List of the Best Decentralized Exchanges (Dexes)

Decentralized exchanges (also called DEXes) are decentralized applications (dapps) that allow users to swap one crypto asset for another from their own non-custodial crypto wallets. The processes in decentralized exchanges are fully processed by smart contracts, directly on the blockchain.

The fact that decentralized exchanges have become mainstream is actually good for the entire crypto industry since it’s exactly what the blockchain founders envisioned in the first place.

If you are here to find the list of the best decentralized exchanges to trade crypto, you have come to the right place. Here we have compiled the list of the best decentralized exchanges you can find in every major blockchain network. 

The good thing about DEXes is that they can have different kinds of features and system designs, but all of them have the same core feature, which is decentralization. Some DEXes are AMM-based (automated market makers), some DEXes have traditional order books, etc., and yet, they all depend on smart contracts to process crypto transactions.

Without further ado, let’s get right away to our list:

Here is our list of the best decentralized exchanges in the world:

1. Uniswap
2. PancakeSwap
3. DeSwap
4. Curve.fi
5. 1inch
6. SushiSwap
7. Osmosis
8. Project Serum

Arguably, Uniswap is the most successful DEX in the world at the moment. Despite the 2022 bear market, Uniswap has been able to get an average daily trading volume above $200million, which is a pretty impressive fear. Its governance token, UNI, is also wildly popular; it's been able to remain in the top 20 crypto market cap rankings for a very long time.

Uniswap is currently considered the benchmark for every DEX out there, considering its massive liquidity and the trading volume for most ERC-20 tokens. At the time of this article’s publication, Uniswap is available on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, and Celo.

Click here to try Uniswap 

PancakeSwap is basically the BSC version of Uniswap. Most of the BEP-20 (BSC) DEX token transactions happen on PancakeSwap. Although it has less trading volume compared to Uniswap, it’s still one of the largest DEXes in the world. Previously in June 2022, Binance Labs (Binance’s VC arm) had officially invested in PancakeSwap.

Many crypto traders go to Uniswap to trade ERC-20 tokens and then they go to Pancakeswap to trade BEP-20 tokens. If you plan to trade any token on the BSC network, you should try PancakeSwap since they have most of the liquidity. Nowadays, PancakeSwap also offers Ethereum apart from BSC, although most of their trading activities are still coming from BSC.

Click here to try PancakeSwap

DeSwap is Despace’s own DEX. It is a multi-chain AMM DEX that currently supports Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Cube Network. Support for other major chains is also coming soon. DeSwap tries to be the best multi-chain DEX in the world, by offering huge incentives that you can’t find elsewhere. 

Deswap’s official launch provides a huge opportunity for DEX liquidity providers. Unlike other DEX-es, DeSwap offers 100% swap fee revenues to all the LPs in the first 6 months. Even after this 6 months period ends, LPs will continue to earn 80% of the transaction fees on DeSwap. On top of that, when you refer a friend, you will get 100% of their swap fees to your account.

While DeSwap still doesn’t have as much liquidity and trade volume as Uniswap or PancakeSwap, it has a one-click liquidity migration program to incentivize the LPs to move their liquidity directly from other DEXes to DeSwap.

Click here to try DeSwap

Curve.fi is one of the most famous AMM protocols specifically created for efficient stablecoin trading. According to the statistics from Defillama, Curve.fi remains one of the top three DeFi applications with the most total value locked (TVL). With over $5 billion locked in Curve, this protocol remains one of the safest places to do DeFi-related activities, which also include trading your crypto assets.

It has very deep liquidity if you plan to swap stablecoins to stablecoins, ETH, or wrapped Bitcoin tokens. One of Curve’s shortcomings compared to other DEXes in this list is the fact that its use cases are limited to just stablecoins, ETH, wrapped and synthetic ETHs, and wrapped Bitcoins. That being said, it offers one of the best rates when it comes to stablecoin swaps.

Click here to try Curve

1Inch is like the Walmart of decentralized exchanges. 1Inch is a DEX aggregator available on 10 major chains, including Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, Gnosis, and others. It calculates the best rates from all DEXes that it aggregates from.

If you feel there are too many DEXes to try, you should simply go to 1Inch, and just get the best swap rate from there. Under the route section (after you select a token to swap from/to), you will see which DEX 1inch will utilize to execute your swap. It’s a perfect solution for users who don’t want to go to different DEXes just to trade different tokens on different networks.

Click here to try 1Inch

SushiSwap is a full-fledged DeFi protocol that includes swap, earn, lend, borrow, and stack yields. It started as an alternative to Uniswap, but it has evolved ever since, to become an all-in-one DeFi protocol for all DeFi enthusiasts.

SushiSwap offers 12 major chains to swap your crypto assets, which is pretty massive compared to the other names on this list. And while it is not as popular as it used to be, Sushiswap is still able to maintain above $12 million average daily trading volume in the current bear market.

Click here to try Sushi

Another great DEX to try is Osmosis. Just like Uniswap is the go-to DEX for Ethereum tokens, Osmosis is basically the go-to DEX for the Cosmos ecosystem. It’s arguably one of the most successful stories in the Cosmos ecosystem, and it provides big incentives too for the Cosmos LPs.

Even in the turbulent time due to the bear market, Osmosis is still able to maintain its average daily trading volume above $8 million. That’s an impressive feat for Cosmos-specific DEX. 

Click here to try Osmosis

Just like Uniswap is the default DEX for Ethereum, Osmosis is the default DEX for the Cosmos ecosystem, we also have Project Serum as the default DEX infrastructure for the Solana ecosystem. Serum is a bit different from other names on this list since it uses an order book and shared liquidity model.

It doesn’t have just one DEX platform to trade, it actually is an “engine” being utilized by many different DEXes, such as Vybe, Atrix, 01, Mango Markets, and more. Different DEX-es utilizing Serum might have different user interfaces and features, but they all share liquidity and order book across Serum’s ecosystem.

Click here to try Project Serum

Different decentralized exchanges have their own advantages and disadvantages. Usually, the biggest differences among them are the liquidity on different networks. That’s why you might have to go to multiple DEXes, depending on which token on which blockchain you attempt to swap.

The above list of the best decentralized exchanges will be updated periodically when we find better DEXes. For now, they are the best list you can find on the crypto market at the moment.