What Are the Key Differences between ERC-721 and the Newer ERC-1155 Standard?

ERC-721 is designed to manage individual, unique non-fungible tokens, where each token ID is distinct. ERC-1155, often called a multi-token standard, allows a single smart contract to manage both fungible (like ERC-20) and non-fungible (like ERC-721) tokens simultaneously.

This efficiency is achieved by using a single contract for multiple token types. ERC-1155 significantly reduces transaction costs and complexity for platforms dealing with diverse asset classes, such as gaming or financial platforms with both currencies and unique items.