Lowest fee perp DEX in 2026: 12 fee schedules compared

The lowest fee perp DEX is not always the cheapest place to trade. Lighter and Variational both publish 0%, but Lighter's free matching carries 300ms of taker latency and Variational keeps the market-making spread instead of charging a fee. Base-tier taker fees across these 12 venues run from 0% to 0.06%, and every one of them sits on top of funding, borrow and price impact.

Updated 27 September 2026 · 12 exchanges

The ranking

Ordered by base-tier taker fee, lowest first. Funding, borrow fees and price impact come on top.

Lighter
Zero-fee perp DEX on a ZK rollup · EVM
Fees are your main cost and you accept slightly slower fills to keep them at zero.
Trading fees
0% maker · 0% taker
Max leverage
up to 50×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Reported 24h volume ($1.21B) is about 48% above the normalized figure ($821M), so a meaningful share of activity is not counted as organic.
Open Lighter Reviewapp.lighter.xyz
Variational
Perps by RFQ, crypto and TradFi · EVM
You want one cross-margined account for crypto, equities, commodities and forex with no visible trading fee.
Trading fees
0% trading fees
Max leverage
Not documented
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026, reported volume. DefiLlama publishes no normalized figure for Variational, so no wash-trading discount can be read: the $50.9B is taken as published, without confirmation.
Open Variational Reviewomni.variational.io
Extended
Perp DEX on Starknet, crypto and RWA · EVM
Fee level is your deciding criterion and you want crypto and RWA markets on the same account.
Trading fees
0.025% taker · 0% maker
Max leverage
up to 100×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Normalized 24h volume ($89.4M) is within 2% of reported volume ($90.5M), so the figure stands as published.
Open Extended Reviewapp.extended.exchange
Aster
Perp DEX on Aster Chain · EVM
You trade from a phone and want a large book of crypto, stock and commodity perps.
Trading fees
0.04% taker · 0% maker
Max leverage
up to 1001×
Identity check
Not documented
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Its normalized 24h volume ($810M) sits well below the reported volume ($1.26B the same day), and the campaign stages (Aster Crystal, Aster Convergence) reward volume with points: part of the reported volume is incentive-driven.
Open Aster Reviewasterdex.com
GMX
Pool-based perp DEX (no order book) · EVM
You want oracle pricing with no spread hunting, on Arbitrum, and you trade the lighter side of the market.
Trading fees
0.04% to 0.06% per open or close
Max leverage
up to 100×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026, reported volume. DefiLlama publishes no normalized figure for GMX, so the $22.5B cannot be compared to an organic-activity estimate.
Open GMX Reviewapp.gmx.io
Pacifica
Solana perp DEX · Solana
You trade on Solana and want published taker and maker fees without a points-first story.
Trading fees
0.040% taker · 0.015% maker
Max leverage
up to 50×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Normalized 24h volume ($249M) matches reported volume, so no wash-trading discount is applied. Weekly points distributions do reward activity, which the team acknowledges by stating that self-trading and sybil farming earn nothing.
Open Pacifica Reviewapp.pacifica.fi
Hyperliquid
Perp DEX on its own L1 · EVM
You want deep liquidity, low fees and a public fee ladder you can plan around.
Trading fees
0.045% taker · 0.015% maker
Max leverage
up to 40×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, perp volume over 30 days, 28/09/2026. DefiLlama publishes the same figure as normalized volume: no wash-trading discount reported.
Open Hyperliquid Reviewapp.hyperliquid.xyz
edgeX
Perp DEX on edgeX Chain ·
You trade an order book and want stock and forex perps next to crypto.
Trading fees
0.045% taker · 0.040% maker
Max leverage
up to 100×
Identity check
Not documented
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Normalized 24h volume ($406M) sits about 15% below reported volume ($478M): a limited, quantified gap.
Open edgeX Reviewpro.edgex.exchange
Veranta
AMM perp DEX, formerly Avantis · EVM
You want one account for FX, equities, commodities and crypto, and you are willing to trade the balancing side to pay almost nothing.
Trading fees
0.045% taker · 0.001% maker
Max leverage
up to 500×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama still lists the venue under the slug “avantis” while showing the new name Veranta, 28/09/2026. Reported volume is taken as published; DefiLlama publishes no normalized figure for this protocol.
Open Veranta Reviewveranta.xyz
ApeX Omni
Multi-chain perp DEX · EVM
You already know you will stake APEX or trade enough volume to reach the VIP tiers.
Trading fees
0.05% taker · 0.02% maker
Max leverage
up to 100×
Identity check
Not documented
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026. Normalized 24h volume ($341M) is about 6% below reported volume ($364M), the tightest gap of the series.
Open ApeX Omni Reviewomni.apex.exchange
dYdX
Perp DEX on its own Cosmos chain · EVM · Noble
You publish content about perps: the 30% to 50% taker-fee share with instant USDC payouts is the best economics here.
Trading fees
0.050% taker · 0.010% maker
Max leverage
up to 50×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page, 28/09/2026, reported volume. DefiLlama publishes no normalized figure for dYdX, so the $1.04B cannot be compared to an organic-activity estimate. The trend is the point here: dYdX trades roughly 1/200th of Hyperliquid's 30-day volume.
Open dYdX Reviewdydx.trade
Jupiter Perps
Perps against the JLP pool on Solana · Solana
You already live in the Jupiter ecosystem and want perps without leaving the app or the mobile client.
Trading fees
0.06% per open or close
Max leverage
up to 250×
Identity check
No KYC
DefiLlama protocol page (Jupiter, perp volume), 28/09/2026, reported volume. No normalized figure is published on that page, so the $6.2B is taken as published.
Open Jupiter Perps Reviewjup.ag

Lowest fee perp DEX: how to read a fee schedule

Start with the split. A taker fee is what you pay when your order removes liquidity from the book; a maker fee is what you pay, or are paid, when your order rests in it. Hyperliquid publishes seven tiers set on 14-day weighted volume, from 0.045%/0.015% below $5M down to 0.026%/0% from $2B, with maker rebates paid on each trade and spot volume counting double toward the tier.

Then read the exceptions, because they carry the real rate. Aster charges 0% to makers and 0.04% to takers on the main schedule, but selected Group B crypto pairs cost 0.1% taker and RWA pairs a flat 1.25 bps. edgeX matches Hyperliquid's 0.045% taker and charges 0.040% to makers where Hyperliquid rebates them. Extended sits below both, at 0.025% taker and 0% maker.

Cheapest perpetual exchange: why 0% can cost more

A 0% line is a statement about fees, not about the price you get. Variational charges nothing per trade because it keeps the market-making spread, and it charges a flat $0.10 on deposits and withdrawals. Lighter's standard accounts pay 0% both ways against 300ms of taker latency, while the opt-in Premium tier brings faster matching at 0.0040% maker and 0.0280% taker.

Pool venues charge at both ends. GMX bills 0.04% to 0.06% on open and on close on top of borrow and price impact, Jupiter Perps bills 0.06% on each side of a JLP market plus an hourly borrow fee and a swap fee of 10 bps, 2 bps on stablecoins, and Veranta goes from 0.001% to 0.045% depending on which side of the open interest you take. A round trip pays each of those twice.

Hyperliquid fees vs the rest of the list

Hyperliquid's base tier is 0.045% taker and 0.015% maker, and it is not the cheapest headline in the selection: Extended asks 0.025% taker with a 0% maker fee, and Aster asks 0.04% taker with 0% maker. What Hyperliquid adds is the ladder around it, down to 0.026%/0% from $2B of 14-day weighted volume, with maker rebates paid on every trade and spot volume counted double.

At the other end, Jupiter Perps is the most expensive venue of the series for a round trip at 0.06% on each side, and Apex Omni's base rate of 5 bps is the second highest even though its VIP ladder can take fees to zero. dYdX also starts at 0.050%/0.010%, but referred users open at fee tier 3 instead of tier 1, which its card values at up to $550 of savings.

Frequently asked questions

Which perp DEX has the lowest fees?

Two venues publish 0%. Variational charges no trading fee and keeps the market-making spread, with a flat $0.10 on deposits and withdrawals. Lighter's standard accounts pay 0% maker and taker against 300ms of taker latency, and its Premium tier charges 0.0040%/0.0280%. Extended follows at 0.025% taker with 0% maker.

Are Hyperliquid's fees higher than Aster's?

On the base tier, yes: 0.045% taker against 0.04%. Aster pays makers 0% where Hyperliquid pays them a 0.015% rebate, and Aster charges 0.1% taker on selected Group B pairs plus a flat 1.25 bps on RWA pairs. From $2B of 14-day weighted volume, Hyperliquid's taker fee falls to 0.026%.

Do maker fees matter if I only send market orders?

Then you are a taker on every fill and the maker column is not yours. It matters if you sometimes post a limit order, and the spread is wide: 0% at Aster, Extended and on Lighter's standard accounts, 0.040% charged at edgeX, and a rebate paid to you at Hyperliquid.

What is missing from a headline fee?

Funding and borrow accruing while a position is open, price impact on larger clips, a 10 bps swap fee at Jupiter Perps when the input token has to be converted, $0.10 per deposit and withdrawal at Variational, and the exit itself: Variational documents a forced liquidation executed 0.5% away from the bid or ask.

Why is Backpack not in this ranking?

Because it publishes no comparable number: its fee tiers are published as an image rather than as a maker and taker schedule we can rank. It is also the only custodial, KYC-verified venue of the series, so a fee comparison against self-custody venues would not be like for like.

Is the cheapest venue also the most liquid?

No, and the gap is wide. Hyperliquid did $204.1B of perp volume over 30 days, Aster $64.9B and Lighter $52.6B, while dYdX did $1.04B and Veranta $3.2B. On a thin book, slippage and price impact can cost more than the difference between a 0.025% and a 0.045% fee.