Crypto Trading Fees & Slippage: Spot vs Perp (Live)
Compare live fees, slippage and spread across 25+ perp and 20+ spot exchanges. Find the cheapest venue for BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP at any size.
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Spot vs Perp Trading Costs Explained
Total trading cost is more than just the taker fee. When you market-buy into an order book you walk up the ask side, paying progressively higher prices — the gap between the mid-price and your volume-weighted average price (VWAP) is slippage. On thin books or large sizes, slippage can easily dwarf the base fee, and even a 1 bps spread costs you $1 per $10,000 traded.
Toggle between Spot and Perps to compare execution costs across markets. We pull live order book snapshots from 25+ perp venues (Binance, Bybit, OKX, Hyperliquid, dYdX, Drift, Aster, Paradex and more) and 20+ spot venues (every major CEX plus Backpack, Hyperliquid spot and zero-fee Deribit USDC pairs), then simulate filling your chosen trade size in real time. Oracle-based DEXes like Jupiter Perps and GMX execute at oracle price with no book slippage, so they show fee-only cost. Use the asset, size and fee-type selectors to see how costs shift with market conditions.
For most retail-size trades ($10K–$100K), the cheapest spot venues right now are MEXC (0% maker / 5 bps taker), WEEX (0% maker), and Deribit (0% on BTC/ETH/SOL USDC pairs). On the perp side, Lighter (0 bps taker), Hyperliquid (4.5 bps), and Aster (4 bps) lead among DEXes; Binance, OKX, and Bitget tie at 5 bps among CEXes. Fees alone don't tell the full story — Kraken's 40 bps spot taker and Coinbase Advanced's 120 bps intro tier make them the most expensive options for retail volume despite being the most regulated, so total-cost ranking depends heavily on your size and tier. Use the Monthly Volume selector to see the breakeven point where VIP discounts make a CEX cheaper than a low-fee DEX.
Related Guides
Data refreshed live · last reviewed April 2026
Why this comparison is different
- Live spot + perp side-by-side. Other comparison sites cover one or the other. We pull both order books in parallel so you can switch markets in one click.
- Real spread & slippage components. Most fee tables show the headline taker number. We add the bid-ask spread you cross and the price impact of walking the book at your size — the only honest measure of total cost.
- VIP simulator + custom size. Sliders go from $10K up to $50M (or any custom amount) and the Monthly Volume selector applies each CEX's real VIP ladder. See the breakeven where a CEX VIP rate beats a low-fee DEX.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest crypto exchange for spot trading?
For retail-size trades, MEXC is the cheapest spot exchange with 0% maker fees and 5 bps taker. WEEX also offers permanent 0% maker. Deribit charges 0% on BTC/ETH/SOL spot pairs. Among major regulated venues, Binance, OKX and Bitget are tied at 10 bps for both maker and taker. Kraken (40 bps) and Coinbase Advanced (120 bps intro) are the most expensive options for retail volume.
What is the cheapest perp DEX in 2026?
Lighter has the lowest taker fee at 0 bps and 0% maker. Hyperliquid charges 4.5 bps taker and 1.5 bps maker (with rebates above $25M monthly). Aster matches Hyperliquid at 4 bps taker. For oracle-priced DEXes that execute at the oracle mid with no slippage, GMX and Jupiter Perps charge 6-7 bps but eliminate spread and slippage entirely on supported pairs.
How is total trading cost calculated?
Total cost = base fee + bid-ask spread (half of the cross) + slippage from order-book depth. We pull live snapshots every 90 seconds, simulate filling your selected size at market, and compute volume-weighted average price (VWAP) versus the mid. The result is expressed in basis points and converted to USD at your chosen size. Oracle-priced DEXes show fee-only cost because they don't use order books.
Do VIP tiers and referral codes affect the cost shown?
The default view shows base-tier fees (no VIP discount, no referral discount). Use the Monthly Volume selector to apply each CEX's VIP ladder to your displayed rate. Referral discounts are typically delivered as rebates rather than reduced advertised fees — sign up through any "Trade" button on this page to claim the partner discount, which can reduce effective fees by 10-30% on most CEXes.
Why does the same exchange show different fees on spot vs perp?
Spot and derivatives are typically priced on separate fee schedules. Most CEXes use one VIP ladder spanning both products with 30-day combined volume, but the base-tier rate often differs — for example, Bitget charges 10 bps both sides on spot but 2 bps maker / 6 bps taker on perps. DEXes diverge more sharply: Hyperliquid's spot Tier-0 taker is roughly 7 bps versus 4.5 bps on perps.
Which venues are excluded from the comparison and why?
Hibachi, Apex Omni, Lighter, Bluefin and GRVT do not offer spot products and only appear in the Perp view. Aster spot exists but lacks BTC/ETH/SOL/XRP USDT pairs at meaningful depth, so it appears only on the perp side. dYdX spot routes via Solana DEX liquidity (effectively Jupiter) and is excluded as redundant. BloFin's public API does not expose a real spot order book.