# Decentralized Exchange Fees Compared, 7 On-Chain Venues

Rev. 24 September 2026. Kept by Chain Sheet editors.

## Abstract

With decentralized exchange fees compared at the entry tier on 24 September 2026,
Lighter and Paradex charge 0% maker / 0% taker — each in exchange for
about 300 milliseconds of added latency — against 0.080% to take at the dearest venue
here. The book then charges again on top of the rate.

Weights: Settlement and custody 30 · Measured book depth 25 · Round-trip taker cost 18 · Audit and incident record 15 · Markets and asset classes 12, fixed 22 September 2026, scored out of 12. Method: https://echoblock.org/how-we-score

## Decentralized exchange fees at the entry tier, September 2026

Arranged by the taker rate, then the maker rate; the score settles equal rates.

| Rank | Venue | Score of 12 | Maker / taker | Perp markets | Maximum leverage on Bitcoin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Lighter | 10.3 | 0% / 0% | 214 | 50x, 2% margin |
| 1= | Paradex | 7.8 | 0% / 0% | 63 | 50x, 300 BTC limit |
| 3 | Extended | 9.3 | 0% / 0.025% | 325 | 50x to $4 million |
| 4 | Aster | 9.2 | 0% / 0.040% | 578 | 200x to 400 USDT |
| 5= | edgeX | 9.5 | 0.040% / 0.045% | 172 | 100x to $1 million |
| 5= | EVEDEX | 7.6 | 0.015% / 0.045% | 52 | 200x to $50,000 |
| 7 | Aevo | 6.5 | 0.050% / 0.080% | 102 | 20x, 5% margin |

Fee columns are the entry tier on the BTC perpetual, before volume, staking or referral discounts; market counts are the vendor's own. Equal totals share a rank. Access is decided by each venue's own terms and does not enter the score. Rates read 18 September 2026 on each venue's own fee page: what a new account pays before volume
tiers, staking or rebates.

## Order-book readings

The last column is twice the taker rate on a $10,000 position; the three before it are what the
book charged orders of that size, of $100,000 and of $1 million.

| Venue | Median spread | Resting within 10 bps | Impact, $10,000 | Impact, $100,000 | Impact, $1 million | Round trip on $10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter | 0.02 bps | $16.5 million | 0.37 bps | 0.59 bps | 1.42 bps | $0.00 |
| Paradex | 3.06 bps | $32,552 | 3.71 bps | 137.18 bps | not filled | $0.00 |
| Extended | 0.12 bps | $7.6 million | 0.06 bps | 0.06 bps | 0.67 bps | $5.00 |
| Aster | 0.01 bps | $14.4 million | 0.06 bps | 0.35 bps | 0.98 bps | $8.00 |
| edgeX | 0.04 bps | $29.1 million | 0.02 bps | 0.02 bps | 0.23 bps | $9.00 |
| EVEDEX | 4.12 bps | $18.7 million | 2.06 bps | 2.06 bps | 2.72 bps | $9.00 |
| Aevo | 1.79 bps | $2.0 million | 1.82 bps | 3.47 bps | 4.77 bps | $16.00 |

Medians of every successful reading, 46 to 125
depending on how often a venue's endpoint answered. A cell says so where a $1 million order could
not be filled against the book as it stood. Every contract on this sheet is carried on margin, and margin is what a move the wrong way takes first.

## 01 · [Lighter](https://lighter.xyz) — nothing at the entry tier

Score 10.3 of 12.

The standard account pays 0% maker / 0% taker on every perpetual and spot market, putting
$0.00 in the round-trip column [1]. The price is paid in milliseconds: 300
added to takers, 200 to makers. The fee-paying tier reverses that — 0.004% maker, 0.028% taker,
140 milliseconds.

- For: Nothing to pay at the standard tier, on perpetuals and spot alike; 0.004% maker and 0.028% taker buys taker latency of 140 milliseconds.
- Against: 300 milliseconds added to takers, 200 to makers, on the free tier; No public bug bounty, by the venue's own documentation.
- Not for: strategies that cannot give up 300 milliseconds.

## 01 · [Paradex](https://www.paradex.trade) — nothing from the web interface

Score 7.8 of 12.

Since 15 June 2026 an order typed into the Paradex website costs 0% maker / 0% taker, the
charge for it being 300 milliseconds of delay before it reaches the book; route the same order
through code and the rate becomes 0.003% maker and 0.045% taker [2]. The saving is real and the
book is not: $32,552 within 10 basis points, and
137.18 bps on a $100,000 order.

- For: Nothing to pay on orders from the web interface since 15 June 2026; A bug bounty of up to 500,000 USDC, and state proven to Ethereum.
- Against: $32,552 resting within 10 basis points, the thinnest book on this sheet; A $1 million order could not be filled against the book we read.
- Not for: anything larger than a small clip.

## 03 · [Extended](https://extended.exchange/) — one rate for every account

Score 9.3 of 12.

A flat schedule — 0% maker / 0.025% taker for every account, no volume ladder — makes the first
round trip and the thousandth both $5.00 [3]. What a flat rate does not buy
is a book: 278 of 325 markets are quoted on request, with no public order
book behind them.

- For: A flat 0% maker / 0.025% taker for every account, first trade and thousandth; A bug bounty of up to $500,000.
- Against: 278 of 325 markets have no public book; Deposits and withdrawals run through an outside bridge, up to 4 hours.
- Not for: makers who expect to be paid for resting an order.

## 04 · [Aster](https://www.asterdex.com) — free to make, cheap to take

Score 9.2 of 12.

The first volume tier pays 0% maker / 0.040% taker on crypto perpetuals in order-book mode, and the
maker side has been zero at every tier since 2 February 2026 [4], so the round trip is
$8.00 across 578 contracts. Its median spread,
0.01 bps, was the tightest we read.

- For: No maker fee at any volume tier since 2 February 2026; The tightest median spread on this sheet, 0.01 bps on the BTC perpetual.
- Against: Closed core chain contracts, with no outside validators in the first phase; An operator-signed bridge, with no forced withdrawal documented.
- Not for: traders who choose a venue for its validator set.

## 05 · [edgeX](https://pro.edgex.exchange) — the deepest book, at a price

Score 9.5 of 12.

edgeX is one of two venues here with a maker fee above two basis points: 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker for
a regular account under $10 million of 14-day volume, so the round trip is $9.00
[6]. The book is what that buys — $29.1 million within 10 basis points, and
0.23 bps on $1 million against 4.5 basis points of fee.

- For: $29.1 million within 10 basis points and 0.23 bps on a $1 million order; Balances verified and withdrawn through the chain, bypassing the operator.
- Against: A maker fee of 0.040%, where four venues here charge nothing to make; No public bug bounty on the security pages we read.
- Not for: passive makers resting size at the entry tier.

## 05 · EVEDEX — a fixed rate with cashback on fees paid

Score 7.6 of 12.

EVEDEX charges 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker, a fixed pair of rates, so the round trip on $10,000 is
$9.00 [5]. What moves is cashback, which returns part of the fees already
paid: the share rises with the gamification level, and a Prime subscription adds a fixed five
percentage points, which at gamification level 5 works out at 6.22% of fees paid. The ceiling is
35% of a trader's own fees, where the effective rates become 0.00975% maker and 0.02925% taker
(EVEDEX documentation, 18 September 2026).

- For: The same 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker at every volume, with cashback on fees already paid; $18.7 million within 10 basis points, so a $10,000 order paid 2.06 bps.
- Against: The published rate does not fall with volume; only cashback lowers the net cost; 52 contracts, the shortest market list on this sheet; No bug bounty listed on its CertiK Skynet profile (18 September 2026).
- Not for: traders who want the published rate itself to fall with volume.

## 07 · [Aevo](https://www.aevo.xyz/) — the dearest entry tier here

Score 6.5 of 12.

The standard perpetual schedule is 0.050% maker / 0.080% taker, so a $10,000 round trip costs
$16.00, more than three times the same trip at Extended [7].
Staking cuts that by up to 20%, never to zero, and the cost continues off the screen: 25 USDC
to withdraw to Ethereum.

- For: Equity, commodity and currency contracts settled into rollup contracts; Staking discounts of up to 20%.
- Against: 0.080% to take, the dearest entry tier on this sheet; 25 USDC to withdraw to Ethereum, whatever the balance.
- Not for: frequent takers, and anyone who withdraws often.

## Why a published rate is only half the cost

A fee schedule is a number you can read before you trade; what leaves the account is that number
plus what the book charges for size. At the thinnest venue here a $10,000 market order moved the
price 3.71 bps, about $3.71, where the fee on that round trip was nothing.
At $1 million the gap widens: 0.23 bps where the depth is, no fill at all
where it is thinnest. That is why rates and measured impact sit in one sheet here, beside the
[depth ranking](/top-decentralized-exchanges).

## Quoted from the sources

> "Retail Takers and Makers have 0% fees on all products: Perps, Spot and Options" — Paradex documentation, Trading fees, 18 September 2026.

> "Currently, Extended features a flat fee structure for both perpetuals and spot markets: Taker: 0.025% Maker: 0.000%" — Extended documentation, Trading fees and rebates, 18 September 2026.

> "Effective February 2, 2026, Maker fees for all VIP tiers were set to 0 bps." — Aster documentation, VIP programme, 18 September 2026.

## How this sheet was compiled

The documentary columns — rate card, contract list, leverage ladder, custody mechanics, audit
reports — come off each venue's own pages as they stood on 18 September 2026. The book column
is ours, read from 20 September 2026 into 21 September 2026, a reading every ten minutes; no account opened, no order sent. The weights behind
all 7 marks were fixed on 22 September 2026: [how we rate](/how-we-score).

A document is not behaviour: settlement, forced withdrawals and audit history are entered as the
venue states them. The cost column is the published entry-tier rate, crediting no volume tier,
staking discount or referral deal. One market stands behind depth — the BTC perpetual.

## Sources

1. Lighter, trading fees. https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees (18 September 2026)
2. Paradex, trading fees. https://docs.paradex.trade/trading/trading-fees.md (18 September 2026)
3. Extended, trading fees and rebates. https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/trading-fees-and-rebates (18 September 2026)
4. Aster, perpetual fees. https://docs.asterdex.com/trading/perpetuals/fees-and-specs/fees (18 September 2026)
5. EVEDEX documentation, trading fees and cashback, named in text not linked. (18 September 2026)
6. edgeX, fee schedule by account tier. https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/vip (18 September 2026)
7. Aevo, perpetual and withdrawal fees. https://www.aevo.xyz/docs/aevo-products/aevo-exchange/fees/perpetuals-fees (18 September 2026)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to trade on a DEX?

At the entry tiers here, a $10,000 round trip costs between $0.00 and
$16.00 in trading fees. The book charges on top, from
0.02 bps at the deepest venue to 3.71 bps at the
thinnest, and funding runs while a position is open.

### What is a maker and taker fee?

A maker fee applies when an order rests in the book and someone else trades against it; a taker
fee applies when an order crosses the spread and removes what rests there. Four venues here
charge nothing to make, and the taker side runs to 0.080%.

### Are DEX fees cheaper than centralized exchange fees?

The headline rates sit in the same range as the large centralized venues, and four of these
seven charge nothing to make. The differences are elsewhere: in what rests in the book, in the
chain cost of moving money, and in funding.

### Do perp DEXs have hidden fees?

Funding is the one traders forget — a payment between long and short holders that runs for as
long as a position is open. Then there is money in motion: Aevo charges 25 USDC
to withdraw to Ethereum, and Paradex proves withdrawals for hours.

### Why do some DEXs charge zero fees?

Because latency is the price. Both venues charging nothing here add about 300 milliseconds to
taker orders on the free route, which hands quicker participants the first look. Paying removes
the delay: 0.028% to take at one, 0.045% at the other.

### Do I pay gas on every trade on a perp DEX?

Not on these seven. Orders are matched off the chain or inside the venue's own chain, so a fill
costs the trading fee plus what the book charges. Chain costs appear on deposits and
withdrawals instead: Extended routes both through an outside bridge.

### what does a 10k round trip actually cost on a perp dex

Twice the taker rate, if both legs cross the spread: $0.00 at the two zero
tiers, $5.00 at Extended, $9.00 on EVEDEX and
$16.00 at Aevo, all of it before slippage and funding, either of
which can easily run larger than the fee itself.

### Is cashback the same as a fee discount?

Not quite. A discount lowers the rate before you pay. Cashback returns part of what has already
been paid, so the published rate stays where it is. On EVEDEX the documented ceiling is 35% of
a trader's own fees, which is a return on what was paid rather than a cheaper rate on the trade
after it.

### do maker rebates exist on decentralized exchanges

Rarely at the entry tier. Four of the seven here charge nothing to make, which is not the same
as paying you to do it: Extended pays a maker rebate only above 0.5% of its
30-day maker volume. A zero fee, not a rebate, is the answer here.

### Which is cheaper for large orders, a low fee or a deep book?

The book, once size grows. Impact on a $1 million order ran from 0.23 bps to
4.77 bps, and the thinnest book could not fill that order at all. Below a few
thousand dollars the rate decides it. Depth here is measured by us, order book by order book;
the rate is read from each venue's own published schedule.

## Corrections

Chain Sheet editors, 24 September 2026. Corrections: sheet@echoblock.org.

Publication of this sheet is bought.