CoW Swap
Intent-based DEX aggregator on CoW Protocol that settles orders in batches through competing solvers.
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CoW Swap key facts
| Category | DEX aggregator |
|---|---|
| Chains | Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Gnosis, Polygon, BNB, Avalanche, Optimism, Linea, Ink, Plasma |
| Platforms | Web, API |
| Custody | Non-custodial |
| Fees | 0.02% volume fee (0.003% for correlated assets) plus 50% of quote improvement, capped at 0.98% |
| Chains | Ethereum, Arbitrum One, Avalanche, Base, BNB, Gnosis, Ink, Linea, Optimism, Plasma, Polygon |
| Token | COW (governance), 1 billion issued at launch |
| US availability | Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions |
COW token
- Price
- $0.103 -4.8% 24h
- Market cap
- $59.2M
- Fully diluted value
- $103M
- 30-day change
- -31.3%
Market data: CoinGecko, updated Nov 10, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
What is CoW Swap?
CoW Swap is a DEX aggregator built on CoW Protocol, where users sign orders and solvers compete to settle them. The protocol charges a 0.02% volume fee on standard assets (0.003% on correlated pairs) plus 50% of quote improvement, capped at 0.98%. Core contracts run on 11 mainnets. COW is its governance token.
How CoW Swap works
On CoW Swap you do not send a transaction to a pool.
You sign an intent message that names the tokens, amounts and your limit price. The protocol collects many such intents into a batch auction, and bonded solvers get a set amount of time to propose settlements. The solver that produces the most surplus for the batch wins and submits the batch on-chain for everyone in it. If two users want opposite sides of the same pair, their orders can be matched directly as a Coincidence of Wants without touching an AMM.
Trades of the same pair in the same direction within one batch clear at a single uniform price, so reordering them gains a bot nothing. Your funds are pulled by the GPv2VaultRelayer contract only when the settlement contract has checked that you signed the order and will get at least your limit price. Besides market swaps, the app offers limit orders, cross-chain swaps through a bridge provider post-hook, and TWAP orders that split a trade into parts over hours, days or weeks.
How to start with CoW Swap
- Connect a web3 wallet at swap.cow.fi.
- The docs suggest browser wallets such as Rabby or MetaMask, a hardware wallet such as Trezor, or a Safe smart account.
- The first time you sell a token, you approve the vault relayer.
- Tokens such as USDC, DAI and COW support gasless approval by signature, which does not work for smart contract wallets.
- The protocol only sells ERC-20 tokens, so to sell ETH you either wrap it to WETH first or use Eth-flow, a contract that wraps and places the order in one transaction.
- TWAP orders need a Safe wallet with an upgraded fallback handler and a minimum of $1,000 per trade on Ethereum mainnet, or $5 on Gnosis Chain, Arbitrum One and Base.
- Cross-chain swaps must end in a different token: bridging the same token between networks is not supported yet.
- TWAP price protection lets you set a minimum price, and any part that would fill below it waits until the price recovers.
CoW Swap fees and limits
- Every order pays a volume fee of 2 bps on standard assets or 0.3 bps on correlated assets such as stablecoins and RWAs.
- On market orders the protocol also takes 50% of any positive quote improvement, capped at 0.98% of volume; out-of-market limit orders pay 50% of surplus with the same cap.
The quote improvement fee is zero when execution is not better than the quote. Fees are charged in the surplus token inside the execution, not as a separate transfer, and partner apps that embed CoW can add their own fee.
Risks to know before using CoW Swap
- The docs describe the vault relayer and settlement contracts as audited and non-upgradeable, but you still grant the relayer a token allowance, and CoW Swap asks for an unlimited one by default.
- The docs tell you to check that the spender is GPv2VaultRelayer before signing and to review old approvals with revoke.cash.
- Orders only execute when a solver finds a settlement at or above your limit price, so a tight limit order can sit unfilled.
- Cross-chain swaps add the bridge provider's contracts to the path, plus an intermediate token deposited to the bridge on the source chain.
CoW Swap usage
From DefiLlama (fees users paid), updated Nov 10, 2026.
CoW Swap alternatives
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Where CoW Swap ranks on DappAtlas
Listed next to CoW Swap
CoW Swap pros and cons
- 0.003% volume fee on stablecoin and other correlated pairs
- Fees are taken inside execution, no separate transfer
- Core contracts deployed at the same address on 11 mainnets
- Takes 50% of quote improvement on swaps, up to 0.98% of volume
- No audit list on the core contracts docs page
- Partner integrations can add their own fees
CoW Swap FAQ
What is CoW Swap?
CoW Swap is a DEX aggregator built on CoW Protocol, where users sign orders and solvers compete to settle them. The protocol charges a 0.02% volume fee on standard assets (0.003% on correlated pairs) plus 50% of quote improvement, capped at 0.98%. Core contracts run on 11 mainnets. COW is its governance token.
Which chains does CoW Swap support?
Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Gnosis, Polygon, BNB, Avalanche, Optimism, Linea, Ink, Plasma.
How much does CoW Swap cost?
0.02% volume fee (0.003% for correlated assets) plus 50% of quote improvement, capped at 0.98%, according to CoW Swap’s own page (checked Sep 26, 2026).
How much do users pay CoW Swap in fees?
$2M over the last 30 days, according to DefiLlama on Nov 10, 2026.
Does CoW Swap have a token?
Yes, COW. Its market cap was $59.2M on CoinGecko on Nov 10, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
Is CoW Swap available in the US?
Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions, according to CoW Swap’s own page (checked Sep 26, 2026).
Does CoW Swap hold my funds?
No. CoW Swap is non-custodial: you keep your funds in your own wallet and sign each transaction.
Sources
- CoW Swap: official site
- CoW Protocol: Fees
- CoW Protocol: Core contracts
- CoW Protocol: COW token
- CoW Swap: Terms and Conditions
- CoW Protocol: Flow of an order
- CoW Protocol: MEV protection
- CoW Protocol: Market orders (swap)
- CoW Protocol: Native tokens
- CoW Protocol: Cross-chain swaps
- CoW Protocol: TWAP orders
- CoinGecko
- DefiLlama
How this page works
Sources: CoW Swap: official site, CoW Protocol: Fees, CoW Protocol: Core contracts. Data as of Sep 26, 2026.
Not affiliated with any project listed. Educational content, not financial advice.