About PerpFinder: who runs it and how we rate
Who runs PerpFinder, where the data comes from, how we rate exchanges and how we make money. Software measures the data. Ratings are our editorial assessment.
Who We Are
PerpFinder editorial
small independent publisher
PerpFinder is a small independent operation. Software collects the market data automatically: order-book costs, volume quality, funding rates, and a fee registry that records the source page of each base fee. People write the reviews and set the ratings. A rating is our editorial assessment, and it uses the measured data. We do not take payment for inclusion or rank. Affiliate links pay for the site.
The name is PerpFinder. Some people write it as Perp Finder. The only website is perpfinder.com.
PerpFinder puts live exchange data, reviews, fee comparisons and affiliate deals for derivatives traders on one site. The reviews use the measured data and the primary sources that each page links to. No venue can pay for a place in a review or a ranking.
Who Operates PerpFinder
PerpFinder is a small independent operation. For questions about who operates the site, send an email to the address below.
PerpFinder is an independent publication. No exchange or trading venue that it covers owns it, sponsors it or controls it.
Contact: support@perpfinder.com. Errors are handled under our correction policy.
Who does the work
Bylines on PerpFinder name a function, not a person. Each function has a public page that tells what it does and which pages it checks.
These three names are functions, not separate departments. One small group does all three jobs. We do not publish individual names.
Why PerpFinder exists
PerpFinder exists because we wanted one place that combined live on-chain data with honest reviews, fee comparisons, and affiliate deals for perp traders. DefiLlama does raw data well, but we wanted something that also tells you which exchange is actually worth trading on and why.
We track volume, open interest, fees and funding rates on the major perp DEXes and CEXes. Software measures the order-book metrics (spread, depth and slippage at size) directly from live books. Volume, open interest and funding are figures that the venues report. We normalize and cross-check them. For CEX volume, the Volume Quality dataset compares the reported volume with order-book activity that we can observe.
How we evaluate exchanges
Two kinds of work make up each review. Software measures the data: the cost engine, volume quality, funding rates and the fee registry with its source pages. People make the editorial judgments: the review text, the pros and cons, and the rating.
A rating is our editorial assessment, not an objective fact. It uses the measured data, but no formula calculates it. Each review shows four sub-scores from 0 to 10: fees, security, features and liquidity.
Fees & Costs
Measured: maker and taker fees from the fee registry, funding rates, and spread and slippage from live order books.
Security & Audits
Editorial: we read the audit reports, the incident history and the insurance fund data that the venue publishes.
Features
Editorial: we list order types, leverage limits, API access and mobile apps from the venue documentation.
Liquidity & Volume
Measured: reported volume compared with order-book activity, order-book depth and open interest.
Data Sources & Collection
PerpFinder reads public venue feeds and third-party datasets. Each metric has a named source and refresh policy. Missing observations remain unavailable.
- CEX perp volume & open interest
- Exchange APIs directly (per-venue tickers)
- Refresh: every 1–5 minutes. Methodology and limits
- DEX perp volume, TVL & protocol fees
- DefiLlama (on-chain adapters)
- Refresh: every 1–5 minutes. Methodology and limits
- Funding rates (current/predicted/realized)
- Exchange APIs directly (Binance, OKX, Bybit, Kraken, Hyperliquid, dYdX + aggregated feed)
- Refresh: every 15 minutes. Methodology and limits
- Liquidations
- Binance and Bybit forced-close WebSockets, captured by PerpFinder and stored hourly; OKX, Gate.io and HTX public liquidation feeds; GMX on-chain liquidation events
- Refresh: continuous capture, batched every 30 seconds. Methodology and limits
- Spread, slippage & fill capacity
- PerpFinder order-book engine (49 perp / 21 spot venues, live books)
- Refresh: on request after a 25-second cache; page polling every 30 seconds. Methodology and limits
- Volume-quality signals (reported vs observable)
- Venue tickers + PerpFinder order-book engine
- Refresh: every 6 hours. Methodology and limits
- USD notionals, normalized rates & cross-venue aggregates
- Calculated from the inputs above
- Refresh: with each underlying refresh. Methodology and limits
Affiliate Disclosure
This site contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission when you sign up through our links.
Trading perpetual futures carries significant risk, including potential total loss of capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Editorial Independence
We use the same method for each venue, with or without an affiliate relationship. A venue cannot pay for a higher rating. If a venue with an affiliate deal rates poorly, the page says so.
The data pipeline calculates the live rankings from exchange APIs with the published method. Nobody changes a live ranking by hand. Automatic checks stop a deploy when a number contradicts its source. An affiliate relationship changes only the sign-up link that a page shows. It does not change the data or the rank of a venue.