move/ecosystem-guide

Move Ecosystem Developer Guide: Aptos vs Sui Comparison

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v1.0.0·Updated 3/20/2026

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Move Ecosystem Developer Guide: Aptos vs Sui

Core Features of the Move Language

Move was created by Meta (the Diem project) and is designed specifically for secure asset management:

Resource types: Cannot be copied or dropped, only moved → naturally prevents double-spending
Linear type system: Compiler-level guarantees for asset safety
Module system: Code is organized into modules; resources can only be created/destroyed by the module that defines them
Formal verification: Move Prover enables mathematical proofs of contract correctness

Key Differences: Aptos vs Sui

Dimension	Aptos	Sui
Data model	Account-based (resources live under accounts)	Object-based (each object stored independently)
Concurrency	Sequential execution (Block-STM optimistic concurrency)	Object-level parallelism (true high concurrency)
Move version	Move (original Meta version, lightly modified)	Move (heavily reworked — Sui Move)
Storage fees	Per-byte storage deposit	Per-object storage fee
TPS	~160,000 (theoretical)	~297,000 (theoretical)
NFT model	Token V2 (extensible)	Sui Object (native objects)
DeFi ecosystem	Thala / Pancake / Aries	Cetus / Turbos / Navi
Dev tooling	Aptos CLI + TS SDK	Sui CLI + TS/Rust SDK

Aptos Move Contract

module my_addr::coin_example {
  use std::signer;
  use aptos_framework::coin::{Self, Coin};

  // Resource: can only be moved, not copied or dropped
  struct MyCoin has key, store {
    value: u64,
  }

  // Initializer (called automatically on deploy)
  fun init_module(deployer: &signer) {
    // Register as CoinType
  }

  public entry fun mint(account: &signer, amount: u64) {
    let addr = signer::address_of(account);
    if (!exists<MyCoin>(addr)) {
      move_to(account, MyCoin { value: 0 });
    };
    let coin = borrow_global_mut<MyCoin>(addr);
    coin.value = coin.value + amount;
  }

  public entry fun transfer(from: &signer, to: address, amount: u64) {
    let from_addr = signer::address_of(from);
    let from_coin = borrow_global_mut<MyCoin>(from_addr);
    assert!(from_coin.value >= amount, 1); // E_INSUFFICIENT
    from_coin.value = from_coin.value - amount;

    if (!exists<MyCoin>(to)) {
      // The recipient account must register first (Aptos-specific requirement)
    };
    let to_coin = borrow_global_mut<MyCoin>(to);
    to_coin.value = to_coin.value + amount;
  }
}

Sui Move Contract (Object Model)

module my_package::nft {
  use sui::object::{Self, UID};
  use sui::transfer;
  use sui::tx_context::{Self, TxContext};
  use std::string::{Self, String};

  // In Sui, every resource is an Object (has a UID)
  public struct NFT has key, store {
    id: UID,
    name: String,
    image_url: String,
  }

  // Mint an NFT and send it to the caller
  public entry fun mint(name: vector<u8>, image_url: vector<u8>, ctx: &mut TxContext) {
    let nft = NFT {
      id: object::new(ctx),
      name: string::utf8(name),
      image_url: string::utf8(image_url),
    };
    transfer::public_transfer(nft, tx_context::sender(ctx));
  }

  // Transfer
  public entry fun transfer_nft(nft: NFT, recipient: address) {
    transfer::public_transfer(nft, recipient);
  }
}

Aptos TypeScript SDK

npm install @aptos-labs/ts-sdk

import { Aptos, AptosConfig, Network, Account } from "@aptos-labs/ts-sdk"

const config = new AptosConfig({ network: Network.MAINNET })
const aptos = new Aptos(config)

// Query balance
const balance = await aptos.getAccountAPTAmount({ accountAddress: address })

// Submit a transaction
const account = Account.fromPrivateKey({ privateKey })
const tx = await aptos.transaction.build.simple({
  sender: account.accountAddress,
  data: {
    function: "0x1::aptos_account::transfer",
    functionArguments: [recipientAddress, 100000000n],  // 1 APT = 1e8
  },
})
const { hash } = await aptos.signAndSubmitTransaction({ signer: account, transaction: tx })
await aptos.waitForTransaction({ transactionHash: hash })

Sui TypeScript SDK

npm install @mysten/sui

import { SuiClient, getFullnodeUrl } from "@mysten/sui/client"
import { Transaction } from "@mysten/sui/transactions"
import { Ed25519Keypair } from "@mysten/sui/keypairs/ed25519"

const client = new SuiClient({ url: getFullnodeUrl("mainnet") })

// Build a transaction
const tx = new Transaction()
const [coin] = tx.splitCoins(tx.gas, [1000000000n])  // 1 SUI
tx.transferObjects([coin], recipientAddress)

// Sign and submit
const keypair = Ed25519Keypair.fromSecretKey(privateKey)
const result = await client.signAndExecuteTransaction({
  transaction: tx,
  signer: keypair,
})

Chain Selection Guide

What is your use case?
│
├─ Gaming / high-frequency on-chain operations (need high concurrency)
│   → Sui (object-level parallelism, naturally suited for game assets)
│
├─ DeFi protocol (need existing liquidity)
│   → Aptos (Thala/Aries ecosystem is more mature)
│
├─ NFT / digital collectibles
│   → Sui (Object model natively supports complex NFT attributes)
│
├─ Enterprise / compliance requirements
│   → Aptos (partnerships with Google Cloud / Microsoft)
│
└─ Learning Move
    → Start with Aptos (more complete docs, original Move)

Resources

Aptos Docs: aptos.dev
Sui Docs: docs.sui.io
Move Book: move-book.com