If  you've worked with Ethereum and then tried Solana, you probably felt  confused by how different everything looks. The account model especially  feels strange. But here's the thing: it's not just different for the  sake of being different. Ethereum and Solana made completely opposite  choices about how to organize data, and these choices matter a lot. Let's break down what makes Solana's account model unique and why it works the way it does. The Big Picture: Two Different Ways of Thinking The best way to understand Ethereum versus Solana is this simple comparison: Ethereum  is like one computer where everything is stored in the same place.  Solana is like an operating system that manages lots of separate files  and folders. Ethereum  is like one computer where everything is stored in the same place.  Solana is like an operating system that manages lots of separate files  and folders. Let me explain what this means in practice. In  Ethereum, things are simple and unified. You have one address (your  public key, which comes from your private key). That single address  holds everything: your ETH, all your tokens, your transaction history.  If I look up your Ethereum address, I can see exactly what you own.  Smart contracts work the same way—they keep all their data stored inside  themselves. Solana  works completely differently. Imagine you have one main wallet, but  attached to it is a keychain with many smaller, specialized wallets.  Each type of thing you own lives in its own separate container. This  isn't just about organizing things neatly—it's a fundamental design  choice that changes how everything works. Why Solana Programs Don't Store Anything Here's something that surprises most people: smart contracts in Solana don't store any data at all. They only contain instructions and logic. smart contracts in Solana don't store any data at all Think  about it this way. In Ethereum, when you create a token contract, it  has two parts: the code that handles transfers, and the storage that  remembers who owns how many tokens. Both parts live together inside the  contract. In  Solana, the program (that's what we call smart contracts here) only has  the logic part. It's just code. The actual data —who owns what, how many  tokens exist, all the important information, it lives somewhere completely  separate. This  is why every Solana developer writes initialization functions. You need  to create separate containers to hold the data because the program  itself won't store anything. The program stays "stateless" (meaning it  has no memory), while special data accounts handle all the storage. This might seem weird at first, but it's actually one of Solana's biggest strengths. We'll see why in a moment. The Five Types of Solana Accounts Solana recognizes five different types of accounts. Each one has a specific job: 1. System Account This  is your everyday wallet—Phantom, Solflare, whatever you use. Your  system account holds your SOL and represents you on the network. It's  also where you pay rent to keep your data alive. In Solana, if you keep a minimum balance (Rent Exempt), you don't actually lose money over time, and you can recover this SOL if you ever close the account. Think of it as your  main identity and your base of operations. 2. Program Account This  is where the smart contract code lives. It's pure executable logic with  zero data storage. Imagine a calculator—it can do math for you, but it  doesn't remember anything after you're done. The program account works  the same way. It's marked as "executable" and contains only the compiled  code. 3. Data Account This  is where everything gets stored. Here's the really important part: even  though you might create a data account and pay for it, you don't  actually own it. The program owns it. Only the program's code can change  what's inside. You can't manipulate it directly, even if you wanted to.  The code controls everything. 4. Associated Token Account (ATA) When  you buy a token, Solana doesn't just add it to your main account.  Instead, the system creates a special Associated Token Account—basically  a dedicated box for that specific token. Every different token you hold  gets its own ATA. And yes, each one requires you to pay rent. This is  why your wallet address looks different when you're receiving different  types of tokens. 5. Program Derived Address (PDA) This  is fascinating. A PDA is an address that holds assets and can do  things, but it has no private key. Nobody controls it—not you, not me,  not anyone. Only the program's code can make it do things. It's like a  vault that only opens when specific conditions in the code are met. No  human has the keys because there are no keys to have. One thing ties all these account types together: code is law. Once the rules are set and the program is deployed, nobody can cheat or change how things work. code is law Why This Breaks What You Know from Ethereum If  you're coming from Ethereum, you probably have certain expectations  about how blockchains work. Solana breaks a lot of these assumptions. Assumption 1: "Data Lives Inside the Contract" In  Ethereum, you look at a token contract and all the balances are stored  right there inside it. You ask the contract a question, and it answers  based on what it knows. In  Solana, the contract doesn't know anything. It has no memory. After you  deploy it, it stores zero data. The information lives in separate data  accounts. The program reads from these accounts and writes to them, but  it never holds onto the information itself. Assumption 2: "One Address Per User" Ethereum  keeps it simple: one address holds everything. Your ETH, your USDC,  your NFTs—all connected to one address that you control with one private  key. It's like having a regular wallet with paper money and coins all  mixed together. Solana  separates everything. Your main address is just the keychain. Each  token lives in its own dedicated compartment with its own address.  You're not carrying one wallet—you're carrying a keychain with lots of  small specialized wallets, each holding one type of thing. Assumption 3: "You Need Private Keys for Everything" In  Ethereum, if you want to move something or change something, you must  sign with your private key. That's how access control works—you either  have the key or you don't. Solana  has PDAs—addresses with no private keys that can still hold and move  assets. Control is purely based on program logic. This enables things  that are impossible in Ethereum. A smart contract can hold funds with  literally zero risk of someone stealing the private key, because there  is no private key to steal. Assumption 4: "Transactions Happen One at a Time" Ethereum  processes transactions sequentially—one completes, then the next one  starts. Everything shares the same state, so you can only do one thing  at a time. It's single-threaded. Solana  uses something called Sealevel that separates programs and data. This  means the system knows exactly which accounts each transaction will  touch. If two transactions don't overlap in what they're accessing, they  can run at the same time. Solana can process thousands of transactions  in parallel without them conflicting with each other. Wrapping Up Solana's  account model isn't just a different implementation of the same idea.  It's a completely different way of thinking about how a blockchain  should work. By  separating code from data, creating multiple types of accounts, and  allowing parallel execution, Solana makes different trade-offs than  Ethereum. Neither approach is "better"—they're just different, with  different strengths and weaknesses. If  you're building on Solana, you need to forget some of what you learned  from Ethereum. The one-address model doesn't apply here. Smart contracts  don't store data. Private keys aren't the only way to control things.  Transactions don't always wait in line. These  aren't just technical details. They're design choices that change what  you can build and how you need to think about security. The "operating  system" approach of Solana needs a different mental model than the  "unified computer" approach of Ethereum. Understanding this difference is your starting point for actually building something solid on Solana.

Understanding Solana Account Models

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

3moji NFTs: Upgradeable NFT Avatars and NFT Emojis on Solana

4 BEST Crypto Coins To Invest In 2022

67 Stories To Learn About Solana

7 Innovations that Make Us the World's First Web Scale Blockchain

A Brief Discourse About the Solana Hack

A Solana Transaction is Almost as Low Impact as a Google Search and Requires Much Less Energy

3moji NFTs: Upgradeable NFT Avatars and NFT Emojis on Solana

4 BEST Crypto Coins To Invest In 2022

67 Stories To Learn About Solana

7 Innovations that Make Us the World's First Web Scale Blockchain

A Brief Discourse About the Solana Hack

A Solana Transaction is Almost as Low Impact as a Google Search and Requires Much Less Energy

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Minty

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps