Overview
Snapshot is the standard governance platform for DAOs — enabling token holders to vote on proposals without paying gas. Votes are signed messages stored on IPFS, verified against on-chain token balances at the snapshot block. Used by Uniswap, Aave, ENS, Gitcoin, and hundreds of other protocols.
Pricing
✅ When to use
- Running DAO governance votes without gas costs for participants
- Testing community sentiment before committing to expensive on-chain execution
- Multi-token or delegated voting schemes too complex for basic on-chain contracts
- Any protocol that wants to formalize governance with minimal friction for voters
❌ When NOT to use
- Votes that need to automatically execute on-chain — use Tally or Compound Governor instead
- When binding execution is required — off-chain votes can theoretically be ignored by multisig holders
- Simple internal team decisions where a Notion poll or Discord vote is sufficient
💡 Personal Tips
Snapshot is the de facto governance standard because it removes the biggest friction: gas costs. The voting strategies are powerful — weight votes by token balance, LP positions, NFT holdings, or combinations of all three. For DAOs wanting binding execution, use Snapshot for signaling then Tally/Gnosis Safe for execution connected via the SafeSnap plugin. Check the Delegate tab before voting on every proposal — if the protocol supports delegation, delegating to an active and informed voter is often more impactful than voting yourself on proposals you haven't fully researched.