Lighter vs Hyperliquid: which is better?

Both are orderbook-based perpetual DEXs, but they sit at very different maturity points. Here's the data (fees/revenue per DefiLlama, 24h):

Hyperliquid Perps — the dominant player by a wide margin

• Daily fees: ~$4.14M | Daily revenue: ~$3.32M
• A Layer-1 blockchain built around its perp DEX, now also running spot, lending, RWA and an EVM. Deepest liquidity and orderbook depth in the category.

Lighter (Lighter Perps) — newer, zk-validated alternative

• Daily fees: ~$399K | Daily revenue: ~$372K
• Orderbook DEX with verifiable matching and liquidations (zkLighter), pitched at institutional-style performance. Roughly a 10× gap in fee generation vs. Hyperliquid — far less proven liquidity and usage so far.

Neither shows trading volume here — DefiLlama's perp volume data requires a paid plan, so fees are the closest free proxy for real usage.

What this means, plainly: Hyperliquid is the bigger, more battle-tested venue with far more volume and liquidity flowing through it. Lighter is a legitimate, technically interesting alternative (verifiable matching/liquidations) but at an early stage — thinner books and less track record. "Better" depends on what you value: if you want the deepest market and proven uptime, that's Hyperliquid; if you specifically want the zk-verifiability angle and are comfortable with a younger platform, that's Lighter.

That's the objective trade-off — your call on which fits your needs.

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Also tracked: FomoDownload App, AsterTrade Now, GMTradeTrade Now, edgeXTrade Now, GMXTrade Now.