Cheapest perp DEX, live all-in cost from $1k to $1M on ETH, BTC and SOL
Trading| Provider | All-in cost | All-in at $100k | All-in at $1M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aster | 0.050% | 0.053% | 0.063% |
| Lighter | 0.0020% | 0.0064% | 0.024% |
Aster vs Lighter
Aster leads on 4 of 5 shared benchmarks, Lighter on 1. Aster wins on Perp DEX volume share, live 24h notional ranked ($1.12B vs $970.38M), Perp DEX funding stability, 24h stddev of ETH funding ranked (0.0044% vs 0.0078%), Most tradable markets on a perp DEX, live count across 14 venues (543 vs 210), Perp DEX cost invariance (1.059x vs 8.57x). Lighter wins on Cheapest perp DEX, live all-in cost from $1k to $1M on ETH, BTC and SOL (0.0020% vs 0.050%).
Aster
Aster is a decentralized perps exchange (ex-ApolloX, backed by YZi Labs) on BNB Chain and other EVM networks, with a Binance-compatible API and 8 hour funding periods.
Lighter
Onchain perp DEX with a fully onchain orderbook on a zkSync rollup. ZK proofs verify matching, no off-chain sequencer for trade execution.
Side by side measurements
Perp DEX volume share, live 24h notional ranked
TradingAster
Leads$1.12B
- p99
- $1.30B
- rank
- #2
- samples
- 2,383
Lighter
Trails$970.38M
- p99
- $1.07B
- rank
- #3
- samples
- 2,383
Perp DEX funding stability, 24h stddev of ETH funding ranked
TradingAster
Leads0.0044 %
- p99
- 0.012%
- rank
- #3
- samples
- 2,384
Lighter
Trails0.0078 %
- p99
- 0.012%
- rank
- #8
- samples
- 2,383
Stability is not directionality. A venue with persistently positive but tight-banded funding ranks better here than one that flips between positive and negative every settlement, even if the second venue offers better average carry. Read alongside perp-funding for direction and average level.
Most tradable markets on a perp DEX, live count across 14 venues
TradingAster
Leads543
- p99
- 543
- rank
- #1
- samples
- 2,383
Lighter
Trails210
- p99
- 210
- rank
- #6
- samples
- 2,383
Perp DEX cost invariance: all-in bps at $1M vs $1k, live slope ranked
Trading| Provider | Cost slope ($1M / $1k) | $1M fill rate |
|---|---|---|
| Aster | 1.059x | 100.0% |
| Lighter | 8.57x | 99.3% |
Frequently asked questions
Aster vs Lighter: which one is better?
Aster and Lighter are compared on 5 shared OpenChainBench benchmarks. Aster leads on Perp DEX volume share, live 24h notional ranked. Lighter leads on Cheapest perp DEX, live all-in cost from $1k to $1M on ETH, BTC and SOL. See the live table on this page for every metric.
Which is cheaper, Aster or Lighter?
On the Perp DEX volume share, live 24h notional ranked benchmark, Aster leads at $1.12B versus Lighter at $970.38M. Live measurement is updated continuously by the OpenChainBench harness.
Which is cheaper, Aster or Lighter?
On the Cheapest perp DEX, live all-in cost from $1k to $1M on ETH, BTC and SOL benchmark, Lighter leads at 0.0020% versus Aster at 0.050%. Live measurement is updated continuously by the OpenChainBench harness.
How is the Aster vs Lighter comparison measured?
Every benchmark on this page uses the same open methodology, published at https://openchainbench.com/methodology. Data is CC-BY-4.0. Measurement harnesses are MIT-licensed.
Related comparisons
How this pair was selected
Auto-generated pairs require: both providers in the same benchmark for seven consecutive days, at least 1000 samples per provider, observable third-party search demand, and a public /products/[slug] page on OCB. Editorially curated pairs (like this one) may publish early when search demand is high and data is accruing — panels with fewer than 100 samples are shown as provisional. The full pair ledger is versioned in the public repo.