Side-by-side comparison of two perpetual futures exchanges — updated in real time.
Both Hyperliquid and Lighter run fully on-chain orderbooks with zero gas fees, but they differ in chain infrastructure, leverage limits, and fee structure. Lighter stands out with completely fee-free trading.
Hyperliquid operates on its proprietary L1 blockchain, offering 190 markets with up to 50x leverage and charging 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker fees. Lighter, built on a custom Ethereum L2, takes the radical approach of charging zero fees — both maker and taker. Lighter lists 153 markets but caps leverage at 20x, significantly lower than Hyperliquid's 50x. Both platforms settle trades fully on-chain, ensuring transparency and verifiability. Hyperliquid's advantage lies in its deeper liquidity pool and wider market selection, built up since its November 2023 launch. Lighter launched in March 2024 and has been growing its ecosystem around the LIT token, which went live in December 2025 with a 50% community allocation. Hyperliquid's HYPE token carries a 76.2% community allocation, one of the highest in the perp DEX space. For traders making frequent, smaller trades, Lighter's zero-fee structure can meaningfully reduce costs over time.
Choose Hyperliquid if you need higher leverage (up to 50x), deeper liquidity, and a more mature ecosystem. Choose Lighter if zero trading fees are your priority and you can work within a 20x leverage cap.
