Liquid Staking Calculator
Free Liquid Staking Calculator. Compare liquid staking protocols — Lido, Rocket Pool, Coinbase, Frax — by yield and fees.
Protocol Comparison
APY rates fluctuate. Protocol fees and LST premiums change with market conditions. Not financial advice.
How to use Liquid Staking Calculator
The Liquid Staking Calculator compares yields and fee structures across major liquid staking protocols. Enter your ETH amount and select a protocol — the tool shows the net APY after protocol fees, your projected annual rewards in ETH, the current LST exchange rate, and the effective cost of using liquid staking versus running your own validator.
Liquid staking tokens (LSTs) like stETH represent your staked position while remaining transferable and usable in DeFi. The calculator helps you evaluate the opportunity cost: you earn staking rewards while simultaneously providing liquidity on Curve/Uniswap or depositing into lending protocols like Aave, effectively stacking yield on top of yield.
Input guide and assumptions
The ETH amount is the quantity you want to stake. Protocol selection (Lido, Rocket Pool, Coinbase, etc.) determines the fee rate and current APY. Each protocol takes a different cut: Lido charges 10% of rewards, Rocket Pool takes 5–20% depending on node operator terms.
Optional DeFi yield inputs let you model combined strategies — e.g., staking via Lido (3.4% APY) then depositing stETH into Aave (additional ~1–2% supply APY). The output shows gross rewards, protocol fees, net rewards, and total combined APY across your stacked strategy.
How to interpret results correctly
The hero figure is Net Staking Yield in ETH — your gross rewards after the protocol skims its fee. Read it next to Net APY, which is simply the native APY multiplied by one minus the fee rate, so Lido's 2.9% at a 10% fee becomes about 2.61%. Net Staking Yield only reaches its full value at 365 days; shorter durations scale linearly because the engine multiplies by days over 365.
Below the hero, Gross Staking Yield shows rewards before fees and Protocol Fee Cost shows what the operator takes, so the two always reconcile to the net. LST Tokens Received reflects the premium or discount: a -0.05% premium on 10 ETH mints slightly fewer than 10 stETH, while a positive figure mints more. DeFi Composability Value is a separate add-on — extra ETH if you redeploy the liquid token at the second APY you entered, not part of the base staking return.
Practical scenarios and planning workflow
The core use case is picking a provider: load 10 ETH, set 365 days, and tap through Lido, Rocket Pool, Coinbase, and Frax to watch the Protocol Comparison table reorder by net APY. Coinbase's 25% fee usually drags it last even when its native APY looks fine, which is exactly the lesson the table teaches. Pair it with the <a href="/staking-calculator/">staking calculator</a> when you want to compare locked native staking against a liquid token you can move.
The second workflow models composability. Stake with Frax for the highest base, then enter a realistic DeFi Composability APY for the venue where you'd lend or LP the LST. The DeFi Composability Value row shows the bonus ETH that layer adds. Sanity-check that second yield against the <a href="/apy-apr-calculator/">APY/APR calculator</a>, since lending rates are quoted in many conventions and an inflated figure makes liquid staking look better than it is.
Risk and execution checklist
- Before committing: 1) Set the real ETH amount and the exact horizon in days, not a vague 'one year'. 2) Override Native APY with the provider's current live rate, since the presets are dated snapshots. 3) Confirm the Protocol Fee matches the operator's published commission. 4) Enter the true LST Premium/Discount from the secondary market, because a token trading below peg shrinks the LST Tokens Received you actually control.
- After calculating: check that the DeFi Composability APY you typed is a yield you can genuinely capture, not a teaser rate. Liquid staking's whole pitch is that the LST stays usable, so confirm the lending or LP venue accepts that specific token. Then compare Net APY across all four rows in the table and only proceed when the leader's edge survives a small fee or premium change — re-run after any rate move rather than trusting one snapshot.
Common mistakes to avoid
- The most common error is comparing native APYs and ignoring fees. Coinbase can post a competitive headline rate, but its 25% commission gives it the lowest Net APY of the four, while Lido and Frax keep more for you at 10%. Always read the Protocol Comparison column, which is already net of fees, instead of the raw APY you might see advertised elsewhere.
- The second mistake is double-counting the LST premium and treating DeFi Composability Value as guaranteed. The premium only affects how many tokens you receive, not your ETH-denominated yield, and the composability bonus assumes you actively redeploy the LST at the second APY — it is zero if you simply hold. Leaving a stale 5% composability figure in place inflates the result for a strategy you may never execute.
Performance benchmarks and expectation ranges
Post-cycle ETH staking yields have normalized to roughly 2.5–3.5% native, which is why the presets sit there: Lido 2.9%, Rocket Pool 2.8%, Coinbase 2.5%, Frax 3.2%. Protocol fees cluster around 10% for decentralized operators and rise to 25% for some custodial providers. After fees, expect a realistic Net APY band of about 1.9–2.9% on ETH in a calm market — anything far above that signals an incentive-boosted or unsustainable rate.
LST premiums and discounts on liquid tokens typically stay within roughly ±0.5% of peg in normal conditions, widening during stress or withdrawal queues. DeFi composability adds whatever the lending or LP venue pays, commonly another 1–5% on stablecoin-paired strategies. Validate any composability assumption with the <a href="/impermanent-loss-calculator/">impermanent loss calculator</a> if the LST sits in a volatile pool, because that drag can erase the bonus.
Execution templates you can reuse
Workflow: 1) Enter your real ETH and horizon. 2) Tap each protocol preset to populate its current APY, fee, and premium. 3) Replace any stale preset value with a live figure from the provider. 4) Read Net APY and Net Staking Yield for each, using the Protocol Comparison table to rank them. 5) Add a DeFi Composability APY only if you will actually redeploy the token, then total the base yield with the composability value.
Treat the comparison as a shortlist, not a verdict. The calculator ranks by net yield, but execution depends on liquidity, withdrawal time, and smart-contract risk it cannot model. Once you pick a route, project the same net APY forward with the <a href="/compound-calculator/">compound calculator</a> if you intend to re-stake rewards, since this tool computes a single simple-interest period rather than compounded growth.
Data hygiene and model maintenance
Refresh the Native APY and Protocol Fee inputs whenever you re-open the tool — the presets are pinned to a 2026-05-03 snapshot and ETH yields drift with validator queue length and total stake. A figure that was accurate last quarter can be off by 30–50 basis points now, which quietly reorders the Protocol Comparison table and changes which provider actually wins.
Keep the LST Premium/Discount in sync with the live secondary-market price rather than the default near-zero value, especially during volatility or withdrawal congestion when tokens can trade meaningfully off peg. Log the net APY you assumed against the rewards you actually receive each period; a persistent gap usually means the operator changed its fee or your composability venue cut its rate.
Final validation before capital deployment
Sanity-check the headline against the formula the engine uses: Net Staking Yield equals ETH × (Native APY ÷ 100) × (days ÷ 365) × (1 − fee ÷ 100). For 10 ETH at 2.9% APY, 365 days, and a 10% fee, gross is about 0.29 ETH and net about 0.261 ETH. If your number diverges, an input is wrong — usually the duration or a fee entered as a decimal instead of a percent.
Cross-check Net APY directly: it is native APY times (1 − fee), independent of amount or duration, so 2.9% at 10% fee must read 2.61% on every position size. Confirm Gross Staking Yield minus Protocol Fee Cost equals Net Staking Yield, and verify DeFi Composability Value uses ETH × (composability APY ÷ 100) × (days ÷ 365). If the composability row looks too large, the second APY is the culprit, not the base stake.
Authoritative sources
Frequently asked questions
What is liquid staking and how does it work?
You deposit ETH (or SOL/MATIC) into a protocol like Lido, which stakes it via professional validators and gives you a tradeable receipt token (stETH, mSOL, stMATIC). The token accrues staking rewards via a rebase or exchange-rate mechanism, and you can sell, lend, or use it as DeFi collateral while still earning yield.
What APY do liquid staking tokens earn?
stETH (Lido): ~2.9% APY net of 10% protocol fee. rETH (Rocket Pool): ~3.0% APY net of 14% commission (lower because some commission goes to RPL stakers). mSOL (Marinade): ~6.0% APY net. JitoSOL: ~7.5% (boosted by MEV revenue). Always compare net APY and check whether the token rebases (stETH) or appreciates against ETH (rETH, cbETH).
Liquid staking vs solo staking — what's the trade-off?
Solo staking: 3.2% APY on 32 ETH, you control keys, full slashing exposure ($2,300+ per slash event). Liquid staking: 2.9% APY (10% commission), no minimum, instant exit via DEX (1–5% slippage), but you take protocol/smart-contract risk. Lido has $30B+ TVL and zero slashing-related token loss to date, but a single Solidity bug could be catastrophic.
What's the most common liquid-staking mistake?
Looping leverage too aggressively. The classic stETH/ETH loop: deposit stETH on Aave, borrow ETH, swap to stETH, redeposit — repeat 5×. This boosts yield to 8–12% APY but if stETH depegs (it traded at 0.93 ETH for weeks in June 2022), you get liquidated and lose your entire principal. Cap loops at 2× leverage and monitor the stETH/ETH peg daily.
Lido vs Rocket Pool vs Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH — which is best?
Lido (stETH): largest, deepest liquidity, 10% fee, somewhat centralized (32% of all ETH staked). Rocket Pool (rETH): more decentralized (3,000+ node operators), 14% commission, slightly lower TVL. Coinbase (cbETH): regulated US option, 25% commission (highest), best for compliance-conscious users. For pure yield, Rocket Pool wins on decentralization, Lido on liquidity.
Are liquid staking rewards taxable?
In the US, the IRS hasn't issued explicit guidance for rebasing tokens like stETH, but most CPAs treat the daily rebase as ordinary income at fair market value. Exchange-rate tokens (rETH, cbETH) are debated: arguably no taxable event until you sell, since you receive no new tokens. UK HMRC treats all staking yield as miscellaneous income at receipt.
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