Tooling · Intermediate
Monsmith vs Hardhat vs Foundry: browser IDE or local toolchain for Monad development?
When a browser IDE is enough and when you need Hardhat or Foundry. How Monsmith fits alongside local toolchains for Monad smart contract development.
This is not really a versus. Hardhat and Foundry are test and deployment frameworks; Monsmith is an IDE with analysis. Teams shipping on Monad use both. The useful question is which task belongs where.
Task by task
| Task | Use |
|---|---|
| Try an idea in 30 seconds | Monsmith |
| Teach someone their first contract | Monsmith |
| Security audit on every change | Monsmith (automated) + humans |
| Check if a contract parallelises on Monad | Monsmith profiler |
| Compare cost across chains | Monsmith Chain Fit |
| Unit and fuzz tests | Foundry (or Hardhat) |
| Deployment scripts across environments | Hardhat or Foundry |
| Fork mainnet state for tests | Foundry or Hardhat |
| CI pipeline | Hardhat or Foundry |
| First testnet deploy without a private key file | Monsmith (via wallet) |
Hardhat with Monad
Add a network entry with url https://testnet-rpc.monad.xyz and chainId 10143. Everything else is standard. See the Monad testnet guide for the full config.
Foundry with Monad
Pass --rpc-url https://testnet-rpc.monad.xyz to forge create or forge script. Foundry's fast test runner is the best place to fuzz a contract that Monsmith's profiler has already shaped for parallel execution.
A workflow that works
- Draft and iterate in Monsmith. Audit on every compile; profile until the dependency graph looks right.
- Move the file into a Foundry or Hardhat project. Write tests.
- Deploy to Monad testnet from either tool. Verify on the explorer.
- Before mainnet, run Chain Fit for the final cost picture and get a human audit.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Hardhat work with Monad?
- Yes. Add a network with the Monad RPC URL and chain ID (10143 for testnet, 143 for mainnet).
- Does Foundry work with Monad?
- Yes. Pass the Monad RPC URL with --rpc-url to forge commands.
- Do I need Hardhat if I use Monsmith?
- For a serious test suite and CI, yes. For writing, auditing, profiling, and first deployments, Monsmith alone is enough.
Try it in Monsmith
Free, in the browser, no account. Compile, audit, profile, and deploy to Monad.
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