# Multi-Asset Perpetual Fees Compared

Cross-Asset Desk Research. Edition of 24 September 2026; terms read 18 September 2026.

Weights: What one account reaches 32 · Cost of getting in and out 28 · Custody of the margin 18 · How the venue has held up 12 · The book behind the quote 10, on a scale of 100. Version 1.1, fixed 23 September 2026. Method: https://gerhardandlinger.net/method

## In brief

Multi-asset perpetual fees are simpler than they look: one maker and taker rate covers every asset class
on these venues. A $10,000 taker round trip runs from nothing on Lighter to $16.00 on Aevo,
and three of the six charge makers nothing at all. Funding, charged while a position is open, is the
larger bill on anything held.

## Venues compared by the cost of a $10,000 round trip

Cheapest first, by the taker cost of opening and closing a $10,000 position at the entry tier. The same
rate applies whether the contract tracks BTC, gold or a listed share — none of these venues charges by
asset class. The six rows are the register this desk scores: four or more asset classes outside crypto
in the venue's own documentation. edgeX, ApeX Omni and Paradex document three apiece and dYdX one, so a
cheap rate no longer buys any of them a row here. One note before the arithmetic: the rate is the small
number on this page. The margin behind a leveraged position is all it has, and a market that gaps can take the lot.

| # | Venue | Asset classes listed | Score of 100 | Perp markets | Maker / taker | Venue type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lighter | crypto, stocks, FX, commodities, indices, pre-IPO, bonds | 90 | 214 | 0% / 0% | Hybrid, ZK-proven |
| 2 | Extended | crypto, stocks, FX, commodities, indices, pre-IPO | 85 | 325 | 0% / 0.025% | Hybrid |
| 3 | Aster | crypto, stocks, FX, commodities, indices, pre-IPO | 82 | 578 | 0% / 0.040% | Own layer 1, operator-run |
| 4= | Hyperliquid | crypto, stocks, FX, commodities, indices | 76 | 324 | 0.015% / 0.045% | On-chain order book |
| 4= | EVEDEX | crypto, commodities, FX, stocks, indices, pre-IPO | 67 | 52 | 0.015% / 0.045% | Hybrid |
| 6 | Aevo | crypto, stocks, commodities, FX, pre-IPO | 58 | 102 | 0.050% / 0.080% | Hybrid |

Figures read on 18 September 2026; fees are the entry tier on the BTC perpetual. Access differs by country.

## What the ranking turns on

1. Nothing to pay on either side at the default tier: the Lighter standard account.
2. Cheapest paid taker: Extended at 0.025%, or $5.00 on a $10,000 round trip.
3. Cashback reshuffles the list: EVEDEX credits back up to 35% of a trader's own fees once paid.
4. Funding is the bigger cost on a long hold, and it is charged per position rather than per trade.

## The order-book readings

BTC order books read on a timer, ten minutes apart, closing 17:58 UTC on 20 September 2026; medians of the snapshots behind each row.

| Venue | Median spread | Median depth within 10 bps | Median impact, $100,000 order | $10,000 round trip, taker fees | Snapshots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter | 0.27 bps | $16.5 million | 0.45 bps | $0.00 | 17 |
| Extended | 0.12 bps | $7.4 million | 0.06 bps | $5.00 | 17 |
| Aster | 0.01 bps | $13.8 million | 0.39 bps | $8.00 | 27 |
| Hyperliquid | 0.12 bps | $10.1 million | 0.06 bps | $9.00 | 28 |
| EVEDEX | 4.12 bps | $19.1 million | 2.06 bps | $9.00 | 28 |
| Aevo | 1.61 bps | $3.8 million | 2.87 bps | $16.00 | 28 |

## 1. [Lighter](https://docs.lighter.xyz) — for nothing at the entry tier

Score 90 of 100.
The default account pays 0% maker / 0% taker and accepts 300 ms of added taker latency
([Lighter docs](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees), checked 18 September 2026), so a $10,000 round trip costs only the spread
across all six of its asset classes.

- In favour: 0% maker and taker on the default account; Same rate across six asset classes.
- Against it: 300 ms taker delay on the free tier; Hours stated for its real-world-asset markets but not venue-wide.
- Wrong fit for: latency-sensitive takers.

## 2. [Extended](https://docs.extended.exchange/) — for the cheapest paid taker across five classes

Score 85 of 100.
One schedule for every account, 0% maker / 0.025% taker, with no turnover steps behind it
([Extended docs](https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/trading-fees-and-rebates), checked 18 September 2026): $5.00 to open and close
$10,000, across 325 markets in five asset classes.

- In favour: 0.025% taker with no volume tiers; 325 markets across five classes.
- Against it: No documented forced withdrawal; Terms reserve a risk assessment before access.
- Wrong fit for: traders who want checks ruled out in writing.

## 3. [Aster](https://docs.asterdex.com) — for a zero maker fee on the longest listing

Score 82 of 100.
Aster charges 0% maker / 0.040% taker on its order book ([Aster docs](https://docs.asterdex.com/trading/perpetuals/fees-and-specs/fees), checked 18 September 2026)
across 578 markets in six asset classes, making a $10,000 taker round trip
$8.00 and passive orders free.

- In favour: 0% maker fee; 578 perpetual markets.
- Against it: Chain contracts are not open-sourced; Shield Mode caps profit per position.
- Wrong fit for: a desk that needs the chain under its positions publicly validated.

## 4. [Hyperliquid](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs) — for entry-tier rates that come down with turnover

Score 76 of 100.
The entry tier reads 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker
([Hyperliquid docs](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/fees), checked 18 September 2026), coming down as 14-day turnover builds; a
$10,000 round trip costs $9.00 there. Its BTC book polled at a median
$10.1 million inside 10 basis points.

- In favour: Median BTC depth of $10.1 million; Volume tiers reduce the rate.
- Against it: No documented forced withdrawal; Builder-deployed markets are not reviewed by the interface operator.
- Wrong fit for: traders who want an operator-independent exit.

## 4. EVEDEX — for fixed rates with cashback on fees already paid

Score 67 of 100.
One rate, 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker, covers crypto, metals, energy, currencies, shares and pre-IPO alike,
fixed rather than stepped by turnover. Against it EVEDEX credits back a slice of fees already paid: a
base slice climbing with a gamification level open to anyone, plus a flat five percentage points for
Prime (18 September 2026, EVEDEX documentation). Before that credit a $10,000 taker round trip runs
$9.00.

- In favour: Cashback on fees already paid, up to 35% of a trader's own fees; Same rate on crypto, metals, energy, FX and shares.
- Against it: Headline taker rate above the cheapest venues here; Cross margin only, so one loss eats another position's collateral.
- Wrong fit for: UK retail clients.

## 6. [Aevo](https://www.aevo.xyz/docs) — for the dearest round trip on the register

Score 58 of 100.
Aevo runs one schedule for perpetuals, 0.050% maker / 0.080% taker, with the fee page naming tiers it never
prints ([Aevo docs](https://www.aevo.xyz/docs/aevo-products/aevo-exchange/fees/perpetuals-fees), checked 18 September 2026). A $10,000 taker round trip therefore costs
$16.00, against $5.00 on Extended. Staking the venue's token returns
a discount of up to 20% by tier ([Aevo staking discounts](https://www.aevo.xyz/docs/trading-and-staking-rewards/staking/staking-based-discounts), checked 18 September 2026).

- In favour: 102 markets across five asset classes; Every matched trade settles in the venue's own rollup contracts.
- Against it: 0.080% taker, the highest rate in this table; Withdrawing to Ethereum mainnet costs 25 USDC and takes about three hours.
- Wrong fit for: takers who turn a position over often.

## What multi-asset perpetual fees do not include

Three costs sit outside the fee table and usually dwarf it. Funding, paid between longs and shorts for
as long as a position is open, which on a quiet pair held for weeks exceeds every trading fee. Impact,
the price a taker order moves walking the book: the six books on the register ran from
$3.8 million of BTC within 10 basis points to $19.1 million in the readings. And gap
risk on assets whose underlying market closes.

## How cashback and zero fees actually work

One venue here charges nothing on either side at the entry tier, and it attaches a condition: Lighter's
zero applies to its default account, which adds 300 ms to taker orders. Two more charge makers nothing
and takers a rate — Extended at 0.025%, Aster at 0.040% — so a passive
strategy pays neither of them anything to trade.

EVEDEX goes a third way. The published rate holds at 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker, and a slice of what a
trader already paid comes back: it grows with a gamification level anyone can climb, and Prime adds a
flat five percentage points. At the ceiling that is 35% of a trader's own fees, or 0.02925% borne by a
taker (18 September 2026, EVEDEX documentation).

## How the comparison was made

Every column here but one is read rather than measured. On 18 September 2026 the desk read each
venue's terms and documentation for what it lists, when those markets are open, what it charges, who
can move the collateral. Depth nobody publishes, so the desk took it: each BTC perpetual book read
on a timer, ten minutes apart, closing 17:58 UTC on 20 September 2026. The desk keeps an account at none of them.
The same five criteria, settled on 23 September 2026 and set out on the [method](/method) page, order
the 6 venues scored here. The round trip is a $10,000 market entry and exit at the entry-tier taker
rate from each venue's published schedule.

The hours are the softest column here, and one page is ordered by them — a line in a venue's own
document about when a market is open, not something anyone watched. Custody is read the same way.
Depth is measured, but only on BTC, the one contract all of these venues run; thickness there says
nothing about the XAUT book beside it. Fees are the day-one rate, nothing a trader earns back taken
off. Cashback, rebates and turnover steps sit in the cards, not the score.

## In their own words

> "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.md
> "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.md
> "Taker fees: 0.08% of the notional Maker fees: 0.05% of the notional" — Aevo documentation, perpetuals fees, 18 September 2026. https://www.aevo.xyz/docs/aevo-products/aevo-exchange/fees/perpetuals-fees
## FAQ

### perp dex fee comparison

A taker pays between nothing and 0.080% at the default tier here, a maker between nothing
and 0.050%. Across a $10,000 taker round trip the whole range, cheapest to dearest, comes
to $16.00 — less than a thin book costs a large order on impact alone.

### Do fees differ between gold and crypto markets?

Not on the venues here: one maker and taker rate applies across every asset class a venue lists, so a
gold or equity contract costs the same to trade as a BTC one. What differs by market is liquidity, and
through it the impact a larger order pays.

### what's funding rate in crypto

A periodic payment between longs and shorts that keeps the contract near its index. It is charged on
the position rather than on the trade, so weeks of holding can cost more in funding than in fees. On
EVEDEX the rate is computed every eight hours and settled hourly.

### perp dex with lowest fees

One charges nothing on either side at the default tier: the Lighter account you get without asking.
Of the rest Extended asks least of a taker — 0.025%, or $5.00 on a
$10,000 round trip, against $16.00 on Aevo at the dear end of the same six.

### How does cashback differ from a volume discount?

A volume discount lowers the rate once monthly turnover crosses a threshold. Cashback returns part of
fees already paid, and on EVEDEX the rate rises with a gamification level open to every user rather
than with volume, so it applies from the first trade.

### Are pool-priced venues cheaper?

They charge differently rather than less: opening and closing fees on the position plus a borrowing or
rollover cost for holding it. That makes a direct comparison with maker and taker rates awkward, and
the total depends heavily on how long the position stays open.

### Do I pay a fee to withdraw?

Withdrawal costs are network fees plus whatever a venue's bridge charges, not a percentage of the
balance. That makes them a function of chain conditions on the day rather than of the size of the
withdrawal, so a small withdrawal can cost proportionally far more than a large one. Funds return to
the wallet that deposited them.

### Does leverage change the fee?

No, but it multiplies it. Fees are charged on notional value rather than margin, so a $10,000 position
opened with $100 of collateral pays the same as one opened with $10,000. That is why high leverage
makes fee rates matter far more than they look.

### What is the cheapest way to hold a long position?

Enter as a maker where the maker rate is zero, then watch funding rather than fees. Aster charges
makers nothing under its VIP programme, and Lighter's default Standard Account pays neither side, so
on a position held for days the funding settled every few hours outweighs any entry fee saved several
times over.

### Which venue is cheapest for large orders?

The deepest one, usually, whatever its fee. A $100,000 market order moved the BTC price
0.06 bps on Extended against 2.87 bps on Aevo in the readings, and that
difference outweighs the fee gap between them several times over. Fee rates are the small part of
the bill once an order has to walk the book.

## About this sheet

One published formula; every figure dated. Corrections: desk@gerhardandlinger.net.

— Cross-Asset Desk Research. Edition of 24 September 2026.

This desk is paid to publish, and a venue covered here may be the party that paid.