Just a few years ago, decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges were a very small niche that was only used by hardcore blockchain enthusiasts. Starting with 2020, however, decentralized exchanges started to truly take off, alongside the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) movement. The first decentralized exchange to reach massive trading volumes was Uniswap, which emerged as the go-to platform for trading tokens directly on the Ethereum blockchain.
As smart contract platforms other than Ethereum started gaining popularity, new decentralized exchanges were built to give users a way to trade cryptocurrencies in a decentralized manner, regardless of which blockchain they preferred. One of the most prominent decentralized exchanges at the moment is PancakeSwap, which serves users on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain.
PancakeSwap is the most popular DEX on Binance Smart Chain
PancakeSwap is an automated market maker (AMM) and a fork of the Ethereum-based Uniswap. The basic functionality of PancakeSwap is very simple from a user’s perspective – connect your wallet, select which token you want to spend and which token you want to receive, and the smart contracts will take care of the rest.
PancakeSwap also has its own token called CAKE, which has a variety of use cases – for example, CAKE can be staked in Syrup Pools to earn new tokens, to participate in the PancakeSwap Lottery, and vote on governance proposals.
The PancakeSwap team did not just stop at launching a Uniswap fork, as they have managed to expand PancakeSwap into a fully-fledged DeFi platform that also offers yield farming, non-fungible tokens, Syrup Pools, and other unique features. In this sense, the platform has grown beyond being just a simple Uniswap BSC alternative.
Trade on PancakeSwap
The 10 best decentralized PancakeSwap Alternatives You should Consider
Even though PancakeSwap is a highly successful and popular option for Binance Smart Chain users, it’s always useful to know all the options that are available on the market. This is especially important if you’re planning to use blockchains like Ethereum, where PancakeSwap isn’t available. In this article, we’ll be going through the 10 best decentralized exchanges that are similar to PancakeSwap.
1. Uniswap – The Pioneer of DEX Trading Alternative
Uniswap pioneered the AMM model when it was launched back in November of 2018. Since then, AMMs have become the standard for decentralized exchange platforms, and Uniswap is still the biggest DEX out there in terms of trading volume and liquidity. AMMs like Uniswap eliminate the need for order books, and instead work through liquidity pools where users can deposit their tokens.
The basic principle behind AMMs is that the total value of the two types of tokens held in a liquidity pool must be equal – if you were to use an ETH/USDC pool to swap some ETH for USDC, the price of ETH (as denominated in USDC) would decrease slightly because you would add more ETH into the pool while removing some USDC at the same time. The incentive for users to provide liquidity is that they earn a portion of the transaction fees generated by the pool.
Uniswap is the top decentralized exchange on Ethereum, having solidified its market leading position after launching its UNI governance token in September of 2020. UNI has since grown to become one of the largest crypto assets on the market – at the time of writing, it has a market capitalization of $16.7 billion.
If you’re using the Ethereum blockchain and simply want to swap between two different tokens, Uniswap is definitely an option to consider. The platform can also be a solid option for users who want to earn passive income by providing liquidity, but you have to keep in mind that impermanent loss is always a risk for liquidity providers on AMMs. If you are looking for a platform similar to PancakeSwap on Ethereum, Uniswap is one of the best choices.
Uniswap summary
- Pioneered the AMM design
- Swap between tokens or earn transaction fees by providing liquidity
- The most active and liquid decentralized exchange on the Ethereum blockchain
- UNI governance token
Trade on Uniswap
2. 1inch – Best Multichain DEX Aggregator Alternative
1inch is a DEX aggregator that monitors different decentralized exchanges to find the best rates for users. The protocol is capable of routing orders through multiple protocols to minimize slippage and ensure that you’re paying the lowest fees possible.
One of 1inch’s biggest strengths is that it supports multiple blockchains – it’s available on Ethereum, Polygon and Binance Smart Chain, and the team is constantly working to expand their protocol to even more blockchain platforms. Another distinguishing feature of 1inch is that it supports limit orders, a functionality that’s very hard to find in decentralized finance protocols. This provides a lot more flexibility to users, and brings the user experience closer to the standard set by centralized exchanges.
If you’re looking to swap between different tokens directly on the blockchain and want to find the most efficient way of doing so, 1inch can save you quite a lot of money. The platform even gives you the option of optimizing for the highest returns or the lowest gas fees.
Like most DeFi projects, 1inch has a governance token, which is called 1INCH. The token was initially distributed through a retroactive airdrop, meaning that existing 1inch users were able to get some 1inch tokens for free.
1inch summary
- Provides the most efficient rates by aggregating different DeFi protocols
- Supports limit orders
- Available on Ethereum, Polygon and Binance Smart Chain
- 1inch governance token
Trade on 1inch
3. SushiSwap – Multichain Yield Generating Alternative
SushiSwap entered the market in a controversial way, as their plan was to essentially siphon liquidity from Uniswap by giving extra perks to liquidity providers – at the time, the strategy was described as a “vampire attack”. Even though some of the project’s early tactics were contentious, the Sushi project has since created an impressive DeFi platform that supports different blockchains – Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Fantom are a few examples.
SushiSwap’s basic functionality is the same as Uniswap or PancakeSwap – you can swap between different tokens directly on the blockchain, or provide liquidity to earn rewards. However, the Sushi platform now also offers other features yield farming, lending and staking, making it a hub for DeFi enthusiasts and one of the most well-rounded PancakeSwap competitors.
Even though it’s not quite as big as Uniswap, SushiSwap still boasts strong liquidity and is one of the better options available on the market, especially if you can put its SUSHI tokens to good use. SUSHI was launched in August of 2020 and it has seen a lot of success – the token is now available on some of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, and boasts a market cap of over $2.5 billion at the time of writing.
SushiSwap summary
- AMM with support for multiple blockchains
- Swap between different tokens or provide liquidity
- The Sushi platform also features lending, yield farming and other popular DeFi use cases
- SUSHI governance token
Trade on SushiSwap
4. dYdX – Best Alternative for Derivatives Traders
Most of the DEXes we’re featuring in this article are based on the automated market maker model, but dYdX stands out from the pack. dYdX is a decentralized exchange that specializes in leverage trading, making it a unique player within the DeFi ecosystem. dYdX gives Ethereum users access to perpetual contracts as well as margin and spot trading. dYdX will be quite familiar to those who are used to centralized exchanges, as it features a similar interface and smooth user experience.
In order to provide a cheaper and faster trading experience, dYdX’s perpetual contracts are deployed on StarkEX, an Ethereum scalability solution developed by Starkware. margin and spot trading, on the other hand, are implemented on Ethereum’s layer 1.
One of the best aspects of dYdX is that you can use its perpetual contracts to speculate on assets that aren’t on the Ethereum blockchain – for example, you can trade contracts based on Cardano, Solana, Polkadot, Cosmos, Filecoin and other popular crypto assets.
At the time of writing, the dYdX team is in the process of launching their own governance token called DYDX.
dYdX summary
- Ethereum-based decentralized platform for trading perpetual contracts
- Users can also speculate on assets that are not on Ethereum
- Efficient transactions thanks to layer 2 integration on StarkEX
- Launching the DYDX governance token
Trade on dYdX
5. Serum – Best Solana-based Alternative
As we’ve already mentioned before, Ethereum is no longer the only platform in town when it comes to decentralized applications and smart contracts. Solana is one of the most viable alternatives out there, and Serum is among the most interesting projects building on the platform.
Serum is a decentralized exchange that’s designed to take full advantage of Solana’s massive scalability potential. The Serum team’s ambition is to create a decentralized exchange that doesn’t make compromises in performance and user experience, even when compared to major centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. This ambition is already reflected in Serum’s user interface, which is reminiscent of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and is complete with price charts, an orderbook and limit order functionality.
Since Serum is built on Solana, users can take advantage of Wormhole, a messaging protocol that enables interoperability between Solana, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Terra.
It will also be very interesting to follow the future evolution of the Serum project, as it has some notable backers like Alameda Research, Multicoin Capital, Genesis, AscendEX, and others. As Solana continues growing in popularity, Serum could become one of the biggest players in the decentralized finance space.
Serum summary
- Decentralized exchange on the Solana blockchain
- Aims to deliver a polished user experience like centralized exchanges
- Has its own governance token called SRM
- Backed by Alameda Research, Multicoin Capital, and other big crypto industry players
Trade on Serum
6. DODO DEX – Proactive Market Maker Alternative
The DODO DEX team took the tried and true AMM formula, and tweaked it to create what the call the PMM (Proactive Market Maker) design. In decentralized exchanges like Uniswap, The PMM model is supposed to reduce the risk of impermanent loss for liquidity providers. Liquidity providers on DODO DEX also have a lot of flexibility, as it’s not necessary to deposit both of a pool’s tokens to start providing liquidity – one is enough. Traders, on the other hand, can benefit from reduced slippage. This means that their orders should have a smaller impact on the market, which ultimately translates to better prices.
The DODO DEX team has launched their decentralized exchange on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain blockchain. Beyond the standard DEX functionality of swapping tokens and liquidity provision, the DODO DEX platform also features Crowdpooling, which is a way for crypto projects to establish liquidity for their tokens and also distribute them to users.
Like most other DeFi projects, DODO DEX has their own token, DODO. This token is both a utility and governance token – it allows users to submit and vote on proposals, and also provides perks like trading fee discounts and IDO access.
DODO DEX summary
- Decentralized exchange that uses the PMM (Proactive Market Maker) designed
- Launched on both Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain
- DODO governance and utility token
- The DODO DEX platform also hosts IDOs
Trade on DODO DEX
7. Binance DEX – Binance Smart Chain BEP20 Tokens Alternative
Binance is the world’s most popular centralized cryptocurrency exchange, but not everyone knows that Binance also has a decentralized counterpart. The Binance DEX is deployed on top of Binance Chain, a blockchain platform that was specifically designed to make decentralized trading as efficient as possible. Binance Chain is not to be confused with Binance Smart Chain, although it is true that the two platforms are interoperable and both powered by the BNB cryptocurrency.
The idea behind Binance DEX is to provide a fast and efficient trading experience while remaining fully non-custodial. This means that when users are trading on Binance DEX, they don’t need to give up custody of their funds to any third party – all transactions need to be authorized by the user and take place directly on the blockchain.
Binance DEX has an interface that’s very similar to the centralized Binance exchange. This means that it’s definitely a solid choice for users who don’t have much experience with DEXes, but would like to give them a try.
Binance DEX summary
- A decentralized exchange launched by Binance in April of 2019
- Built on Binance Smart Chain
- Combines the convenience of centralized exchanges with the advantages of DEXes
- Non-custodial, which means that users stay in control of their private keys
Trade on Binance DEX
8. SunSwap – Best Decentralized Trading TRON-based Alternative
SunSwap is the go-to AMM platform for users on the TRON blockchain. Its functionality is very similar to Uniswap, except that it’s built on TRON – you can swap between different tokens on the TRON blockchain or earn rewards by providing liquidity.
The platform also features different SunSwap Liquidity Mining pools, where users can deposit their liquidity provider tokens to earn rewards in TRX and other cryptocurrency tokens.
SunSwap is probably the best option if you’re looking to swap between tokens on TRON, and the blockchain’s delegated Proof-of-Stake architecture also enables cheap and fast transactions. However, TRON’s DeFi ecosystem is not as large as Ethereum’s, so the amount of tokens with strong liquidity is lower.
SunSwap summary
- AMM on the TRON blockchain
- Swap between TRON-based tokens or provide liquidity
- SunSwap mining programs let liquidity providers earn additional token rewards
- Cheap and fast transactions on the TRON blockchain
Trade on SunSwap
9. Kwenta – High Capital Efficiency and Low Slippage Alternative
Kwenta has a very unique proposition that stands out in the DeFi landscape, which is populated by Uniswap and Uniswap “copycats”. On Kwenta, users can trade Synths, which are tokens that track the price of other assets. Synths are powered by the Ethereum-based protocol Synthetix, and open up a lot of new possibilities – by trading Synths, users can gain exposure to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies, stocks or indices directly on the Ethereum blockchain.
Kwenta supports all the Synths created by the Synthetix protocol, opening up a huge number of trading pairs. The platform’s peer-to-contract (P2C) design eliminates slippage, resulting in more predictable prices for traders.
If you’re well-versed in DeFi but would also like to get exposure to real-world assets and cryptocurrencies that are not on Ethereum, Kwenta is definitely worth checking out.
Kwenta summary
- Speculate on different assets directly on the Ethereum blockchain
- Synths can track Bitcoin, stocks, indices and other assets
- Features all the Synths that are supported by the Synthetix protocols
- No slippage thanks to a unique liquidity model
Trade on Kwenta
10. QuickSwap – Best Polygon-deployed Alternative
The Polygon blockchain is one of the most popular destinations for users who are currently being priced out of Ethereum. It uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism which enables cheaper and faster transactions when compared to Ethereum.
QuickSwap is a Uniswap fork that’s deployed on Polygon, and is the platform’s most popular destination for token swaps. QuickSwap also adds some functionality to the basic AMM experience, as it offers liquidity mining (a way to earn the QUICK token) and initial DEX offerings.
QuickSwap is a solid AMM that will be one of the top options for anyone who’s using the Polygon blockchain.
QuickSwap summary
- AMM built on the Polygon blockchain
- Swap between tokens on Polygon or earn by providing liquidity
- Faster and cheaper transactions than Ethereum
- QUICK governance token can be earned through liquidity mining
Trade on QuickSwap
Why are alternatives to PancakeSwap important?
Thanks to exchanges like PancakeSwap as well as fast and cheap transactions, Binance Smart Chain is playing an important role in popularizing DeFi. But while there are definitely a lot of interesting things happening on BSC, most users will also want to check out what’s happening on Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and other blockchains. In such cases, it’s important to know platforms like PancakeSwap that are available to you on blockchains beyond BSC.
