{
  "type": "option",
  "name": "ZKsync Airbender",
  "slug": "airbender",
  "section": {
    "id": "frameworks",
    "number": "02",
    "title": "Choosing a framework",
    "url": "https://zkpick.com/frameworks/"
  },
  "url": "https://zkpick.com/frameworks/airbender/",
  "markdown": "https://zkpick.com/md/frameworks/airbender.md",
  "category": "zkVM (RISC-V)",
  "summary": "ZKsync Airbender: zkVM (RISC-V). Kind: zkVM (RISC-V). Arithmetisation / backend: STARK over Mersenne-31 + wrapper. Setup: Wrapper only. Maintained by: Matter Labs (ZKsync). Licence: Apache-2.0 / MIT. Status: Production on ZKsync mainnet; published GPU benchmarks. Choose it when: Teams for whom raw proving cost on commodity GPUs is the deciding constraint and who can absorb a less mature developer surface.",
  "description": "A RISC-V zkVM and STARK prover over the Mersenne-31 field, built to prove ZKsync OS and, by extension, any program compiled to RISC-V 32I+M. Its distinguishing claim is single-GPU throughput: published figures show a full Ethereum block proved on one GPU, with reproducible benchmarks in the repository.",
  "notes": [],
  "sections": [],
  "strengths": [
    "Among the fastest published RISC-V provers, with the benchmark harness in the open rather than in a blog post",
    "Deployed in production on ZKsync mainnet since the Atlas upgrade, so the operational path exists",
    "Permissive dual licence and an active, well-funded maintainer"
  ],
  "tradeoffs": [
    "Younger than the three longest-running RISC-V zkVMs, with correspondingly thinner third-party assurance evidence and a smaller precompile catalogue",
    "Designed around ZKsync's own needs; the general-purpose SDK and documentation lag the prover",
    "Settlement still relies on a pairing-based wrapper with a trusted setup — see §04"
  ],
  "bestFit": "Teams for whom raw proving cost on commodity GPUs is the deciding constraint and who can absorb a less mature developer surface.",
  "maintainers": "Matter Labs (ZKsync)",
  "maturity": "Production on ZKsync mainnet; general-purpose use newer",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "source": "https://github.com/matter-labs/zksync-airbender",
  "facts": [
    {
      "table": "Framework selection matrix",
      "url": "https://zkpick.com/frameworks/#frameworks-matrix-zksync-airbender",
      "name": "ZKsync Airbender",
      "kind": "zkVM (RISC-V)",
      "arith": "STARK over Mersenne-31 + wrapper",
      "setup": "Wrapper only",
      "by": "Matter Labs (ZKsync)",
      "license": "Apache-2.0 / MIT",
      "status": "Production on ZKsync mainnet; published GPU benchmarks"
    }
  ],
  "relatedFailureModes": [],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "ZKsync Airbender — RISC-V prover for ZKsync OS, with benchmark harness",
      "url": "https://github.com/matter-labs/zksync-airbender",
      "kind": "project"
    }
  ],
  "updated": "2026-09-12",
  "version": "1.3",
  "canonical": "https://zkpick.com/frameworks/airbender/",
  "authors": [
    "MarketComp"
  ]
}