# Crypto exchange with lowest fees in 2026

Updated: 24 September 2026. Rate pages read 18 September 2026. Books timed 21 September 2026. The Cost Per Trade pricing desk

## 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 on $10,000 | Score of 50 | Perp markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Lighter | 0% | 0% | $0.00 | $0.86 | $0.86 | 42.8 | 214 |
| 1= | Paradex | 0% | 0% | $0.00 | $191.52 | $191.52 | 31.9 | 63 |
| 3 | Extended | 0% | 0.025% | $5.00 | $0.12 | $5.12 | 38.4 | 325 |
| 4 | Aster | 0% | 0.040% | $8.00 | $0.16 | $8.16 | 36.3 | 578 |
| 5= | edgeX | 0.040% | 0.045% | $9.00 | $0.04 | $9.04 | 36.2 | 172 |
| 5= | Hyperliquid | 0.015% | 0.045% | $9.00 | $0.12 | $9.12 | 33.1 | 324 |
| 5= | EVEDEX | 0.015% | 0.045% | $9.00 | $4.12 | $13.12 | 32.5 | 52 |

Weights: Published rate 40 · Execution cost 30 · Where the money sits 12 · Security record 8 · What the rate buys 6 · Who may pay it 4, on a scale of zero to 50, fixed 22 September 2026 before any venue was priced. Method in full: https://thundermessage.com/how-we-price

Rates are the entry tier, read 18 September 2026. The fee column is twice the taker rate on a $10,000 position; the book column is what the order-book readings show that order paying past the mid price, in and out; all-in is the two added. Every venue here restricts access by jurisdiction; the list is in each one's own terms.

## 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.

## Notes on this sheet

1. Two venues publish zero. Their all-in prices are $0.86 and $191.52.
2. Cheapest rate with no condition attached: Extended, 0.025% to takers, $5.00 a round trip.
3. Aster charges makers nothing at every tier but takers 0.040%.
4. The three venues on 0.045% are separated by their books, not their rate cards.

## 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 | 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 |

## Line 1. [Lighter](https://lighter.xyz) — $0.86 all-in on $10,000, for a rate of zero that the book can back

Standard accounts pay 0% both ways on every perpetual market
([Lighter fee documentation](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees), 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.

- Buys: No fee at all on the default account; Nine external audits between 2025 and 2026, and a documented forced exit on Ethereum.
- Not covered: 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.

## Line 1. [Paradex](https://www.paradex.trade) — $191.52 all-in on $10,000, for 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](https://api.prod.paradex.trade/v1/system/volume-tiers), 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.

- Buys: Nothing charged on orders placed through the web interface; A Sherlock bounty of up to 500,000 USDC and audited bridge contracts.
- Not covered: 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.

## Line 3. [Extended](https://extended.exchange/) — $5.12 all-in on $10,000, for 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](https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/trading-fees-and-rebates), checked 18 September 2026).
A $10,000 round trip is $5.00, and the book added
0.06 bps.

- Buys: No latency penalty and no tier to reach; Makers pay nothing under the same flat schedule.
- Not covered: 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.

## Line 4. [Aster](https://www.asterdex.com) — $8.16 all-in on $10,000, for 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](https://docs.asterdex.com/trading/perpetuals/fees-and-specs/fees), 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.

- Buys: Nothing for makers, whatever the volume; 0.01 bps median spread and $14.9 million resting within 10 basis points.
- Not covered: 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.

## Line 5. [edgeX](https://pro.edgex.exchange) — $9.04 all-in on $10,000, for the dearest maker rate and the deepest book

Regular users pay 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker on V2 perpetuals ([edgeX tier table](https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/vip), 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.

- Buys: $29.2 million resting within 10 basis points; Forced withdrawals that bypass the operator are documented.
- Not covered: 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.

## Line 5. [Hyperliquid](https://hyperliquid.xyz) — $9.12 all-in on $10,000, for 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](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/fees), 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.

- Buys: A published ladder that a busy account can actually descend; Bug bounty of up to 1 million USDC.
- Not covered: 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.

## Line 5. EVEDEX — $13.12 all-in on $10,000, for 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.

- Buys: Cashback of up to 35% on fees already paid; 2.06 bps of walk on a $100,000 order in the readings.
- Not covered: 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.

## 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](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees), checked 18 September 2026). Paradex charges nothing on web orders
and caps them at three a second behind the same bump
([Paradex fee documentation](https://api.prod.paradex.trade/v1/system/volume-tiers), 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.

## Quoted from the rate pages

> "Retail Takers and Makers have 0% fees on all products" — Paradex documentation, Trading fees, 18 September 2026. https://docs.paradex.trade/trading/trading-fees
> "Taker latency: 300ms" — Lighter documentation, Trading fees, 18 September 2026. https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees
> "Regular User | < $10,000,000 | 0.040% / 0.045%" — edgeX VIP tier table, 18 September 2026. https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/vip
## FAQ

### 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.

### are low fee exchanges worth the worse execution?

It depends on size. A $10,000 order saves $9.00 by moving from a 0.045%
venue to a free one, and loses $191.52 to the book if the free one is Paradex. At $100,000 the
fee still leads on the five venues that charge one; on the other two the book is the whole bill.

### Do crypto exchanges hide fees in the spread?

Not deliberately, but the spread is a real cost that no rate page prints. Median spreads on this page
ranged from 0.01 bps to 7.45 bps, and on a thin book a market order keeps
walking well past the first quote, which is where the difference between $0.86 and $191.52 came from.

### What is a good maker fee for crypto?

Zero is normal among order-book perpetual venues: Lighter, Paradex, Extended and Aster all charge
makers nothing. Anything at or above 0.040% is dear on this page, and
0.015% sits in the middle. The maker rate only matters if the order rests; anything
that crosses the spread pays the taker rate instead.

### Does cashback actually lower what you pay?

It lowers the bill after the fact rather than the rate itself. EVEDEX returns up to 35% of a trader's
own fees, so the effective taker rate reaches 0.02925% at the ceiling, and the gamification level a
trader reaches sets the base rate beneath it.

## 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](/how-we-price)). 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.

One published formula, fixed before anything was priced. Every figure carries the day it was taken. Corrections: desk@thundermessage.com.

The Cost Per Trade pricing desk, 24 September 2026

This price desk is paid to publish, and a venue on the sheet may be the party that paid; the order of every column is the published formula.