In Q1 2025, I found myself scrambling to make a last-minute swap on either Jupiter or Raydium to buy a Solana token recently launched by a popular deployer I was tracking.
It had launched less than 10 minutes ago. And yes, I was panicking, thinking it was already too late.
Without much hesitation and with no centralized exchanges (CEXs) supporting the recently launched token, I had to figure out how to execute trades on multiple decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that had the token early to make this happen.
I needed the best Solana DEX asap. With Raydium and Jupiter ready, I connected my wallet, opened their trading platform, and loaded up a 5-figure ($) spot order, and in a matter of seconds, the purchase went through.
Things move quickly in Solana, as usual. As an Ethereum native, I was shocked to see the low transaction fees on, even after increasing my priority bids and tip to ensure the order went through.
Now I found myself holding another random coin that is not even an hour old, knowing that it could go either way, glory or hell.
"Luckily, I landed a nice 3x+ in less than 3 hours or so, a $12k investment turned into $40k."
I went in with size, and it ended up being one of my best trades so far.
If it wasn't for my understanding of the DeFi landscape, DEX space, and advanced trading tools that experienced traders use, I could have easily fumbled one of my best plays to this day.
If you are looking for a DEX on Solana, this article will give you a deep dive into the key factors to keep in mind and my overall top picks.
The Solana blockchain renaissance
For those chronically on Crypto Twitter (or Crypto X), you know that Solana is backed by one of the largest and strongest communities in the space. For those curious to know what the fuss is all about, let me break it down for you.
Reaching the groundbreaking feat of 100k TPS (transactions per second) this month, Solana remains one of the most active blockchains in the industry. And the best part, they are just getting started. In June 2025, the network recorded 11,438,122 wallets with at least a minimum balance of 0.1 SOL.
The number of people choosing Solana is mind-blowing, and it arguably stands as one of the top American blockchains in the industry. Without a doubt, other networks should keep an eye on their eye-watering pace.
Solana offers most web3 products that Ethereum (ETH) and other L1s have to offer, but with fast transaction speeds. Although some in crypto might question Solana’s decentralization, the fact is that they have built a chain tailored for the speed and UX to match today’s user expectations.
Most actions on Solana are seamless, with a minimal fee, and they settle almost instantly. And from a design standpoint, it hosts products with amazing user-friendly interfaces like Magic Eden's marketplace and Phantom's self-custody crypto wallet.
In my opinion, this is the user experience that will help onboard the masses. I still have a hard time figuring out how anyone who is new to crypto, who also wants to do many transactions, would justify paying higher fees commonly seen today on Bitcoin or Ethereum L1.
One could easily argue that Solana has led this cycle with the rise of memecoins, just like Ethereum did with ICOs in 2017 and with NFTs in 2021.
If you are looking for web3 wallets, Phantom ranks among the best NFT wallets available, making it ideal for users who want both DEX trading and NFT collecting capabilities.
DeFi winter: Solana’s memecoin mass adoption
Solana recently took the spotlight, boasting an unprecedented growth in the DeFi ecosystem.
The 2024-2025 memecoin mania has been, without a doubt, a key catalyst to the growth of this blockchain. You could even argue that Solana’s DeFi renaissance has been one of the most amazing things seen in web3, especially after the FTX fiasco.
With platforms like Raydium, Pump.fun, Believe, Bonk, Bags, etc, allowing you to launch a token or memecoin at basically no cost.
It opened the doors to millions of participants to partake in something far easier to create compared to an NFT collection. It also allows way more folks to buy the token, compared to a capped supply NFT collection.
Heck, even the president of the United States launched his very own token on Solana, $TRUMP, followed by the first lady shortly after, with $MELANIA. If you ever wanted to see a catalyst for mass web3 adoption, count this in.
Today, millions of memecoins keep spawning with no signs of ever stopping. Pumpfun is responsible for more than 12 million Solana tokens alone since they launched.
With so many folks actively trading on the Solana ecosystem, like myself, I wanted to do a deep dive on what I consider to be the best Solana DEX, and others worth mentioning as well.
“If you have ever swapped a token on Solana, then you most likely already had exposure to a DEX”.
Before we start, let’s address some key questions about what decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are all about, the size of the market, use cases, and more.
Whether you are new to the SOL ecosystem or have swapped tokens at least once, this blog is meant to provide users with the best Solana DEX alternatives in the market.
What is a DEX (decentralized exchange)?
The decentralized aspect of it stems from the fact that the cryptocurrency you are trading is held on a self-custody wallet, one that cannot be frozen or compromised unless someone accesses it with your seed phrase. An important feature that a centralized exchange cannot provide.
Key factors and differences between DEXs and CEXs
DEX advantages:
- Your keys, your crypto - No exchange can freeze your account or block your funds like we've seen with FTX, Celsius, and others. You maintain full custody through your wallet.
- Trade anything, anytime, (almost) anywhere - No KYC, no geographic restrictions. Whether you're in New York or Nigeria, if you've got a wallet, you're trading.
- Transparent and unstoppable - Every transaction is on-chain, on a public ledger, and 24/7 verifiable. No weird order book manipulation or "system maintenance" during periods of market volatility.
DEX disadvantages:
- Forget customer support - If you lose your seed phrase from a security issue or send tokens to the wrong address, you are screwed.
- Beware of congestion - During network congestion, trades might default, limit orders might fail, and before you know it, the damage is done. Despite Solana's high-speed performance, the platform has suffered from numerous setbacks.
- No token liquidity, no trades - Smaller DEXs often lack deep liquidity, meaning higher slippage on larger trades and fewer trading pairs compared to major CEXs.
CEX advantages:
- Crypto curious ready - User-friendly dashboards, customer support, and familiar trading tools that don't require much crypto chops to figure out. Lost access to your account? Support can help with that, just like anyone in web2 would expect.
- Fiat on/off ramps - Offering bank deposits and withdrawals, in this aspect CEXs will always be king.
- Deep liquidity pools - Major CEXs like Coinbase and Binance host massive order books with tighter spreads, offering the ability to execute large trades without significant price impact.
CEX disadvantages:
- Not your keys, not your crypto - You're trusting a company to hold your assets. When they get hacked, go bankrupt, or decide to freeze your account, you're screwed.
- Not for Anons, prepare for KYC - Extensive KYC (know your customer) requirements, transaction monitoring, and the ability for governments to pressure exchanges into regulatory compliance or even shutdown. If you are not aware of the risks, it's surely worth reading about the Mt. Gox, FTX, and Celsius disasters.
- Single point of failure - Server downtime, exit scams, or regulatory crackdowns can instantly lock you out of your funds with zero recourse. Even using a VPN by mistake can trigger an account freeze, which could prove costly in today's markets.
As a rule of thumb, avoid keeping all your eggs in one basket. Think well if a decentralized exchange is right for you.
How does a DEX work?
A DEX operates via a smart contract-based trading protocol, allowing the exchange to operate fully autonomously. The code executes the trade logic, pricing, and settlement all on its own.
The trading logic of the platform cannot be changed without a governance vote, allowing this to be the top platform of choice for those in crypto seeking maximum transparency and continuous, 24/7 operations around the world.
The DEX gets to pick which tokens to support trading for, operating with their token liquidity pools. Users are trading against the DEX’s supply, with their unique asset pricing.
Who needs a DEX?
If you want to remain anonymous, happen to travel often, or have more of a nomadic lifestyle, using a DEX might be the right move. These offer no KYC requirements, allowing you to do DEX trading around the world freely.
You don’t need an ID or a passport to use these platforms; you are free to operate anonymously, without any risk of your account being compromised beyond your own security mistakes.
Fewer horror stories, you are in full control.
On the other hand, if you do not act responsibly, protecting your seed phrase and not clicking on harmful links, then it might be better to stick to a CEX. The reason is that a CEX is likely to offer customer support and hopefully give you a helping hand, as mentioned in the pros vs. cons.
From a features standpoint, you get pretty much the same suite you get on a CEX, from the availability to do DCA (dollar cost averaging), setting limits, leveraging perps, chance to earn yields, etc.
Since there is no way to on-ramp your fiat into crypto with a DEX, you likely have a CEX or get paid in crypto. If you are considering a DEX, you are likely not a noob in the space.
How do you fund and manage your DEX?
With the premise that a DEX cannot connect to your bank account, the only way to use a DEX is if you deposit crypto from another exchange or wallet.
The best part of using a DEX is that you have full control over your assets, meaning no exchange or entity can freeze or compromise your funds.
Once you deposit your funds, you are ready to start trading.
What’s the difference between a DEX and an aggregator?
An aggregator is a tool that fetches multiple DEXs to find the best pricing for your trade and the lowest fees.
Think of it as some sort of search engine to help you save some money by finding the lowest fees, or simply execute the transaction quickly.
Large orders can also be broken down into smaller ones, across multiple DEXs, executing all at once, hence the term “aggregator”. Again, fulfilling the need to provide the best pricing available.
If you want to check out a Solana aggregator yourself, give Jupiter a try.
By aggregating liquidity from multiple DEXs like Raydium, Orca, and Meteora, Jupiter can often find better prices than trading on any single platform. It's like having a shopping bot integration that checks every store to find you the best deal.
How does a DEX make money?
They mainly make money from trading fees, new token launches, and bridging tokens across chains; if they happen to have cross chain capabilities.
In some cases, they have opted to launch their native token as well, providing staking opportunities, allowing them to reap the rewards in the long run.
Buyers of their tokens not only get exposure to the platform, but they might also get governance votes, allowing them to steer the company in the right direction. Tokens can also be the gateway to test out beta products and other features as well.
How big is the market?
As more people manage their funds on-chain, it is no surprise that the appetite for DEX’s is on the rise.
In 2025, the Solana ecosystem captured 50% market share of the entire DEX market, giving you an idea of how many prefer to use a DEX instead of a CEX. When it comes to web3.
With over 50 Solana DEX platforms to choose from, and no signs of the market stopping, how do you know which one to use?
Let’s break it down below.
6 best Solana DEX’s in the market
Some of the options might specialize in other services beyond what most DEXs offer.
- Raydium
- Axiom
- Meteora
- Orca
- PumpSwap
- Lifinity
1. Raydium
- Best for: High-volume traders and memecoin launchers seeking deep liquidity
- 24-hour trading volume: $521,214,121
- Fees: 0.25% per transaction
- Daily revenue: $105k
- Key highlights/milestones: Recently launched v3 Beta and continues to dominate with the highest individual DEX volume on Solana. The platform's integration with OpenBook gives traders access to both liquidity pool swaps and traditional limit orders.
As the OG of Solana DEXs, Raydium remains the heavyweight champion. Over 55% of trades routed through Jupiter are settled on Raydium, its innovative DEX platform, which integrates most of the liquidity backbone of the Solana network ecosystem.
What sets Raydium apart is its hybrid approach, combining AMM (automated market maker) pools with OpenBook's central order book. It's the launchpad where most memecoins are born, thanks to its permissionless pool creation.
A real pioneer when it comes to enabling users with competitive fees.
An easy first pick.
2. Axiom
- Best for: Meme coin trading with professional-grade tools, trackers, and analytics
- 24-hour trading volume: $102.3m
- Fees: 0.75%-1% per trade
- Daily revenue: $1.09m
- Key highlights/milestones: First crypto project on Solana to hit $100m in revenue in under 4 months, beating Photon (212 days) and Pump.fun (223 days). It runs over 60% market share of Solana bot trading.
With CEX meme platforms like BullX and Photon previously dominating most meme coin market share, there was a clear opportunity for a decentralized alternative to step in.
Axiom's platform integrates the best of both worlds, giving you access to a suite designed specifically for meme trading as a decentralized exchange.
You can essentially buy every meme token launched on Solana.
It is self-custodial, giving each user their own seed phrase and full control over their assets.
You can track profitable wallets, automate your trades, adjust your fee settings, import or connect multiple wallets, and even snipe tokens before anyone else. It essentially includes everything you could imagine.
If that wasn't enough, the platform also rewards you with Solana, depending on your trading volume. The more you trade, the more you earn yield.
Bubblemaps has also been a nice addition to the dashboard, giving traders a visual of the wallets linked to each other.
This signals if there is a bundle from the "dev" deployer or its holders, when someone has a large enough supply to create volatility with their actions. For example, someone holding 5%-10% can heavily impact the price action of a token.
What's Memescope?
It also includes "pulse", commonly known as "memescope".
A three-column layout showing you new pairs, tokens about to migrate, and those fully migrated.
To simplify this, let's say that you can catch meme coins at certain stages.
From being one of the first holders from the launchpad, to jumping on at a more developed stage when it migrates, meaning that a DEX is now supporting it.
The best meme coin traders are glued to memescope daily.
Before You Start
Every day, you see another trader make a life-changing profit by getting in on a token early.
Imagine buying a meme coin under 20k market cap and seeing it skyrocket up to millions.
Let's be real, it's easy to daydream you will be the next!
Just thread carefully, becoming a successful meme coin trader requires an outstanding level of discipline, skill, attention to detail, and monitoring the market 24/7.
A Dune report from early 2025 showed that of 13.82 million wallets, just 0.04% made more than $10k in profits. This is the harsh reality.
But remember, "you miss all the shots you don't take".
3. Meteora
- Best for: Dynamic yield strategies and memecoin pool launches
- 24-hour trading volume: $470,702,149
- Fees: Dynamic fee structure typically ranges from 0.15% to 15%, depending on your pool of choice. Adjusted by the Meteora team based on market conditions
- Daily revenue: $208k
- Key highlights/milestones: Meteora now processes over $16 billion in 30-day volume and has become the go-to platform for memecoin launches with its anti-bot Alpha Vault protection.
The fastest-rising star in Solana DeFi, growing from $987 million to $39.9 billion in trading volume between December 2024 and January 2025, capturing over 15% market share.
What makes Meteora special is its unique approach that enables proactive market making through its DLMM (dynamic liquidity market maker) bins. Unlike traditional AMM (automated market maker) pools where your liquidity just sits there, Meteora's system lets advanced traders act like proactive market makers, constantly adjusting their positions based on market conditions, volatility, and trading patterns. It's the difference between a passive investor and an active hedge fund manager.
The result? Access to superior capital efficiency. Rather than spreading $1000 across all prices where most sit unused, you concentrate it in active trading ranges (like $95-$105 for SOL) to earn more fees from the same capital.
These folks were behind the launch of the infamous $Libra token, a strange token apparently supported by Argentina's president, Javier Milei. A token that skyrocketed and tanked in price, sparked controversy, and consequently had Meteora's co-founder Ben Chow, resign.
Not here to talk bad about Meteora, in fact, there is a reason some of the biggest launches ever were done with them, and top deployers continue to do so. Without a doubt, you will keep hearing from them.
4. Orca
- Best for: User-friendly trading with concentrated liquidity optimization
- 24-hour trading volume: $1,359,747,585
- Fees: Variable fee structure: 0.2%-0.3% per transaction
- Daily revenue: $64k
- Key highlights/milestones: With over $160 billion in cumulative trading volume while pioneering Whirlpools concentrated liquidity on Solana, Orca has built a reputation as the "easiest place to trade cryptocurrency on Solana."
Their Whirlpools concentrated liquidity model, inspired by Uniswap v3, allows LPs to focus their capital in specific price ranges - think of it as precision liquidity deployment.
Unlike traditional AMM (automated market maker) pools that spread liquidity across all price ranges, concentrated liquidity pools let you focus your capital where trading actually happens
While they've lost some market share recently, Orca's focus on UX and capital efficiency keeps them relevant.
5. PumpSwap
- Best for: Memecoin traders seeking zero-fee migrations and instant token creation
- 24-hour trading volume: $77,469,022
- Fees: 0.3% per trade
- Daily revenue: $231k
- Key highlights/milestones: An instant hit upon launch, especially for those that trade pump.fun tokens, briefly capturing the #2 DEX spot by daily revenue for some time.
PumpSwap is Pump.fun's native DEX that launched in March 2025 to solve the memecoin trading bottleneck.
Unlike general-purpose DEXs, PumpSwap is built specifically for the high-speed world of meme trading with zero-fee migration from bonding curves and seamless liquidity provisioning.
What makes PumpSwap special is its integration with the Pump.fun's DeFi ecosystem. When tokens hit certain thresholds, they can migrate instantly to full DEX trading without the friction you see on other platforms.
It's leveraging the natural evolution of the memecoin launchpad model.
With over 10.8 million memecoins launched on Pump.fun as of May 2025, PumpSwap has become the bridge between token creation and serious trading for DeFi users.
6. Lifinity
- Best for: Sophisticated traders wanting proactive market making and minimal impermanent loss
- 24-hour trading volume: N/A
- Fees: Variable fees set dynamically by themselves, the protocol's proactive market maker
- Daily revenue: $10k
Lifinity stands out as Solana's first oracle-based DEX, using Pyth Network's price feeds instead of traditional arbitrage to manage liquidity. This isn't your typical AMM (automated market maker); Lifinity acts as a PMM (proactive market maker), actively managing trades and price actions to minimize impermanent loss for liquidity providers.
This allows better capital efficiency and protection against the usual risks of providing liquidity. While other DEXs let arbitrage extract value from LPs (liquidity pools), Lifinity changes the narrative by being the house that manages risk intelligently.
It's a more sophisticated approach that appeals to DeFi natives who understand the nuances of impermanent loss and want a platform that actively works to minimize it.
The rise of stablecoins
Solana averaged over 200 million on-chain stablecoin transactions per month in Q1 2025. That's not speculation money, that's real utility.
Whether you're buying into the latest memecoin or providing liquidity to earn yield, you're probably doing it with USDC or USDT. Professional traders use it, and we are likely going to see a rush of novice users using it more to counter market volatility and try new dapps.
In December 2024, USDC's transaction volume on Solana soared to $2.3 trillion, which tells you everything about where the stablecoin market is headed.
The $TRUMP token launch alone showed just how crucial stablecoins have become; traders needed USDC fast to get in on the action, and trading volume on Solana-based decentralized exchanges also soared to record highs of more than $25 billion daily, executing 74% of overall DEX trading volume on all blockchains.
Expect stablecoins to become an integral part of DEX trading, as adoption begins to spread from a retail and institutional perspective.
Geographic restrictions within a DEX
Orca banned US users from trading through its interface in March 2023, and they're not alone.
Most platforms have no other choice but to avoid regulatory heat.
Either way, this will not prevent people in the US from directly interacting with a DEX's smart contracts.
The code is still there, the liquidity is still flowing, it's just the fancy UI that gets geo-blocked.
If you have a VPN and want to bypass some of these restrictions, the regulatory risk is all on you.
Final thoughts: My favorite DEX on Solana
Raydium proved that being first matters, but staying relevant requires constant innovation, and their comprehensive suite of DeFi tools remains a north star for other Solana DEXs.
Their hybrid AMM functionality and order book deliver real value; it's the reason they capture over half of Jupiter's routing volume.
Good liquidity means you can execute trades without major price impact. When Raydium has over $1B in daily volume, you know you can swap large amounts without massive slippage, unlike smaller DEXs where a $10K trade might move the price significantly.
With tons of competitors jumping on the AMM model as well, it is amazing to see how Raydium keeps the bar higher to deliver the best DEX on Solana.
In my opinion, it's the best experience in the Solana DeFi ecosystem.
Although keep an eye on Meteora. They built some really unique features, grabbing 15% market share by solving real problems with DLMM and dynamic fees.
The best DEX for You
With Solana's fast speeds and some of the lowest fees in web3, Solana’s chain and community remain unmatched. A true staple of the crypto industry.
In my opinion, if you are looking for a good DEX on Solana, start with the Jupiter aggregator to search for the best prices across all DEXs. Chances are, Raydium is your top choice anyway, and once you confirm, you can safely do your trades there.
Looking to get in on the latest meme coins? Open an Axiom account and start scanning tokens. Other options are simply not worth mentioning for now, at least in my opinion. A must if you are into the meme economy.
If you are trading with size, it's best to avoid Axiom or platforms designed specifically for meme trading. It's best to opt for Jupiter or Raydium to save on fees.
Raydium is also great if you want to dive deep into liquidity provision to earn yield and earn rewards.
Again, other DEXs might be better than others for your use case. If you are looking for more or new options, I'd keep an eye on the latest tools backed by the Solana Foundation and Solana Labs.
Whether you are hunting for the next multi-billion meme-token or are seeking peace of mind by having full control of your assets, Solana’s DEX ecosystem is certainly one you can’t sleep on.
If you happen to be the token creator or simply want to support the token on your own, check our guide on how to pay for DEX Screener, Dextools, and CoinMarketCap listings.
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