Simplicity Compared

Simplicity was designed from the ground up to address the limitations of existing blockchain scripting languages while maintaining the security guarantees that make Bitcoin reliable.

	Bitcoin Script	Miniscript	Solidity	Simplicity	Comments
Primary purpose	Minimal spend conditions for Bitcoin UTXOs	Safer, structured way to write Bitcoin Script policies	General-purpose smart contracts on Ethereum-like blockchains	Formally verifiable contracts in Bitcoin-like settings
Expressiveness	Limited by design	More composable than Bitcoin script	Very high	High within strict rules	More features enable richer apps but can introduce more ways to make mistakes.
Execution model	Stack-based, no global state	Policy → Script, tree-structured, Stack-based.	Runs on EVM with global state	Combinator-based, no loops/state	Affects fees, speed, and how contracts interact. Simpler execution models are easier to reason about and audit.
Turing-completeness	No	No	Yes	No	Non–Turing-complete means predictability: no endless loops and easier to know scripts finish quickly. Gas is less relevant; execution time is bounded.
Typical use cases	Payments, multisig, timelocks	Advanced wallet policies, thresholds with fallbacks	DeFi, tokens, DAOs, dApps	High-assurance financial logic on Liquid	Guides what each is good for so solutions aren't overbuilt or underpowered.
Safety approach	Minimal opcodes, deterministic	Constrained grammar + static checks	Security via patterns, audits, tooling	Designed for formal proofs and determinism	Tells how each reduces bugs and protects funds. Simpler rules = fewer surprises.
State model	UTXO (local)	UTXO (via Script)	Account/global state	UTXO-style	Local (UTXO) limits blast radius; global state enables composability but can spread risk.
Formal verification	Limited	Better static analysis	Possible but complex	Core feature	Strong guarantees lower the chance of catastrophic bugs and costly exploits.
Performance/resource bounds	Bounded by consensus	Bounded by consensus	Gas-limited execution	Strict bounds	Predictable costs and low DoS risk make fees and UX more stable.
Interoperability	Bitcoin-native	Bitcoin-native	EVM-wide standards	Liquid ecosystem	Affects integrations and network effects for adoption.