Uniswap v3 pools charge fixed fee tiers of 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.30% or 1%, and on Ethereum mainnet you also pay gas: a plain ETH transfer alone uses 21,000 gas and a swap uses more. That makes small trades costly on mainnet, so this list picks one Ethereum protocol per job and states its own fee.
Quick answer
Uniswap is the best DeFi app on Ethereum for swaps, Aave for lending and Lido for staking ETH. Add Curve for stablecoin swaps and CoW Swap to cap price impact on large orders.
Uniswap runs automated market maker pools on Ethereum. v2 pools charge 0.3%, and v3 pools use fixed tiers of 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.30% and 1%. v4-core is public on GitHub.
Chains
Ethereum, L2s and other L1s
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android, API
Custody
Non-custodial
Fees
v2 0.3% (0.25% LP + 0.05% protocol where fees are on); v3 tiers 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.30%, 1%; no Labs interface fee since Dec 27, 2025
Token
UNI
Pros
v3 fee tiers as low as 0.01% and 0.05%
Pool contracts are public on GitHub
UNIfication proposal included burning 100 million UNI from the treasury
Cons
v2 LP fee of 0.3% on every swap
Protocol fees take 1/4 of LP fees on 0.01% and 0.05% v3 pools where enabled
Ethereum mainnet gas adds cost to small swaps
Skip it if you trade small amounts: mainnet gas can exceed the pool fee.
Aave is a non-custodial lending protocol with 65 audits and AI-assisted reviews listed and a $5M+ bug bounty. Its flash loan fee was set at 0.05% at deployment.
Chains
Ethereum and other EVM networks
Platforms
Web
Custody
Non-custodial
Fees
Flash loan fee 0.05% at deployment, changeable by governance
Security audits
65 audits and AI-assisted reviews; $5M+ bug bounty
Pros
Security page lists 65 audits and AI-assisted reviews
Bug bounty rewards of $5M+ listed on its security page
Flash loans for developers, with a 0.05% fee at deployment
Cons
Positions are liquidated when the Health Factor falls below 1
Borrow rates rise faster above the optimal utilization point
Flash loan fee can be changed by governance vote
Skip it if you cannot watch your loan: positions are liquidated when the Health Factor falls below 1.
Curve's Stableswap pools charge 0.005% to 0.02% per trade, among the lowest pool fees on Ethereum. Audits include Trail of Bits, MixBytes and ChainSecurity.
Chains
Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains
Platforms
Web, API
Custody
Non-custodial
Fees
Stableswap 0.005% to 0.02%; Cryptoswap about 0.05% to 0.4%
Security audits
Trail of Bits, MixBytes, Quantstamp, ChainSecurity, StateMind
Pros
Most Stableswap pools charge 0.005% to 0.02%
Audits by Trail of Bits, MixBytes, Quantstamp and ChainSecurity
Dynamic fees raise the fee on swaps that unbalance a pool
Cons
Cryptoswap pool fees can reach about 0.4%
Some pool types are not supported on sidechains or Layer 2 networks
Pool-by-pool fees make costs harder to compare
Skip it if you trade volatile pairs: Cryptoswap pools can reach about 0.4%.
Morpho runs isolated lending markets and vaults on Ethereum, audited by Spearbit, ChainSecurity, Zellic and others. In Vaults V2, curators set a performance fee capped at 50% of interest.
Chains
Ethereum, Base and other EVM networks
Platforms
Web, SDK
Custody
Non-custodial
Security audits
Spearbit, ChainSecurity, Zellic, Blackthorn, Certora and others
Fees
Vault V2: curator performance fee up to 50% of interest and management fee up to 5% per year, both timelocked
Pros
Long public audit list, with Spearbit, ChainSecurity and Zellic reviews in 2025 and 2026
Isolated markets keep one market's bad debt away from others
Formal verification with Certora
Cons
Vault curators can charge a performance fee of up to 50% of interest
Vault risk depends on the curator you pick
More choices to compare than a single-pool protocol
Skip it if you do not want to pick a curator: vault risk depends on them.
Spark, powered by Sky, lists Ethereum first among its networks. SparkLend is based on the Aave v3 codebase, and Spark Savings pays a rate on USDS and USDC.
Chains
Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Unichain, Avalanche and others
Pendle splits yield-bearing tokens into PT, which lock a fixed yield, and YT. It charges 5% of yield accrued by YT plus swap fees, and runs on Ethereum among other chains. Its Boros product is closed to US persons.
Chains
Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain and other EVM networks
TVL on Ethereum: total value locked in the protocol on this chain, from DefiLlama, refreshed daily. A dash means DefiLlama does not track it on Ethereum.
“Not verified” means we could not confirm the value on the project’s own pages.
How we rank Ethereum DeFi apps
01Live on Ethereum: mainnet deployment confirmed on the protocol's card.
02Published fee: the protocol's own fee, from its docs.
03Audits: audit firms or reports listed by the protocol.
04US access: restrictions stated in the protocol's own terms.
05One job each: one pick per use: swaps, lending, staking, yield.
No project paid to be listed or ranked. Full rules: methodology.
What we did not test
We did not open accounts, deposit money or place trades with these services.
We did not audit smart contracts, reserves or security claims ourselves; we report what the project and its auditors publish.
Fees, limits and availability change; the list date shows when we last checked them.
Rubric last updated Sep 26, 2026. Crypto assets are not insured by the FDIC or SIPC, and you can lose all the money you put in. This page is educational content, not financial advice.
How to choose
01
Count gas first
On Ethereum mainnet the fee is gas used times base fee plus tip. On a small swap, gas can cost more than the pool fee, so batch actions or trade larger sizes.
02
Check approvals
Swaps and deposits ask for token approvals. Revoke ones you no longer use.
03
Know liquidation rules
On Aave a loan is liquidated when the Health Factor drops below 1. Keep a buffer.
04
Read US terms
Lido Earn vaults and Ethena exclude US persons; check each protocol's terms.
Who should skip all of these
Cheap small trades: layer 2 networks cost less than Ethereum mainnet.
Anyone who wants a custodial account: these protocols need a self-custody wallet.
It depends on the job: Uniswap for swaps, Aave for lending, Lido for staking ETH.
What does Lido charge?
±
10% of staking rewards, split between node operators and the DAO treasury.
Which Ethereum DEX is cheapest for stablecoins?
±
Curve: most Stableswap pools charge 0.005% to 0.02% per trade.
Why are Ethereum DeFi fees high?
±
You pay gas on top of protocol fees. A plain ETH transfer uses 21,000 gas; swaps and loans use more.
Can US users use these apps?
±
The terms on these protocols' cards do not bar US users, but Lido Earn vaults exclude US residents, Pendle's Boros is closed to US persons, and Ethena is left out because it bars US persons.
Compiles and updates the lists on DappAtlas. Facts come from primary sources: each project’s own pages, protocol docs and standards. No project pays to be mentioned.