Looking to understand decentralized storage? Today, let's discuss the four main mainstream solutions.

**IPFS is infrastructure but lacks token incentives**

IPFS is essentially a foundational protocol stack. It uses content hashes(CID) to address data and finds storage nodes via a distributed hash table(DHT). It sounds impressive, but in reality, it relies on nodes voluntarily storing data—that is, everyone helps "pin" data out of good conscience. This model lacks economic incentives, so nodes may go offline at any time, and data persistence is not guaranteed.

**Filecoin adds blockchain and incentive layers**

Filecoin's cleverness lies here—it layers a blockchain and economic incentives on top of IPFS. Miners are no longer voluntary storage providers; they prove their storage via proofs of replication(PoRep) and proofs of spacetime(PoSt) to demonstrate "I have indeed stored your data." If the proof passes, they earn FIL. Prices are determined entirely by supply and demand, creating a truly open storage market.

**Arweave takes a different approach**

Arweave employs a "Proof of Access"(PoA) mechanism. Miners must periodically prove they can access randomly selected historical block data—this design forces miners to retain the entire history. Its economic model is more aggressive: users pay once, and data is stored permanently. Costs are subsidized through storage donations and donation pools. It sounds attractive, but it puts significant storage cost pressure on miners.

**Walrus is designed specifically for Rollups and high-availability applications**

Walrus takes a more specialized route. It uses data availability sampling(DAS) and erasure coding techniques, allowing light nodes to verify data availability through random sampling. This architecture is tightly integrated with blockchain, especially working seamlessly with data availability layers like Celestia. Walrus mainly serves Rollups and high-availability DApps, focusing on throughput and low latency as core optimization goals.

**Which one to choose? It depends on the scenario**

IPFS is suitable for developers and all projects as a foundational tool, such as storing metadata for NFT projects; Filecoin is suitable for applications requiring long-term, reliable storage; Arweave is ideal for content creators and permanent record-keeping; Walrus is a high-performance solution tailored for on-chain applications. There is no absolute good or bad—key is matching the solution to the scenario.