zkSync Era vs Starknet

Which is more decentralized — zkSync Era or Starknet? A side-by-side on consensus, nodes, clients and governance.

	zkSync Era	Starknet
Grade	C-	C
Type	L2 · ZK rollup	L2 · ZK rollup
Nakamoto / stage	Stage 0	Stage 1
Node / validator set	Inherits Ethereum security (Stage 0)	Inherits Ethereum security
Clients / sequencer	Single sequencer (Matter Labs)	Single sequencer (StarkWare)
Governance	Token + Matter Labs	Starknet governance (token + council)
Key risk	Operator-dependent (Stage 0)	Centralized sequencer

zkSync Era C-

Validity (ZK) proofs
Native account abstraction
Large ecosystem & ZK tech

L2BEAT Stage 0 (operator-dependent exits)
Centralized sequencer & prover

Starknet C

Validity proofs (no challenge window)
L2BEAT Stage 1
Native account abstraction

Centralized sequencer & prover
Smaller ecosystem than OP/Arbitrum

Bottom line

Good cryptography, but still Stage 0 — the weakest exit guarantees among major L2s here. Strong cryptographic guarantees; operational decentralization is in progress.