The Solana Mental Model vs. EVM

If you come from Ethereum, the biggest shift is where state lives. EVM contracts bundle code and storage. Solana separates programs (code) from accounts (data). This drives parallelism, account sizing, and security patterns.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

EVM Concept	Solana Equivalent
Contract	Program (executable account)
Contract storage	Data accounts owned by a program
`msg.sender`	Signer account in `Accounts` struct
Contract address	Program ID (or PDA for derived state)
`mapping`	Multiple accounts keyed by seeds
Gas	Compute units (CU) + priority fees

When to reach for this:

Porting an EVM dapp architecture to Solana
Explaining Solana to Ethereum-native teammates
Designing account layouts instead of storage mappings
Understanding why transactions list all accounts explicitly
Avoiding "single contract owns everything" anti-patterns

Working Example

use anchor_lang::prelude::*;
 
declare_id!("Fg6PaFpoGXkYsidMpWTK6W2BeZ7FEfcYkg476zPFsLnS");
 
// EVM equivalent: contract UserProfile { mapping(address => Profile) profiles; }
// Solana: each profile is its own account, owned by this program
 
#[account]
pub struct UserProfile {
    pub authority: Pubkey,
    pub name: String,
    pub score: u64,
}
 
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct CreateProfile<'info> {
    #[account(
        init,
        payer = authority,
        space = 8 + 32 + (4 + 32) + 8,
        seeds = [b"profile", authority.key().as_ref()],
        bump,
    )]
    pub profile: Account<'info, UserProfile>,
    #[account(mut)]
    pub authority: Signer<'info>,
    pub system_program: Program<'info, System>,
}
 
#[program]
pub mod profiles {
    use super::*;
 
    pub fn create_profile(ctx: Context<CreateProfile>, name: String) -> Result<()> {
        let profile = &mut ctx.accounts.profile;
        profile.authority = ctx.accounts.authority.key();
        profile.name = name;
        profile.score = 0;
        Ok(())
    }
}

What this demonstrates:

State is a separate UserProfile account, not storage inside the program
PDA seeds (b"profile", authority) replace mapping(address => Profile)
init creates and funds the account with rent-exempt lamports
The program is stateless - it only reads/writes accounts passed in the instruction

Deep Dive

How It Works

Programs are bytecode in executable accounts. They do not store application data.
Data accounts hold serialized bytes. A program writes only to accounts it owns.
Transactions declare every account touched across all instructions.
Sealevel schedules non-conflicting transactions in parallel based on account locks.

EVM vs Solana Comparison

Aspect	EVM	Solana
State location	Inside contract	Separate accounts
Parallelism	Sequential per contract	Parallel across non-overlapping accounts
Account model	Contract has balance + storage	Every entity is an account
Upgradeability	Proxy patterns	Upgradeable loader (BPF Upgradeable)
Identity	Contract address	Program ID + PDAs

Design Implications

Size accounts upfront (or realloc) - no unbounded mappings
Pass all accounts explicitly - no CALL with implicit context
Use PDAs as deterministic account addresses per user/entity
Programs validate ownership on every instruction

Rust Notes

// EVM: require(msg.sender == owner)
// Solana: constraint on Accounts struct
#[account(has_one = authority)]
pub data: Account<'info, MyData>,
pub authority: Signer<'info>,

Gotchas

One big account for all users - hits size limits and prevents parallelism. Fix: one account per user/entity with PDA seeds.
Expecting implicit caller context - Solana has no msg.sender global. Fix: pass signer accounts and validate with constraints.
Calling programs without declaring accounts - transactions fail at runtime. Fix: list every account the callee needs in the transaction.
Storing balances inside program binary - impossible; programs are read-only executables. Fix: use token accounts or lamport balances on data accounts.
Assuming atomic cross-program state - CPI shares the transaction's account locks. Fix: design instructions so all needed accounts are in one transaction.
Ignoring rent - accounts need lamport deposits. Fix: fund accounts to rent-exempt minimum at creation.

Alternatives

Alternative	Use When	Don't Use When
PDA-per-entity	User-specific state	Global config (use single PDA)
Zero-copy accounts	Large datasets, CU savings	Small structs where Borsh is fine
State compression	Millions of NFTs/holders	Frequently mutated hot state
EVM on Solana (Alloy/SVM experiments)	Legacy Solidity port	Greenfield Solana-native apps

FAQs

Where does my program store data on Solana?

In separate accounts that your program owns. The program itself holds only executable bytecode.

What replaces an EVM mapping?

PDAs derived from seeds (e.g., [b"user", user_pubkey]). Each entry is its own account.

Is there a Solana equivalent of msg.sender?

The signer account passed to your instruction. Validate it with Signer<'info> or has_one constraints.

Can two programs write the same account?

Only the owner program can write data. Other programs can read if the account is passed and marked writable by the owner program via CPI.

Why must transactions list all accounts upfront?

Sealevel uses the account list to schedule parallel execution and enforce lock rules before execution begins.

Do Solana programs have balances?

Program accounts hold lamports for rent but application token/SOL balances live in user/token accounts, not in the program.

How does upgradeability compare to EVM proxies?

Solana uses the BPF Upgradeable Loader - a program buffer and program data account. Authority can deploy new bytecode.

What replaces ERC-20 on Solana?

SPL Token program with mint and token accounts. Not a per-token contract.

Is gas the same as compute units?

Similar concept. CU measures on-chain compute. Fees include base signature cost plus priority fee for CU price.

Can I deploy one program per user like factory contracts?

Technically yes but wasteful. Use one program with many data accounts (PDAs) per user instead.

How do events work compared to EVM logs?

Programs emit logs via msg! and Anchor emit!. Clients parse transaction logs - there is no persistent log store on-chain.

Does Solana have contract constructors?

No. Use an init instruction that creates and configures accounts on first use.

Solana Basics - account model overview
How a Transaction Flows - transaction-centric design
SOL, Lamports & Units - native currency handling

Stack versions: This page was written for Agave 4.1.1, Solana CLI 3.0.10, Anchor 0.32.1, anchor-lang 0.32.1, Rust 1.91.1, @solana/kit 7.0.0, Surfpool 0.12.0, and LiteSVM 0.6.x.

The Solana Mental Model vs. EVM

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

EVM Concept	Solana Equivalent
Contract	Program (executable account)
Contract storage	Data accounts owned by a program
`msg.sender`	Signer account in `Accounts` struct
Contract address	Program ID (or PDA for derived state)
`mapping`	Multiple accounts keyed by seeds
Gas	Compute units (CU) + priority fees

When to reach for this:

Porting an EVM dapp architecture to Solana
Explaining Solana to Ethereum-native teammates
Designing account layouts instead of storage mappings
Understanding why transactions list all accounts explicitly
Avoiding "single contract owns everything" anti-patterns

Working Example

use anchor_lang::prelude::*;
 
declare_id!("Fg6PaFpoGXkYsidMpWTK6W2BeZ7FEfcYkg476zPFsLnS");
 
// EVM equivalent: contract UserProfile { mapping(address => Profile) profiles; }
// Solana: each profile is its own account, owned by this program
 
#[account]
pub struct UserProfile {
    pub authority: Pubkey,
    pub name: String,
    pub score: u64,
}
 
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct CreateProfile<'info> {
    #[account(
        init,
        payer = authority,
        space = 8 + 32 + (4 + 32) + 8,
        seeds = [b"profile", authority.key().as_ref()],
        bump,
    )]
    pub profile: Account<'info, UserProfile>,
    #[account(mut)]
    pub authority: Signer<'info>,
    pub system_program: Program<'info, System>,
}
 
#[program]
pub mod profiles {
    use super::*;
 
    pub fn create_profile(ctx: Context<CreateProfile>, name: String) -> Result<()> {
        let profile = &mut ctx.accounts.profile;
        profile.authority = ctx.accounts.authority.key();
        profile.name = name;
        profile.score = 0;
        Ok(())
    }
}

What this demonstrates:

State is a separate UserProfile account, not storage inside the program
PDA seeds (b"profile", authority) replace mapping(address => Profile)
init creates and funds the account with rent-exempt lamports
The program is stateless - it only reads/writes accounts passed in the instruction

Deep Dive

How It Works

Programs are bytecode in executable accounts. They do not store application data.
Data accounts hold serialized bytes. A program writes only to accounts it owns.
Transactions declare every account touched across all instructions.
Sealevel schedules non-conflicting transactions in parallel based on account locks.

EVM vs Solana Comparison

Aspect	EVM	Solana
State location	Inside contract	Separate accounts
Parallelism	Sequential per contract	Parallel across non-overlapping accounts
Account model	Contract has balance + storage	Every entity is an account
Upgradeability	Proxy patterns	Upgradeable loader (BPF Upgradeable)
Identity	Contract address	Program ID + PDAs

Design Implications

Size accounts upfront (or realloc) - no unbounded mappings
Pass all accounts explicitly - no CALL with implicit context
Use PDAs as deterministic account addresses per user/entity
Programs validate ownership on every instruction

Rust Notes

// EVM: require(msg.sender == owner)
// Solana: constraint on Accounts struct
#[account(has_one = authority)]
pub data: Account<'info, MyData>,
pub authority: Signer<'info>,

Gotchas

One big account for all users - hits size limits and prevents parallelism. Fix: one account per user/entity with PDA seeds.
Expecting implicit caller context - Solana has no msg.sender global. Fix: pass signer accounts and validate with constraints.
Calling programs without declaring accounts - transactions fail at runtime. Fix: list every account the callee needs in the transaction.
Storing balances inside program binary - impossible; programs are read-only executables. Fix: use token accounts or lamport balances on data accounts.
Assuming atomic cross-program state - CPI shares the transaction's account locks. Fix: design instructions so all needed accounts are in one transaction.
Ignoring rent - accounts need lamport deposits. Fix: fund accounts to rent-exempt minimum at creation.

Alternatives

Alternative	Use When	Don't Use When
PDA-per-entity	User-specific state	Global config (use single PDA)
Zero-copy accounts	Large datasets, CU savings	Small structs where Borsh is fine
State compression	Millions of NFTs/holders	Frequently mutated hot state
EVM on Solana (Alloy/SVM experiments)	Legacy Solidity port	Greenfield Solana-native apps

FAQs

Where does my program store data on Solana?

In separate accounts that your program owns. The program itself holds only executable bytecode.

What replaces an EVM mapping?

PDAs derived from seeds (e.g., [b"user", user_pubkey]). Each entry is its own account.

Is there a Solana equivalent of msg.sender?

The signer account passed to your instruction. Validate it with Signer<'info> or has_one constraints.

Can two programs write the same account?

Only the owner program can write data. Other programs can read if the account is passed and marked writable by the owner program via CPI.

Why must transactions list all accounts upfront?

Sealevel uses the account list to schedule parallel execution and enforce lock rules before execution begins.

Do Solana programs have balances?

Program accounts hold lamports for rent but application token/SOL balances live in user/token accounts, not in the program.

How does upgradeability compare to EVM proxies?

Solana uses the BPF Upgradeable Loader - a program buffer and program data account. Authority can deploy new bytecode.

What replaces ERC-20 on Solana?

SPL Token program with mint and token accounts. Not a per-token contract.

Is gas the same as compute units?

Similar concept. CU measures on-chain compute. Fees include base signature cost plus priority fee for CU price.

Can I deploy one program per user like factory contracts?

Technically yes but wasteful. Use one program with many data accounts (PDAs) per user instead.

How do events work compared to EVM logs?

Programs emit logs via msg! and Anchor emit!. Clients parse transaction logs - there is no persistent log store on-chain.

Does Solana have contract constructors?

No. Use an init instruction that creates and configures accounts on first use.

Solana Basics - account model overview
How a Transaction Flows - transaction-centric design
SOL, Lamports & Units - native currency handling

Stack versions: This page was written for Agave 4.1.1, Solana CLI 3.0.10, Anchor 0.32.1, anchor-lang 0.32.1, Rust 1.91.1, @solana/kit 7.0.0, Surfpool 0.12.0, and LiteSVM 0.6.x.

The Solana Mental Model vs. EVM

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The Solana Mental Model vs. EVM