DeFi Orbit vs. Dune
Dune is an analytics platform: raw, decoded and curated on-chain data that you query with SQL. DeFi Orbit is a position data API: the numbers for each liquidity and lending position arrive already calculated. Dune answers questions you write. DeFi Orbit answers one question in depth. Many teams use both.
What you get from each
What it takes to get position numbers out of SQL
Dune gives you the data and the engine. The model of a position, and every formula on top of it, is a query your team writes and keeps working.
- 01Find the tablesDecoded events for each protocol and chain you need, plus prices.
- 02Model a positionRebuild each position from its mints, burns, collects and transfers.
- 03Join pricesA USD value for each token at the time of each event.
- 04Write the calculationsFees, PnL against holding and impermanent loss, in SQL, with rules you decide.
- 05Handle current stateUncollected fees and in-range status depend on pool state at the moment you ask.
- 06Schedule and serve itRun the query on a schedule, pay for each execution and pass the results to your app.
- 07Repeat per protocolAerodrome, Orca and each lending protocol need their own model.
Six things to know if you need position data in a product or report
Each point comes from Dune’s documentation. These are design choices for a general analytics platform, not faults.
You write the SQL
The API executes queries saved in Dune and returns their results. The position logic is yours to write.
No curated LP positions listed
The data catalog overview lists curated DEX trades, lending, vaults, bridges and staking. An LP position dataset is not among them.
Curated data refreshes hourly
The documentation states that raw data typically arrives within minutes of finality and curated datasets refresh hourly.
Cost follows compute
Credits depend on the resources each execution uses. An execution is charged even if you never fetch its results.
The API needs a paid plan
API access requires an active trial or a paid plan. The free plan is view-only, and the trial is 14 days with 2,500 credits.
Curated lending data is EVM
The lending dataset is listed for 15 EVM chains. It covers activity such as supply, borrow and liquidations.
When Dune is the better choice
Dune does several things we do not. If one of these is your case, use it.
Open-ended analysis
Any question about any contract on 100+ chains. We answer one kind of question: positions.
Protocol and market-wide views
Volumes, trades, user counts and liquidations across a whole protocol or chain.
Public dashboards
Dune dashboards are a standard way to publish on-chain metrics. We do not offer that.
Warehouse workflows
Dune lists Trino and dbt connectors for BI tools. Our data arrives through an API.
Questions teams ask before deciding
Yes. Dune is the right tool for questions about a whole protocol, market or chain, written in SQL and shared as a dashboard. DeFi Orbit is the right tool for what a specific wallet’s positions are worth and have earned, delivered by API. Many analytics teams use Dune for research and DeFi Orbit for the numbers that go into a product or a client report.
If they’re correct and someone maintains them, you may not need to. Teams usually move when the queries become expensive to keep right: a protocol upgrade, a new chain or a second protocol means rewriting the model, and every scheduled run costs credits. One API call returns the finished numbers for every protocol we cover.
No. Dune covers 100+ blockchains; we cover ten, with calculated position data in depth on six protocols and balances across thousands more. We add networks and protocols as scoped Custom Data projects.
Run the API on wallets you already track in Dune and compare position by position. The methods for PnL, impermanent loss, fees and APR are documented, so where a figure differs you can see which rule explains it. Most gaps come down to pricing at the time of an event or how fees are attributed after a rebalance.
Each endpoint has a fixed cost of 1 to 15 credits per call, and packs start at 500 credits for $10. Failed requests are free and purchased credits do not expire while your account is active, so the cost of a call is known before you make it rather than depending on how much compute a query used.
No. Everything is read-only and works from public wallet addresses. There’s nothing to connect and nothing we could move.
Statements about Dune are linked to docs.dune.com and were last checked on October 13, 2026.
Compare the two on wallets you know
Take a wallet you already track in a Dune query and run it through the API.