Crypto exchange with lowest fees in 2026
The Cost Per Trade pricing deskUpdated: Books timed
Cheapest here
$0.86
Lighter
$0.00 in fees and $0.86 to the book, opening and closing $10,000 at market.
Dearest here
$191.52
Paradex
$0.00 in fees and $191.52 to the book, on the same position.
The verdict
Ordered by what the trade actually costs on 24 September 2026, the crypto exchange with lowest fees among the seven order-book venues here is Lighter: nothing published and $0.86 once the order book is counted. Paradex publishes the same zero and costs $191.52.
- 01Two venues publish zero. Their all-in prices are $0.86 and $191.52.
- 02Cheapest rate with no condition attached: Extended, 0.025% to takers, $5.00 a round trip.
- 03Aster charges makers nothing at every tier but takers 0.040%.
- 04The three venues on 0.045% are separated by their books, not their rate cards.
WeightsPublished rate40Execution cost30Where the money sits12Security record8What the rate buys6Who may pay it4how we rate
The crypto exchange with lowest fees, line by line
Ordered by the published taker cost of a $10,000 round trip, cheapest first, before any discount.
| Line | Venue | Maker | Taker | Fees on $10,000 | Book adds | All-in | Score of 50 | Perp markets | Priced for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Lighter | 0% | 0% | $0.00 | $0.86 | $0.86 | 42.8 | 214 | a rate of zero that the book can back |
| 1= | Paradex | 0% | 0% | $0.00 | $191.52 | $191.52 | 31.9 | 63 | a rate of zero that the book does not back |
| 3 | Extended | 0% | 0.025% | $5.00 | $0.12 | $5.12 | 38.4 | 325 | the cheapest rate with no condition attached |
| 4 | Aster | 0% | 0.040% | $8.00 | $0.16 | $8.16 | 36.3 | 578 | makers, at every tier |
| 5= | edgeX | 0.040% | 0.045% | $9.00 | $0.04 | $9.04 | 36.2 | 172 | the dearest maker rate and the deepest book |
| 5= | Hyperliquid | 0.015% | 0.045% | $9.00 | $0.12 | $9.12 | 33.1 | 324 | accounts with enough volume to leave the base tier |
| 5= | EVEDEX | 0.015% | 0.045% | $9.00 | $4.12 | $13.12 | 32.5 | 52 | a fixed rate that cashback lowers afterwards |
Entry-tier rates, read on 18 September 2026. Fees are twice the taker rate on $10,000; the book column is what a market order of that size paid past the mid price, in and out. An equals sign marks a shared line. Every venue here turns away some jurisdictions, and each one's terms carry its own list.
The surcharge behind the rate
Each BTC perpetual book on this page was read 00:00 to 23:54 UTC on 21 September 2026, at ten-minute stops. The figures are medians of every successful reading.
| Venue | Median spread | Resting within 10 bps | Against the deepest book here | Walk on $10,000 | Walk on $100,000 | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter | 0.01 bps | $16.2 million | 0.43 bps | 0.71 bps | 52 | |
| Paradex | 7.45 bps | $870.00 | 95.76 bps | 157.79 bps | 133 | |
| Extended | 0.12 bps | $7.8 million | 0.06 bps | 0.06 bps | 53 | |
| Aster | 0.01 bps | $14.9 million | 0.08 bps | 0.34 bps | 135 | |
| edgeX | 0.04 bps | $29.2 million | 0.02 bps | 0.02 bps | 134 | |
| Hyperliquid | 0.12 bps | $7.3 million | 0.06 bps | 0.06 bps | 135 | |
| EVEDEX | 4.12 bps | $18.3 million | 2.06 bps | 2.06 bps | 133 |
Read from each venue's public order-book endpoint. The walk is the distance between the mid price and what a market order of that size would have averaged. No account was opened.
Line 01 shared
$0.86
all-in on $10,000
- Published fee
- $0.00
- Paid to the book
- $0.86
- Score
- 42.8 of 50
Lighter — a rate of zero that the book can back
Standard accounts pay 0% both ways on every perpetual market (Lighter fee documentation, checked 18 September 2026), and the book stood behind it in the readings: $16.2 million within 10 basis points, 0.01 bps median spread and 0.43 bps of walk on $10,000.
A rate of nothing does not make the position free: on leverage, a small move takes the whole margin.
Points by criterion, each out of ten before the weights
Price buys
- No fee at all on the default account
- Nine external audits between 2025 and 2026, and a documented forced exit on Ethereum
Price omits
- Taker orders on the free account wait 300 milliseconds
- No public bug bounty, by its own disclosure policy
Not for: anyone who needs the fastest fill.
Rate page: lighter.xyz
Line 01 shared
$191.52
all-in on $10,000
- Published fee
- $0.00
- Paid to the book
- $191.52
- Score
- 31.9 of 50
Paradex — a rate of zero that the book does not back
Web orders have paid nothing since 15 June 2026, with a 300-millisecond bump and three orders a second (Paradex fee documentation, checked 18 September 2026). Its BTC book held $870.00 within 10 basis points, the thinnest here, and a $100,000 order walked 157.79 bps.
Price buys
- Nothing charged on orders placed through the web interface
- A Sherlock bounty of up to 500,000 USDC and audited bridge contracts
Price omits
- 95.76 bps of walk on a $10,000 order, so the free trade cost $191.52
- Programmatic orders on the Pro 0 tier pay 0.003% and 0.045%
Not for: anything larger than a few thousand dollars.
Rate page: paradex.trade
Line 03
$5.12
all-in on $10,000
- Published fee
- $5.00
- Paid to the book
- $0.12
- Score
- 38.4 of 50
Extended — the cheapest rate with no condition attached
One flat schedule, 0% maker / 0.025% taker, for every account and every order type, with 0.010% for takers on real-world-asset markets (Extended fee documentation, checked 18 September 2026). A $10,000 round trip is $5.00, and the book added 0.06 bps.
Price buys
- No latency penalty and no tier to reach
- Makers pay nothing under the same flat schedule
Price omits
- 278 of its 325 markets are request-for-quote, with an indicative book only
- $7.8 million within 10 basis points, under half of Lighter's above it
Not for: traders counting on a volume discount.
Rate page: extended.exchange
Line 04
$8.16
all-in on $10,000
- Published fee
- $8.00
- Paid to the book
- $0.16
- Score
- 36.3 of 50
Aster — makers, at every tier
Maker fees have been zero across all VIP tiers since 2 February 2026, with VIP 1 takers at 0.040% (Aster fee documentation, checked 18 September 2026). Its perpetuals overview page still shows 0.01% and 0.035%. Median spread was 0.01 bps, tied with Lighter for the tightest on this sheet.
Price buys
- Nothing for makers, whatever the volume
- 0.01 bps median spread and $14.9 million resting within 10 basis points
Price omits
- 0.040% for takers, dearer than all but the three on 0.045%
- Its own documentation quotes two different schedules
Not for: traders who mostly cross the spread.
Rate page: asterdex.com
Line 05 shared
$9.04
all-in on $10,000
- Published fee
- $9.00
- Paid to the book
- $0.04
- Score
- 36.2 of 50
edgeX — the dearest maker rate and the deepest book
Regular users pay 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker on V2 perpetuals (edgeX tier table, checked 18 September 2026), the dearest maker rate on this page. Its book was the deepest on this sheet at $29.2 million within 10 basis points, so a $10,000 order cost only 0.02 bps on top.
Price buys
- $29.2 million resting within 10 basis points
- Forced withdrawals that bypass the operator are documented
Price omits
- 0.040% to makers, far above the zero rates above it
- Fee pages in its help centre still show superseded V1 numbers
Not for: market makers.
Rate page: pro.edgex.exchange
Line 05 shared
$9.12
all-in on $10,000
- Published fee
- $9.00
- Paid to the book
- $0.12
- Score
- 33.1 of 50
Hyperliquid — accounts with enough volume to leave the base tier
The base tier is 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker and falls with 14-day weighted volume and staked HYPE, one tier across every market (Hyperliquid fee documentation, checked 18 September 2026). The book held $7.3 million within 10 basis points, thinner than all but Paradex, so the all-in price was $9.12.
Price buys
- A published ladder that a busy account can actually descend
- Bug bounty of up to 1 million USDC
Price omits
- The base rate is the same 0.045% as two other venues here
- Its community vault lost money in March and November 2025
Not for: accounts that will stay at the base tier.
Rate page: hyperliquid.xyz
Line 05 shared
$13.12
all-in on $10,000
- Published fee
- $9.00
- Paid to the book
- $4.12
- Score
- 32.5 of 50
EVEDEX — a fixed rate that cashback lowers afterwards
The published rate is 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker and it does not change with volume (EVEDEX documentation, noted 18 September 2026). Cashback returns part of what has already been paid, up to 35% of a trader's own fees, which puts the effective taker rate at 0.02925%. The readings put its book second deepest on this page at $18.3 million.
Price buys
- Cashback of up to 35% on fees already paid
- 2.06 bps of walk on a $100,000 order in the readings
Price omits
- Nothing published below 0.045%, and no volume tier to climb into
- 52 perpetual markets, against 214 on the venue at the top of this page
- No bug bounty listed on its CertiK Skynet page, checked 18 September 2026
Not for: traders who want the headline rate itself to fall.
01
What a zero rate is sold for
Neither zero here is a gift. Lighter's Standard account is free because it is slower: taker orders wait 300 milliseconds against 140 on paid Premium (Lighter fee documentation, checked 18 September 2026). Paradex charges nothing on web orders and caps them at three a second behind the same bump (Paradex fee documentation, checked 18 September 2026). Both sell latency, and the trader pays in time.
The second price is the book. Lighter held $16.2 million within 10 basis points of the mid and Paradex $870.00, so the same $10,000 market order walked 0.43 bps on one and 95.76 bps on the other. That difference is worth more than the fee either of them waived.
02
How this sheet was priced
Quoted off each venue's own pages, 18 September 2026: rates, market counts, sign-in rules, audits. Read off the public book here: every BTC perpetual, 00:00 to 23:54 UTC on 21 September 2026, at ten-minute stops. The weights came first, 22 September 2026, before any of the 7 venues was priced (how we rate). No order was sent.
The price here leaves out volume tiers, staking, rebates and cashback. Funding is billed on its own clock. One contract was timed: BTC. What a chain is told, and what the past 24 months hold, come from the venue's telling, not from anything tested here.
Questions readers ask about these fees
What is the cheapest crypto exchange for futures?
By published rate, Lighter and Paradex at 0% on default orders. By what the trade costs once the order book is counted, Lighter at $0.86 on a $10,000 round trip and Extended at $5.12, while Paradex, publishing the same zero, comes to $191.52 on the 21 September 2026 readings.
Do all crypto exchanges charge the same fees?
No. Entry-tier taker rates on this page run from nothing to 0.045%, and maker rates from nothing to 0.040%. Two of the seven charge exactly 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker and two more charge nothing on either side; no other schedule on this page is shared.
Is it cheaper to be a maker or a taker?
A maker on five of the seven; on the other two both sides pay nothing. Four of the seven charge makers nothing, and the widest gap between the two sides is on Aster: nothing to makers, 0.040% to takers. A limit order that waits is the largest saving a retail account has.
How much does it cost to open and close a crypto futures position?
On a $10,000 position at the entry tier it ranges from nothing to $9.00 in fees across this page. Add what the book takes: $0.86 all-in on Lighter, $5.12 on Extended, $191.52 on Paradex, and $9.04 to $13.12 on the three venues charging 0.045%.
What is the catch with zero-fee trading?
Latency, order limits, or a thin book. Lighter delays free taker orders by 300 milliseconds, Paradex adds the same bump and caps retail at three orders a second, and Paradex's book is thin enough that a $10,000 order walked 95.76 bps in the readings.
Which exchange has the lowest taker fee?
Lighter and Paradex charge no taker fee at all on their default retail orders. Among the schedules that apply to every order without a latency penalty, Extended's 0.025% is the lowest rate on this page, which comes to $5.00 on a $10,000 round trip at market.
Updated: . Price errors and corrections: desk@thundermessage.com. The Cost Per Trade pricing desk.