: Operates the most performant public bundler, pimlico.io, with sub-second latency and 99.9%+ uptime. This matters for high-frequency dApps (e.g., gaming, trading) where user experience depends on transaction speed and reliability.
< 1 sec
Avg. Bundle Latency
99.9%
Uptime SLA
02
Pimlico: Modular & Protocol-Native
Specific advantage: Offers a decoupled, best-in-class stack (bundler, paymaster, userop indexer). This matters for protocols and large teams who need fine-grained control, want to avoid vendor lock-in, and prefer to integrate directly with the ERC-4337 standard.
03
Biconomy: Simplified Full-Stack Solution
Specific advantage: Provides a unified SDK (@biconomy/account) and dashboard that abstracts away ERC-4337 complexity. This matters for rapid prototyping and mid-market dApps (e.g., NFT platforms, social apps) where developer speed and a managed service are prioritized over infrastructure granularity.
04
Biconomy: Gas Abstraction & Sponsorship
Specific advantage: Pioneered gasless transaction experiences with its mature paymaster network, supporting flexible sponsorship models (full, partial, subscription). This matters for onboarding mainstream users and enterprises that require predictable billing and user fee management.
50M+
Gasless Transactions
HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON
Pimlico vs Biconomy: ERC-4337 Tooling Comparison
Direct comparison of key metrics and features for leading ERC-4337 infrastructure providers.
| Metric / Feature | Pimlico | Biconomy |
|---|---|---|
Bundler Service Type | Private Mempool | Public Mempool |
Paymaster Gas Sponsorship | ||
Native Account Abstraction SDK | ||
Smart Account Client (Viem/ethers) | Permissionless | |
Avg. UserOp Gas Cost Premium | 5-10% | 10-20% |
Multi-Chain Support (Networks) | 10+ | 15+ |
Custom Paymaster Logic | Fully Programmable | Pre-built Templates |
pros-cons-a
PROS AND CONS
Pimlico vs Biconomy: ERC-4337 Tooling Comparison
Key strengths and trade-offs for the leading Account Abstraction infrastructure providers.
01
Pimlico Pro: Superior Bundler Performance
Specific advantage: Benchmarks show Pimlico's bundler (Rundler) consistently achieves lower latency (< 500ms) and higher reliability (99.9%+ uptime) than public alternatives. This matters for high-frequency dApps like gaming or trading where user operation speed is critical.
02
Pimlico Pro: Modular & Transparent Paymaster
Specific advantage: Offers a verifying paymaster for secure, non-custodial gas sponsorship and a token paymaster supporting USDC, USDT, and native tokens. This matters for protocols requiring flexible, auditable subsidy models without locking funds in a managed service.
03
Biconomy Pro: Simplified All-in-One SDK
Specific advantage: Biconomy's @biconomy/account SDK provides a single, opinionated abstraction layer, reducing integration complexity. This matters for teams launching quickly who want a managed, batteries-included solution for bundling, paymaster, and smart accounts.
04
Biconomy Pro: Cross-Chain Gas Abstraction
Specific advantage: Native support for gasless transactions across 10+ chains (Polygon, Arbitrum, Base) via a unified dashboard. This matters for multi-chain dApps seeking a single provider to handle sponsored transactions everywhere, simplifying operations.
05
Pimlico Con: Steeper Learning Curve
Specific trade-off: Its modular approach (choosing separate bundler, paymaster, signer) requires deeper ERC-4337 knowledge vs. an integrated stack. This matters for smaller teams or hackathon projects where development speed outweighs granular control.
06
Biconomy Con: Less Bundler Flexibility
Specific trade-off: Uses a managed, proprietary bundler service, limiting ability to run self-hosted or customize bundling logic. This matters for enterprise or compliance-heavy applications that require full control over transaction sequencing and data sovereignty.
pros-cons-b
Pimlico vs Biconomy
Biconomy: Pros and Cons
Key strengths and trade-offs for ERC-4337 Account Abstraction tooling at a glance.
01
Biconomy's Key Strength: Full-Stack Simplicity
Managed Bundler & Paymaster as a Service: Offers a fully integrated, production-ready stack with a single API. This eliminates the operational overhead of managing infrastructure, making it ideal for teams launching quickly or those without dedicated blockchain DevOps.
02
Biconomy's Key Strength: Gas Abstraction & Sponsorship
Robust Gas Tank & Policy Engine: Provides a mature, multi-chain paymaster service with advanced sponsorship rules (e.g., allowlists, gasless transactions). This is critical for dApps driving user onboarding (like gaming or social apps) where absorbing predictable gas costs is a core product feature.
03
Biconomy's Key Trade-off: Vendor Lock-in Risk
Proprietary Bundler & Bundler API: While convenient, Biconomy's managed services create dependency. Migrating away requires re-architecting your bundler integration. This is a significant consideration for protocols prioritizing long-term sovereignty and flexibility.
04
Biconomy's Key Trade-off: Cost Structure
Service-Based Pricing Model: Costs scale with transaction volume through Biconomy's paymaster, rather than just raw RPC calls. For high-volume applications with simple sponsorship needs, this can become more expensive than a self-hosted or modular alternative like Pimlico's Perks.
05
Pimlico's Key Strength: Modularity & Control
Pluggable, Open-Source Stack: Pimlico's permissionless.js and userop.js are designed for granular control. You can mix-and-match bundlers (e.g., run your own, use Pimlico's, or another's) and paymasters. This is optimal for engineering teams needing fine-tuned performance and infrastructure ownership.
06
Pimlico's Key Strength: Developer Experience & SDK
Best-in-Class TypeScript Tooling: Pimlico's SDKs (like permissionless.js) offer superior type safety, local development environments (e.g., @account-abstraction/boa), and seamless integration with popular frameworks. This drastically reduces integration time for teams building complex, custom smart accounts.
CHOOSE YOUR PRIORITY
Decision Framework: When to Choose Which
Pimlico for Developers
Verdict: The choice for maximum control and customizability. Strengths: Pimlico's modular, open-source SDK (Permissionless.js) allows deep integration and fine-tuning of the entire ERC-4337 stack. Developers can choose their own bundler (e.g., Skandha), paymaster (e.g., Verifying Paymaster for gas sponsorship), and account factory. This is ideal for protocols like Aave or Uniswap that need to embed specific AA logic directly into their dApp's smart contracts. The Pimlico APIs provide direct, low-level access for building complex transaction flows. Key Metric: Full control over the UserOperation lifecycle and gas policies.
Biconomy for Developers
Verdict: The fastest path to production with managed services. Strengths: Biconomy's Smart Accounts and Paymaster APIs are fully managed, abstracting away the complexity of bundlers and paymaster infrastructure. Their dashboard and SDKs enable rapid integration, often in hours. This is perfect for teams building consumer dApps, NFT platforms like OpenSea, or gaming projects that prioritize developer velocity over deep customization. Features like gasless transactions and session keys are available out-of-the-box. Key Metric: Time-to-market and reduced operational overhead.
PIMLICO VS BICONOMY
Technical Deep Dive: Architecture and Trade-offs
A data-driven comparison of two leading ERC-4337 infrastructure providers, focusing on architectural decisions, performance trade-offs, and optimal use cases for protocol builders.
It depends on the network and bundler strategy. Pimlico's VerifyingPaymaster on Optimism or Arbitrum can offer near-zero sponsorship costs by leveraging Layer 2 efficiency. Biconomy's Gasless paymaster often provides predictable, flat-rate pricing but may have higher margins on mainnet. For cost-sensitive apps on L2s, Pimlico's modular stack can be cheaper. For enterprises needing fixed, simple billing across chains, Biconomy's bundled service can be more economical.
Key Metric: Pimlico's VerifyingPaymaster transaction cost can be <$0.001 on Optimism, while Biconomy's mainnet gasless tx often starts at ~$0.50.
verdict
THE ANALYSIS
Final Verdict and Recommendation
A decisive breakdown of which ERC-4337 infrastructure provider aligns with your protocol's core requirements.
Pimlico excels at providing granular, developer-centric control and composability. Its modular approach, with distinct services like pimlico-bundler and pimlico-paymaster, allows teams to integrate only the components they need, fostering a bespoke stack. This is evidenced by its adoption by leading protocols like Aave and Uniswap, which require deep integration flexibility. Pimlico's Permissionless bundler network also ensures censorship resistance, a critical feature for decentralized applications.
Biconomy takes a different approach by prioritizing a streamlined, all-in-one SDK and a managed service layer. Its Biconomy Smart Account and Paymaster are tightly integrated, offering a faster path to market with less operational overhead. This results in a trade-off: superior developer experience and speed for teams new to AA, but less flexibility to swap out individual infrastructure components compared to Pimlico's modular suite.
The key trade-off is control versus convenience. If your priority is maximum flexibility, censorship resistance, and building a custom user operation flow (e.g., for a novel DeFi protocol), choose Pimlico. Its modularity and permissionless bundler are decisive. If you prioritize rapid deployment, managed gas sponsorship, and an opinionated, full-stack SDK (e.g., for a gaming or social dApp seeking quick user onboarding), choose Biconomy. Its bundled offering reduces initial complexity significantly.
ENQUIRY
Get In Touch
today.
Our experts will offer a free quote and a 30min call to discuss your project.
NDA Protected
Confidentiality24h Response
Time to ValueDirectly to Engineering Team
No Sales Fluff10+
Protocols Shipped
$20M+
TVL Overall