General-purpose ZK platforms generate proofs in seconds. H33 generates ZK-STARK proofs in 2.0 microseconds and verifies them in 0.2 microseconds — the fastest zero-knowledge proof verification in production. No circuits. No trusted setup. One API call.
This comparison is a supporting expression of the ZK Platform — H33's capability that proves without revealing. A zero-knowledge proof establishes that a statement about private data is true while revealing nothing beyond that truth. This page positions that capability against external, general-purpose ZK proving frameworks so you can choose the right tool for your job.
You need to prove a statement about identity, credential, or biometric data at scale — without disclosing the data and without writing circuits. You value a single API call, transparency, and post-quantum resistance (STARK, no trusted setup) over the smallest possible proof.
You need ZK proofs for arbitrary general-purpose computation — RISC Zero (zkVM), Aztec (Noir), or Succinct (SP1) fit better. Or when you need to compute over encrypted data rather than prove a statement about it — that is the FHE Platform, not the ZK Platform.
How a purpose-built ZK authentication platform compares to general-purpose zero-knowledge proof frameworks.
| Feature | H33 | RISC Zero | Aztec | Succinct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZK Scheme | ZK-STARK | zkVM (STARK-based) | PLONK / UltraPLONK | SP1 (STARK) |
| Prove Time | 2.0µs | Seconds | Seconds | Seconds |
| Verify Time | 0.2µs | Milliseconds | Milliseconds | Milliseconds |
| FHE Integration | Yes — 4 FHE engines (BFV, CKKS, FHE-IQ) | No | No | No |
| Post-Quantum Signatures | Dilithium (ML-DSA) + Kyber (ML-KEM) | No | No | No |
| Deployment | REST API — one call | Library / SDK | L2 Network | Library |
| Primary Use Case | Auth / Identity / Biometrics | General computation | Financial privacy | General computation |
| Trusted Setup | No (STARK — transparent) | No (STARK) | Yes (PLONK) | No (STARK) |
| Throughput | 2.21M ops/sec sustained | Varies by circuit | Network-bound | Varies by circuit |
| Pricing | Per-operation (from $0.001/auth at scale) | Open source | Gas fees | Open source |
H33 generates ZK-STARK proofs in 2.0 microseconds — not seconds. Purpose-built STARK lookups for identity verification eliminate the overhead of compiling arbitrary programs into circuits. Verification completes in 0.2 microseconds. That is over 1,000x faster than general-purpose zkVMs.
H33 is the only platform that combines fully homomorphic encryption, zero-knowledge proofs, and post-quantum signatures in a single API call. FHE biometric matching, ZK-STARK verification, and Dilithium attestation all execute in one pipeline — approximately 35.25 microseconds per authentication.
RISC Zero requires writing guest programs in Rust. Aztec requires the Noir DSL. Succinct requires SP1 program development. H33 requires a single REST API call. No circuits to write, no proving keys to manage, no trusted setup ceremonies, and no ZK-specific programming languages to learn.
Benchmarked at 2.21 million operations per second sustained on AWS Graviton4 with 96 workers. In-process DashMap caching delivers 0.059 microsecond lookups — 44x faster than raw STARK computation. Built for production workloads, not proof-of-concept demonstrations.
A full RISC Zero proof cycle versus a single H33 API call with ZK proof included.
// Step 1: Write a guest program (Rust) // guest/src/main.rs use risc0_zkvm::guest::env; fn main() { let input: u64 = env::read(); let result = verify_identity(input); env::commit(&result); } // Step 2: Compile to RISC-V ELF // $ cargo build --release // Step 3: Generate proof (host side) let env = ExecutorEnv::builder() .write(&input)?.build()?; let prover = default_prover(); let receipt = prover .prove(env, GUEST_ELF)?; // seconds // Step 4: Verify proof receipt.verify(GUEST_ID)?; // milliseconds
// One call. ZK proof included. const result = await fetch('https://api.h33.ai/v1/verify', { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiKey}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ biometric: capturedTemplate, tier: 'h33-128' }) }); const data = await result.json(); // data.verified → true / false // data.zkProof → ZK-STARK proof (2.0µs) // data.attestation → Dilithium signature // data.fheMatch → encrypted biometric result // // No circuits. No compilation. // No trusted setup. No proving keys. // SHA3-256 STARK — post-quantum secure.