---
title: "ZKsync Airbender"
description: "ZKsync Airbender: zkVM (RISC-V). Kind: zkVM (RISC-V). Arithmetisation / backend: STARK over Mersenne-31 + wrapper. Setup: Wrapper only."
type: "option"
url: "https://zkpick.com/frameworks/airbender/"
section: "02 Choosing a framework"
authors:
  - "MarketComp"
publisher: "MarketComp"
version: "1.3"
updated: "2026-09-12"
license: "CC-BY-4.0"
json: "https://zkpick.com/data/frameworks/airbender.json"
---

*By MarketComp. Updated 2026-09-12. Version 1.3. CC BY 4.0.*

# ZKsync Airbender — *zkVM (RISC-V)*

> 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.

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.

**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

**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.

Maintained by: Matter Labs (ZKsync) · Maturity: Production on ZKsync mainnet; general-purpose use newer · License: Apache-2.0 / MIT · Source: https://github.com/matter-labs/zksync-airbender

**In the framework selection matrix** (https://zkpick.com/frameworks/#frameworks-matrix-zksync-airbender)

| Project | Kind | Arithmetisation / backend | Setup | Maintained by | Licence | Status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ZKsync Airbender | zkVM (RISC-V) | STARK over Mersenne-31 + wrapper | Wrapper only | Matter Labs (ZKsync) | Apache-2.0 / MIT | Production on ZKsync mainnet; published GPU benchmarks |