Introduction

Since the DeFi Summer of 2020, the cryptocurrency market has experienced rapid growth. Alongside the explosive increase in the variety of on-chain assets, DEXs (decentralized exchanges) have emerged like mushrooms after a rain. As a user or trader, one faces not only thousands of crypto assets but also the challenge of finding the best prices and liquidity across multiple DEXs. To address this challenge, DEX aggregators have come into being.

DEX aggregators integrate order data, price information, and liquidity pools from multiple decentralized exchanges, helping users find the optimal trading path in the shortest time. This article will delve into 8 commonly used DEX aggregators, focusing on their unique features and routing algorithms.

How Do DEX Aggregators Work?

To dive deeper into this article, it’s crucial to understand how DEX (decentralized exchange) aggregators function. Here is a breakdown of the key ways in which DEX aggregators operate:

Data Aggregation: DEX aggregators collect real-time price and liquidity data from multiple decentralized exchanges (such as Uniswap, SushiSwap, Balancer, etc.).

Order Routing: When a user initiates a trade, the DEX aggregator compares prices across different DEXs in real-time. It evaluates the available trading pairs, liquidity, and quotes on each DEX, selecting the path that offers the lowest price and minimal slippage.

Smart Contract Execution: Once the optimal trading path is determined, the DEX aggregator uses smart contracts to distribute the trade across the chosen DEXs. If a single DEX lacks sufficient liquidity or has high slippage, the aggregator splits the trade order across multiple DEXs. For example, if a user wants to exchange a large amount of ETH for USDC, the DEX aggregator might divide the order across Uniswap, SushiSwap, and Balancer to ensure the lowest total transaction cost.

Transaction Completion: After the trade is executed across the various DEXs, the user receives the target asset.

DEX aggregators simplify the trading process for users. They only need to input the trading pair and amount on the aggregator’s interface, and the system automatically optimizes the trade, reducing barriers to entry while saving costs.

1inch: The DEX Aggregator with the Highest Trading Volume

Website: 1inch.io

1inch was founded during a 2019 hackathon by two Russian youths, Anton Bukov and Sergej Kunz. Propelled by the DeFi Summer of 2020, it steadily climbed to become the leader in the DEX aggregator sector, with trading volumes at times surpassing Uniswap to become a top player among DEXs.

1. Pathfinder Routing Algorithm

1inch primarily uses the Pathfinder routing algorithm, which analyzes liquidity across various DEXs in real-time. After considering price, slippage, and fees, Pathfinder selects the DEX platform offering the best rate. It can split a single order across multiple DEXs and even convert a user’s tokens through multiple trades to reach the target token.

1. Zero-Fee Limit Orders

1inch’s limit order feature allows users to place orders at a set price, which automatically executes when the market price reaches the desired level. These orders are stored in 1inch’s centralized database and can be accessed by other users. Upon execution, the order taker covers the gas costs, meaning users do not need to pay network fees.

1. Fusion Trading Mode

Fusion mode allows users to place orders within a specified price and time range without paying network fees. There are four options for this mode: Auto, Fast, Fair, and Custom:

• Auto – Automatically executes trades at the best rate based on market conditions.
• Fast – Prioritizes speed, executing trades quickly even if the rate is slightly lower.
• Fair – Extends the execution time to achieve a more favorable rate. It starts with a rate slightly above the market price, with potential improvements during execution for user benefit.
• Custom – Allows users to fully customize the auction time and set minimum and maximum amounts to achieve a specific rate range.

The advantages of using Fusion include quick execution, no gas fees, MEV (Miner Extractable Value) protection, minimal price impact, and no fees for failed transactions.

Recently, 1inch introduced a new feature called Fusion+, enabling users to trade digital assets across chains while retaining self-custody. With Fusion+, users maintain full control over their assets, and the structure ensures that trades are finalized across both networks involved without relying on third parties. This feature is currently testing and can be manually enabled in the settings for users to explore.

Currently, 1inch supports 12 blockchain networks, including Ethereum, BSC (Binance Smart Chain), Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimistic Ethereum. With its innovative path optimization technology, broad DEX support, and compatibility with multi-chain ecosystems, 1inch has become the go-to DEX aggregator for many DeFi users.

Jupiter: The Premier Aggregated Trading Platform on Solana

Website: jup.ag

Jupiter is a trading aggregator built on the Solana network, launched in May 2021 by a team led by Meow and Ben Chow. It aggregates more than half of the trading volume on Solana, making it the preferred choice for users on this blockchain.

Features

1. Metis Routing Protocol

Metis is designed to provide the best pricing path for large-scale transactions in dynamic environments. To find the optimal price, Metis streams the user’s tokens, incrementally building routes that can split and merge at any stage. This iterative approach allows for the use of the same DEX across different splits, enabling better price paths during complex trades. To improve efficiency, Jupiter combines route generation and quote calculation into a single step, preventing the creation of suboptimal routes and allowing more tokens to be used as intermediaries. Metis ensures that transactions are executed quickly and efficiently, even during high demand on Jupiter.

1. Limit Orders
   Jupiter’s limit order feature matches user-set prices with all available liquidity across the Solana chain. After placing an order, custodians monitor the liquidity conditions and execute the trade when the market price reaches the user’s specified level. Upon execution, users receive their quoted amount minus the platform fee charged by Jupiter.

Jupiter’s limit orders leverage the platform’s aggregated on-chain liquidity, which includes over 20 decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and automated market makers (AMMs) covering the entire Solana SPL token ecosystem. When placing trades, users can specify the order duration, exchange price, and trade amount. This feature helps users avoid increased costs due to price impact and slippage during trades and mitigate the risks associated with MEV (Miner Extractable Value).

1. DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)
   Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is an investment strategy in which users make regular investments over a set period, spreading out their purchases to lower the risks of investing at a single price point.

With Jupiter’s DCA feature, users can set purchase frequency, price ranges, total time span, and the target token. Once initiated, the user’s tokens are transferred to a dedicated DCA account. The first order executes immediately after the DCA position is created, while subsequent orders are executed at regular intervals, with a potential timing variation of 2–30 seconds to avoid MEV. The target tokens are automatically transferred back to the user’s wallet at the end of the DCA period.

Since its launch in October 2021, Jupiter has quickly become the largest DEX aggregator on Solana, thanks to its user-centric design, innovative features, and seamless trading experience. This has earned the community’s trust and cemented its position as a leader in Solana-based trading.

ParaSwap: Building Its Own Liquidity Pool

Source: app.paraswap.xyz

ParaSwap was founded in 2020 by Mounir Benchemled, with backing from investors like The LAO, CoinGecko, Blockchain Capital, and Stani Kulechov. As a DEX aggregator, it integrates liquidity from decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and lending protocols into a comprehensive and secure interface and API. In addition to its proprietary ParaSwapPool liquidity pool, it connects with protocols like Kyber, Bancor, Uniswap, Oasis, Curve, and 0x.

Features

1. MultiPath Routing Algorithm

The MultiPath algorithm leverages historical data to recommend the most efficient trading route, considering the transaction’s size. This may include splitting trades across multiple DEXs and, when necessary, using indirect trading routes (involving two or more hops between protocols). Besides real-time price comparisons across various DEXs, ParaSwap seamlessly interacts with lending protocols like Aave and Compound. For example, ParaSwap can complete the following in a single step: convert ETH into DAI and then deposit the DAI into Aave to receive aDAI.

1. Proprietary Liquidity Pool: ParaSwapPool
   Typically, DEX aggregators do not hold or store any liquidity, relying instead on the DEX protocols they integrate with. However, ParaSwap has built its liquidity pool called ParaSwapPool, an additional liquidity source. This pool allows users to access liquidity from a collective pool primarily funded by professional liquidity providers. ParaSwapPool uses an RFQ (Request for Quote) system, utilizing liquidity from private investors.

2. API Integration
   ParaSwap’s open API enables developers to integrate its aggregation functionalities into other applications. The API provides a range of features, including real-time price retrieval, trade execution, transaction history queries, and MultiPath routing.
   With its fast and efficient trade execution and easy API integration, ParaSwap has gained popularity, especially among institutional investors and the developer community.

CowSwap: Batch Trading and MEV Protection

Source: swap.cow.fi

CowSwap was established in 2021 as a DEX (decentralized exchange) aggregator developed by the Gnosis team. Its investors include 0x, The LAO, 1kx, Blockchain Capital, Robot Ventures, and others. CowSwap’s main features are providing transactions with no MEV (Maximal Extractable Value, previously known as Miner Extractable Value), lower transaction fees, and introducing a unique “batch auction” model to optimize liquidity and minimize slippage.

Features

1. Batch Auctions

Users of CowSwap do not create on-chain transactions directly but instead submit their orders by signing a trade intent. The CoW (Coincidence of Wants) Protocol collects and aggregates these off-chain intents, grouping them into batches for settlement. These batches are then auctioned off to solvers who compete to provide the most surplus for the orders in each batch.

The process involves four main steps:

1. Users express their trade intent by signing a message, specifying the assets they want to trade, the amounts, and other parameters.
2. The CoW Protocol gathers multiple users’ intents into a batch auction.
3. Solvers have a limited time to propose solutions for the batch transactions. The solver that offers the highest surplus for the batch is declared the winner.
4. The winning solver submits the batch transaction on-chain on behalf of the users.

Users receive their target tokens once the winning solver executes the batch order on-chain. Users participating in batch auctions benefit from MEV protection, coincidence of wants, and execution at the optimal on-chain price.

2. Coincidence of Wants (CoW)

When multiple orders within a batch involve the same assets, there can be opportunities for peer-to-peer exchanges that do not rely on on-chain liquidity. CoW can also split orders—if a single trade within a batch matches completely, the solver must find additional liquidity to fulfill the remaining order portion.

Essentially, this is order matching, where liquidity is shared across all orders, forming circular trades and allowing partial orders without needing a perfect match.

3. MEV Protection

Batch auctions enable a Unified Clearing Price (UCP), meaning assets in the same batch can settle at a consistent price. This makes the order of transactions within a block irrelevant, fundamentally addressing the MEV problem.

CowSwap cleverly transforms transactions into a massive bartering system. When peer-to-peer exchanges cannot fully meet the needs of a trade, the system seeks on-chain liquidity for the remaining part. With its batch trading and MEV protection mechanisms, CowSwap has attracted many users looking to reduce transaction costs.

DODO: A DEX Aggregator Powered by the Proactive Market Maker (PMM) Algorithm

Source: app.dodoex.io

DODO was officially launched in August 2020, founded by Diane Dai, Radar Bear, and an anonymous development team. Shortly after its launch, DODO gained support from well-known industry investors, including Pantera, Binance Labs, Coinbase, Framework, Galaxy Digital, IOSG, Folius, and SevenX.

Features

1. Proactive Market Maker (PMM)

The PMM algorithm is a derivative model based on the centralized order book model commonly used in traditional finance. It adjusts the asset price curve to ensure sufficient liquidity at the latest market price. For example, suppose the supply of a particular asset decreases. In that case, the PMM algorithm will automatically raise the market price of that asset in anticipation of buying back the missing inventory from the market.

When a user places an order, DODO monitors various sources of liquidity, including the liquidity managed by DODO using the PMM algorithm and other liquidity available across the network. It then employs multiple smart routing algorithms, such as those from 1inch, Matcha, and Uniswap, to identify the optimal price and subsequently provide a quote to the user.

2. SmartTrade Routing Algorithm

DODO acts as both a liquidity provider and a liquidity distributor. It aggregates liquidity sources by enabling trades between any two tokens on the same network. There are two main routing strategies: linear routing and split order routing.

• Linear Routing: During the search for the best trading path, all tokens involved in the trade pass through a single pool to find the optimal price path for the target token.
• Split Order Routing: This approach allocates a user’s funds across different trading pools simultaneously, optimizing the trade path by dividing the tokens among these pools in specific proportions to secure the best price for the tokens.

3. DODO X

DODO X is both a super aggregator and a cross-chain trading platform, with the distinctive feature of comprehensive liquidity utilization. It draws liquidity from DODO pools and other DEXs like Uniswap and integrates quotes from third-party aggregators such as 1inch and 0xAPI.

Matcha: A DEX Aggregator Built on the 0x API

Source: matcha.xyz/

In 2020, 0x launched the DEX aggregator Matcha, built on the 0x API protocol. Matcha uses the 0x API and smart order routing to aggregate liquidity and deliver optimal trade execution. Its investors include Greylock Partners, Pantera Capital, Jump Capital, OpenSea, and others.

Features

0x API: The Liquidity Access Interface

Matcha is constructed on the 0x API, an interface for accessing liquidity from the 0x ecosystem. The 0x API is built on the secure and audited smart contract 0x Settler. 0x provides peer-to-peer liquidity functionality, allowing composable asset trading to fragment liquidity across different applications. When the 0x API connects order takers to decentralized exchanges (DEXs), it functions as a liquidity aggregator. Beyond linking orders to DEXs, 0x also offers its own market-making services. If DEX trading costs are relatively high, 0x can connect order takers to its internal network of market makers.

How 0x Works

1. Order Creation: A maker creates a 0x order, which is hashed and then signed by the maker.
2. Order Distribution: If the maker knows the desired counterparty, they can directly send the order (via email, chat, or OTC platforms). If the maker is unsure of a counterparty, they can submit the order to an order book.
3. Order Aggregation: The 0x API aggregates liquidity from all available sources, providing the best price to the taker. It facilitates traders in creating, discovering, and fulfilling 0x orders through a combination of off-chain relaying and on-chain settlement. 0x stores orders off-chain and only uses the blockchain for trade settlement.
4. Order Fulfillment: A taker fills a 0x order by submitting the order and amount to the blockchain.
5. Trade Execution: The 0x Settler verifies the maker’s digital signature and ensures all trade conditions are met. If the conditions are satisfied, an atomic swap of the relevant assets occurs between the maker and the taker. If not, the trade is canceled.

In essence, the 0x protocol performs order matching off-chain and completes trades on-chain, which helps reduce network usage and lowers the costs per transaction.

KyberSwap: A User-Friendly DEX Aggregator

Source: kyberswap.com/swap/ethereum

KyberSwap launched on the Ethereum mainnet in February 2018, making it one of the space’s oldest decentralized exchanges (DEXs). It gained early support from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who served as an advisor, and raised $52 million in 2017. Since its inception, over 100 projects have been built on KyberSwap, facilitating more than $20 billion in transactions for thousands of traders. KyberSwap is currently deployed on 17 blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Fantom, Cronos, and Arbitrum.

Features

1. Dynamic Trade Routing

KyberSwap’s aggregator features dynamic trade routing, aggregating fragmented liquidity across multiple DEXs, ensuring users receive the best possible liquidity. After integrating with a wide range of DEX smart contracts, it optimizes trade paths by splitting and adjusting transactions across AMMs (Automated Market Makers) and order book DEXs. It is an optimization layer between DEX smart contracts and incoming trade requests. Additionally, KyberSwap integrates limit orders into its dynamic trade routing, making them one of the sources of liquidity.

1. MEV Protection

To protect users’ trades on Ethereum from the impacts of MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) strategies, KyberSwap offers the option to use MEV-protected RPC (Remote Procedure Call) services, such as Flashbots and MEVBlocker. This helps reduce the risks of front-running and sandwich attacks common in the Ethereum network.

1. KyberAI

KyberSwap previously launched the KyberAI service, which was discontinued on December 28, 2023. KyberAI provided users extensive market data, typically available only to institutional traders or high-net-worth individuals. It aggregated data from both on-chain and off-chain sources, distilling it into actionable insights.

A key highlight of KyberAI was the KyberScore, which leveraged the latest advancements in artificial intelligence to provide insights into the performance of tokens in the DeFi market. By combining off-chain technical analysis indicators and on-chain signals, the KyberScore model was optimized to identify the bullish or bearish potential of tokens within a 24-hour window, helping traders make more informed decisions.

In addition, KyberSwap integrated TradingView’s real-time charting tools, offering traders advanced technical analysis capabilities. KyberSwap’s continuous efforts have aimed to create an efficient, secure, and user-friendly trading environment for all users.

ODOS: The First DEX Aggregator with Multi-Token Input Capability

Source: www.odos.xyz

ODOS was founded in 2021 by the Semiotic Labs team, led by Ahmet Ozcan and Matt Deible. On August 30, 2024, the project completed its Series A funding round, with investment from Mantle Network, PAKA, Orbs, Uniswap Ventures, CE Innovation Capital, and Curved Ventures.

Features

1. Routing Algorithm (SOR)

ODOS utilizes a proprietary Smart Order Routing (SOR) algorithm with a patented automated market maker (AMM) routing search technique. This algorithm optimizes routing across more than 500 liquidity sources, including decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending protocols, yield optimizers, and Collateralized Debt Positions (CDPs).

2. Token Pricing

ODOS also offers unique pricing services by calculating the initial buy and sell prices for each pool across the liquidity sources it tracks. This helps determine the total buy price, sell price, and midpoint price for any token with on-chain liquidity. Beyond the single aggregate price for each asset, ODOS can provide extensive additional data for each token, including:

• Buy price and sell price
• Liquidity levels
• Buy-sell swap price lists (covering base token, quote token, exchange rate, weight, logarithmic values, and source/DEX name)

1. Multi-Token Input Capability

ODOS is the first DEX aggregator that allows users to swap multiple input tokens for multiple output tokens in a single transaction. This feature enables users to exchange a basket of input tokens into a target token, making it easy to clean up small holdings in a wallet or diversify a single asset into multiple target tokens. This process helps users save on transaction fees and reduce market volatility.

The above eight major DEX aggregators, including ODOS, have unique strengths in liquidity optimization, trade execution efficiency, and user experience. By utilizing these aggregators, DeFi users can capture the best trading opportunities across multiple DEXs with minimal slippage while significantly enhancing trading efficiency and returns through smart order routing and liquidity aggregation. In today’s crypto market, DEX aggregators have become indispensable tools for DeFi trading.