# Aster Alternatives in 2026 Updated: 24 September 2026 / Books polled 19 September 2026 / Spaces Research ## Readout The strongest Aster alternatives in our 24 September 2026 scores are Lighter (8.5/10), with 0% fees on its default account and a documented exit through Ethereum, and Extended (7.8). Aster itself scores 7.7: 578 markets and a bug bounty, but a closed-source chain with no outside validators. Its bug bounty pays up to $200,000. ## Order-book readings BTC perpetual books polled on a ten-minute tick, 18 September 2026 12:02 UTC to 19 September 2026 09:10 UTC; medians of all successful snapshots. | Venue | $10,000 round trip | Spread | Depth, 10 bps | Impact, $100,000 | Snapshots | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Aster | $8.00 | 0.01 bps | $16.1 million | 0.38 bps | 113 | | Lighter | $0.00 | 0.01 bps | $16.9 million | 0.60 bps | 114 | | Extended | $5.00 | 0.12 bps | $7.4 million | 0.06 bps | 114 | | edgeX | $9.00 | 0.04 bps | $29.5 million | 0.02 bps | 109 | | Hyperliquid | $9.00 | 0.12 bps | $9.6 million | 0.06 bps | 114 | | ApeX Omni | $10.00 | 0.71 bps | $1.8 million | 0.38 bps | 114 | | EVEDEX | $9.00 | 4.12 bps | $18.3 million | 2.06 bps | 111 | ## Aster alternatives ranked, September 2026 Order-book venues a trader leaving or comparing Aster can move to, ordered by the overall score. Each row answers one question: what this venue does that Aster does not. | # | Venue | Score /10 | Maker / taker | Perp markets | Model | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Lighter | 8.5 | 0% / 0% | 214 | Hybrid, ZK-proven | | 2 | Extended | 7.8 | 0% / 0.025% | 325 | Hybrid | | 3 | edgeX | 7.6 | 0.040% / 0.045% | 172 | Hybrid | | 4= | ApeX Omni | 6.9 | 0.020% / 0.050% | 125 | Hybrid | | 4= | Hyperliquid | 6.9 | 0.015% / 0.045% | 324 | On-chain order book | | 6 | EVEDEX | 6.5 | 0.015% / 0.045% | 52 | Hybrid | Facts as of 18 September 2026; entry-tier fees on the BTC perpetual. Access differs by country. Weights: cost 25 · liquidity 25 · custody 20 · security 15 · coverage 10 · access 5, fixed 18 September 2026. Method: https://spacesdao.org/methodology ## What the numbers say 1. Lower fees than Aster's 0.040% taker rate: Lighter at 0% and Extended at 0.025%. 2. Documented exit without the operator: Lighter, edgeX and ApeX Omni. Aster documents none. 3. Commodities, currencies and pre-IPO contracts beside crypto: EVEDEX, Lighter and Extended. 4. Bug bounties: Aster publishes one up to $200,000, Lighter publishes none at all. ## 1. [Lighter](https://lighter.xyz) — 0% fees and a documented exit Score 8.5 of 10. Lighter matches trades in an operator-run sequencer and proves every batch on Ethereum ([Lighter docs](https://docs.lighter.xyz/about-lighter/technical-architecture-lighter-core.md), checked 18 September 2026). Its default account pays 0% maker and taker fees in exchange for 300 ms of taker latency. It lists 214 perpetual markets, including currencies, equities and pre-IPO contracts, documents a forced exit through Ethereum and allows 50x on BTC. - Works: 0% fees on the default account; Forced exit through Ethereum documented. - Falls short: 300 ms of taker latency on free accounts; No public bug bounty programme. - Not for: traders who want a published bug bounty behind the venue. ## 2. [Extended](https://extended.exchange/) — a lower taker fee with per-trade settlement Score 7.8 of 10. Extended settles every transaction on Starknet ([Extended docs](https://docs.extended.exchange/about-extended/technical-architecture), checked 18 September 2026) and charges 0% maker / 0.025% taker to every account, against 0% maker / 0.040% taker on Aster. It lists 325 markets, though 278 are request-for-quote without a public book. BTC goes to 50x, and its bug bounty pays up to $500,000. - Works: 0.025% taker fee for every account; Bug bounty of up to $500,000. - Falls short: Most markets have no public order book; No documented forced withdrawal. - Not for: traders who cannot wait up to four hours on a large withdrawal. ## 3. [edgeX](https://pro.edgex.exchange) — a deep BTC book and a documented exit Score 7.6 of 10. edgeX batches every state change into rollup contracts on its EDGE chain ([edgeX docs](https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/home), checked 18 September 2026) and documents withdrawals that bypass the operator. In the snapshots its BTC book held a median $29.5 million within 10 bps, against $16.1 million on Aster. Entry fees are 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker; BTC goes to 100x on positions up to $1 million. - Works: Median BTC depth of $29.5 million within 10 bps; Documented exit without the operator. - Falls short: 0.040% maker fee at the entry tier; No bug bounty programme. - Not for: makers who need low fees on resting orders. ## 4. [ApeX Omni](https://omni.apex.exchange/) — a layer-1 exit written into the documentation Score 6.9 of 10. ApeX Omni proves matched trades on the zkLink rollup, with a documented forced withdrawal to layer 1 ([ApeX Omni docs](https://docs.zk.link/architecture/transactionflow), checked 18 September 2026). Entry fees are 0.020% maker / 0.050% taker. It lists 125 markets and accepts wallet or email sign-in. The audits it publishes cover zkLink's infrastructure from 2023 rather than its own matching engine. - Works: Documentation states no KYC and no forms; Documented exit to layer 1. - Falls short: 0.050% taker fee; Audits cover zkLink, not ApeX's own engine. - Not for: high-volume takers. ## 4. [Hyperliquid](https://hyperliquid.xyz) — market count and isolated margin Score 6.9 of 10. Hyperliquid runs its order books inside its own layer-1 consensus ([Hyperliquid docs](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/about-hyperliquid.md), checked 18 September 2026), with 324 perpetual markets and both cross and isolated margin. Fees start at 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker, a higher taker rate than Aster's 0.040%. Its bug bounty pays up to 1 million USDC, and BTC goes to 40x. - Works: Cross and isolated margin; Bug bounty of up to 1 million USDC. - Falls short: HLP vault losses in March and November 2025; No documented withdrawal without validators. - Not for: traders who want more than 40x on BTC. ## 6. EVEDEX — commodities and pre-IPO contracts beside crypto Score 6.5 of 10. EVEDEX matches off-chain and records positions and withdrawals on Arbitrum (EVEDEX documentation as of 18 September 2026). Its 52 markets include Tether Gold, oil, currencies, stocks and pre-IPO contracts, and its BTC book held a median $18.3 million within 10 bps in the snapshots. Fees are 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker; 200x applies to BTC, ETH and SOL positions up to $50,000. - Works: Median BTC depth of $18.3 million within 10 bps; Commodities and pre-IPO contracts on one account. - Falls short: Position snapshots and no documented exit; No bug bounty programme. - Not for: traders who need hundreds of altcoin markets. ## Why traders compare Aster alternatives Aster moved matching and settlement to Aster Chain, its own layer 1, on 16 March 2026. In this first phase the chain takes no outside validators and its core code is closed-source ([Aster docs](https://docs.asterdex.com/overview/what-is-aster.md), checked 18 September 2026). Its separate 1001x mode was discontinued, with remaining positions force-closed. In October 2025 DefiLlama pulled Aster's perpetuals data after its XRP volumes mirrored Binance's almost tick for tick ([CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/10/06/xrp-volumes-on-aster-dex-mimic-those-on-binance-putting-focus-on-the-market-s-current-obsession)); on 24 September 2026 Aster appears again in DefiLlama's open-interest ranking. Aster has real strengths: 578 perpetual markets, a 0% maker fee since 2 February 2026 and an Immunefi bug bounty of up to $200,000. Its BTC book held a median $16.1 million within 10 bps in the snapshots. The alternatives below run order books too, so the comparison is like for like. Leverage shortens the distance between the entry price and the liquidation price, and the whole margin sits inside that distance. ## How the readings were taken Two kinds of number reach this screen. Depth, spread and price impact are ours — every BTC perpetual book polled on a ten-minute tick, 18 September 2026 12:02 UTC to 19 September 2026 09:10 UTC, no account opened and no order sent, each median printed with the count of readings behind it. The rest is read off each venue's own documentation and trading terms on 18 September 2026: rate cards, market lists, leverage ladders, sign-in and access rules, audit history. Six weighted criteria, fixed on 18 September 2026 and unmoved since, turn those readings into the 6 totals on this page ([How we rate](/methodology)). Aster is scored with the same formula at 7.7/10 and shown in the measurement table for comparison. Custody, settlement and the security record are marked off documents, and a document is a statement of intent — none of it has been put under stress here. The fee column is the entry-tier rate a new account is quoted, with volume tiers, rebates and cashback left out of it. Depth was read on the BTC book alone, the deepest contract every one of these venues runs, so a venue that reads well on this screen can still be thin in a smaller market. Venues priced from an oracle or a pool never had a resting book to read, and carry their facts without a total on the [perp DEX list](/perp-dex-list). ## Sourced quotes > "This runs on Aster Chain, our own L1 built for private perps trading: 100,000+ transactions per second, 50ms block latency." — Aster documentation, 18 September 2026. https://docs.asterdex.com/overview/what-is-aster > "Effective February 2, 2026, Maker fees for all VIP tiers were set to 0 bps." — Aster documentation, VIP programme, 18 September 2026. https://docs.asterdex.com/program-and-rewards/vip-program > "For both perpetual futures and spot markets, Lighter currently charges no maker or taker fees for Standard Accounts, allowing all participants to trade across all markets free of charge." — Lighter documentation, Trading fees, 18 September 2026. https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees ## FAQ ### What is the best decentralised exchange? For perpetual futures on an order book, Lighter leads our 24 September 2026 scores at 8.5/10, on 0% default fees, a documented exit and nine audits. For spot swaps, pool-based DEXs such as Uniswap are a different product that we do not score. ### What are the top 5 dex? In the CoinMarketCap ranking of derivatives DEXs on 22 September 2026, the five largest by reported open interest were Hyperliquid ($8.7 billion), Aster ($1.4 billion), Variational ($746.9 million), EVEDEX ($704.9 million) and edgeX ($635.5 million). Open interest shows size, not fees, custody or execution quality. ### What are the best self custodial, no kyc perp dex please? Every venue on this page trades from a wallet without identity documents. For custody, Lighter, edgeX and ApeX Omni document withdrawals that work without the operator, which is what self-custody means on a bad day. Lighter scores highest overall at 8.5/10. ### Is there any Dex to trade legit cryptocurrencies? Yes. Every alternative here lists perpetual contracts on BTC, ETH and SOL as well as smaller tokens; Lighter has 214 markets and Extended 325. These are futures contracts, so you trade the price without holding the coin, and leverage can liquidate a position. ### What apps/ dexs you guys use to trade futures? We rate venues rather than trade on them. On our 24 September 2026 scores, Lighter, Extended and edgeX lead the order-book group; EVEDEX stands out for commodity and pre-IPO contracts. Read each venue's card and its own terms first, because most of these venues exclude several countries. ### Which DEX is best for perps? It depends on the trade. Lighter leads on cost and custody at 8.5/10, edgeX showed the deepest BTC book among the venues here at $29.5 million within 10 bps, and Hyperliquid offers isolated margin on 324 markets. EVEDEX adds gold, oil and pre-IPO contracts to crypto. ### cex futures vs perp dexes, what are the real tradeoffs? You trade some depth and fiat access for custody. Binance's BTC book held a median $26.8 million within 10 bps in the snapshots, against $16.9 million on Lighter. In return, a perp DEX keeps collateral in contracts and asks for no identity documents. ### Which crypto dex is best? For order-book perpetuals, Lighter scores highest in our September 2026 test at 8.5/10, then Extended at 7.8 and Aster at 7.7. For spot trading, AMM DEXs such as Uniswap serve a different need and are not scored here. All three scores come out of one formula, fixed before any venue was read against it. ### What exchange you guys using for futures? We do not trade on the venues we rate. For readers leaving Aster, Lighter matches it on market breadth beyond crypto and beats it on fees and custody; ApeX Omni accepts residents of more countries; EVEDEX adds commodity and pre-IPO contracts. ### Is lighter dex safe? Safer than most on custody: deposits sit in Ethereum contracts, and a documented exit works if the sequencer stops. Nine audit reports cover its circuits and contracts. Weak points: no public bug bounty, and a 4.5-hour outage on 10 October 2025, after which Lighter compensated traders. ## Editorial note One published formula, every figure dated and sourced. Corrections: editorial@spacesdao.org. Spaces Research, 24 September 2026 Publication on this site is commissioned and paid for, and a venue compared here may be the sponsor behind the page.