Zora is best understood as infrastructure for issuing NFTs rather than a place to trade them. Its protocol is open source, its contracts are permissionless, and its own L2 makes minting cost fractions of a cent.
Creator economics
Mint rewards split protocol fees with creators, referrers and collectors, which means an open edition can generate revenue for the artist without a marketplace taking a cut on every secondary sale. For creators whose work is distributed widely at low prices, that model works better than royalty-dependent economics.
What it is not
A liquid marketplace. Secondary trading on Zora is minimal, and collectors buying open editions should understand that resale is unlikely to be straightforward. The protocol optimises for distribution, and distribution and liquidity are different objectives.
Strategic churn
Zora has repeatedly changed focus — marketplace, protocol, L2, social minting, token — which makes it hard to predict what the product will emphasise next. The underlying contracts remain permissionless and usable regardless.
Who should use it
Creators distributing work cheaply at scale, and developers building on an open minting protocol. Collectors expecting resale value should look at curated art platforms instead.