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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| dYdX | 0.10% | 0.11% | 0.16% |
| Lighter | 0.0019% | 0.015% | 0.047% |
dYdX vs Lighter
dYdX leads on 1 of 8 shared benchmarks, Lighter on 7. dYdX wins on Perp DEX cost invariance (1.705x vs 9.79x). Lighter wins on Cheapest perp DEX, live all-in cost from $1k to $1M on ETH, BTC and SOL (0.0019% vs 0.10%), Perp DEX volume share, live 24h notional ranked ($2.59B vs $108.56M), Perp DEX funding stability, 24h stddev of ETH funding ranked (0.012% vs 0.046%), Most tradable markets on a perp DEX, live count across 14 venues (212 vs 99).
dYdX
Perp DEX on the dYdX Chain, a Cosmos SDK appchain. Orderbook with off-chain matching and onchain settlement, validators propagate orders via the mempool.
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
TradingdYdX
Trails$108.56M
- p99
- $132.33M
- rank
- #11
- samples
- 2,880
Lighter
Leads$2.59B
- p99
- $2.82B
- rank
- #3
- samples
- 2,880
Perp DEX funding stability, 24h stddev of ETH funding ranked
TradingdYdX
Trails0.046 %
- p99
- 0.0023%
- rank
- #12
- samples
- 2,880
Lighter
Leads0.012 %
- p99
- 0.014%
- rank
- #9
- samples
- 2,880
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
TradingdYdX
Trails99
- p99
- 99
- rank
- #9
- samples
- 2,880
Lighter
Leads212
- p99
- 212
- rank
- #6
- samples
- 2,880
Perp DEX cost invariance: all-in bps at $1M vs $1k, live slope ranked
Trading| Provider | Cost slope ($1M / $1k) | $1M fill rate |
|---|---|---|
| dYdX | 1.705x | 100.0% |
| Lighter | 9.79x | 99.5% |
Perp DEX mark price fidelity: deviation from CEX spot reference, live
TradingdYdX
Trails0.032 %
- p99
- 0.11%
- rank
- #6
- samples
- 2,880
Lighter
Leads0.030 %
- p99
- 0.070%
- rank
- #3
- samples
- 2,880
Per chain
| Chain | dYdX | Lighter |
|---|---|---|
| ETH | 0.033% | 0.018% |
| BTC | 0.032% | 0.030% |
| SOL | 0.035% | 0.045% |
Perp DEX security track record: days without a recorded exploit, live
TradingdYdX
Trails1,056
- p99
- 1,056
- rank
- #3
- samples
- 2,880
Lighter
Leads1,148
- p99
- 1,148
- rank
- #2
- samples
- 2,880
This benchmark counts recorded incidents only. Absence from the registry does not prove a protocol is exploit-free: it means no incident matching the criteria (direct theft or loss of user funds via a security vulnerability) has been documented in the tracked sources as of the registry timestamp shown on each row. The registry is human-curated and updated when a new incident is confirmed. The registry date and source links are embedded in the harness.
Perp DEX asset breadth: non-crypto markets live, forex + stocks + indices + commodities
TradingdYdX
No data in window
Lighter
Leads40
- rank
- #2
Market count reflects the Mobula perp pairs catalog at query time. Only mainnet markets are counted (testnets excluded). Asset class tags (forex, stocks, indices, commodities) are assigned by Mobula's editorial taxonomy and updated when new pairs are listed. Venues not in the Mobula catalog (Hyperliquid, GMX, dYdX, Ostium, Vertex, Paradex, Aster) are monitored separately: their catalogs are crypto-only or verified crypto-only by native API.
Perp DEX liquidation rate: 24h liquidated notional as % of open interest, live
TradingdYdX
Trails1.47 %
- p99
- 2.32%
- rank
- #2
- samples
- 2,880
Lighter
Leads0.014 %
- p99
- 0.017%
- rank
- #1
- samples
- 2,880
Per chain
| Chain | dYdX | Lighter |
|---|---|---|
| ETH | 0.67% | 0.00034% |
| BTC | 1.46% | 0.014% |
Frequently asked questions
dYdX vs Lighter: which one is better?
dYdX and Lighter are compared on 9 shared OpenChainBench benchmarks. dYdX leads on Perp DEX cost invariance. 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 faster, dYdX or Lighter?
On the Perp DEX cost invariance benchmark, dYdX leads at 1.705x versus Lighter at 9.79x. Live measurement is updated continuously by the OpenChainBench harness.
Which is cheaper, dYdX or Lighter?
On the Cheapest perp DEX, live all-in cost from $1k to $1M on ETH, BTC and SOL benchmark, Lighter leads at 0.0019% versus dYdX at 0.10%. Live measurement is updated continuously by the OpenChainBench harness.
How is the dYdX 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.