The 10 Best PancakeSwap Alternatives You Should Consider

Even though PancakeSwap is a highly successful and popular option for Binance Smart Chain users, it's always useful to know all the options that are available on the market.

Just a few years ago, decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges were a very small niche that was only used by hardcore blockchain enthusiasts. Starting with 2020, however, decentralized exchanges started to truly take off, alongside the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) movement.

The first decentralized exchange to reach massive trading volumes was Uniswap, which emerged as the go-to platform for trading tokens directly on the Ethereum blockchain.

As smart contract platforms other than Ethereum started gaining popularity, new decentralized exchanges were built to give users a way to trade cryptocurrencies in a decentralized manner, regardless of which blockchain they preferred. One of the most prominent decentralized exchanges at the moment is PancakeSwap, which serves users on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain.

PancakeSwap is the most popular DEX on Binance Smart Chain

PancakeSwap is an automated market maker (AMM) and a fork of the Ethereum-based Uniswap. The basic functionality of PancakeSwap is very simple from a user’s perspective - connect your wallet, select which token you want to spend and which token you want to receive, and the smart contracts will take care of the rest.

PancakeSwap also has its own token called CAKE, which has a variety of use cases - for example, CAKE can be staked in Syrup Pools to earn new tokens, to participate in the PancakeSwap Lottery, and vote on governance proposals.

The PancakeSwap team did not just stop at launching a Uniswap fork, as they have managed to expand PancakeSwap into a fully-fledged DeFi platform that also offers yield farming, non-fungible tokens, Syrup Pools, and other unique features. In this sense, the platform has grown beyond being just a simple Uniswap BSC alternative.

Trade on PancakeSwap

The 10 best decentralized PancakeSwap Alternatives You should Consider

Even though PancakeSwap is a highly successful and popular option for Binance Smart Chain users, it’s always useful to know all the options that are available on the market. This is especially important if you’re planning to use blockchains like Ethereum, where PancakeSwap isn’t available. In this article, we’ll be going through the 10 best decentralized exchanges that are similar to PancakeSwap.

1. Uniswap - The Pioneer of DEX Trading Alternative

Uniswap pioneered the AMM model when it was launched back in November of 2018. Since then, AMMs have become the standard for decentralized exchange platforms, and Uniswap is still the biggest DEX out there in terms of trading volume and liquidity. AMMs like Uniswap eliminate the need for order books, and instead work through liquidity pools where users can deposit their tokens.

The basic principle behind AMMs is that the total value of the two types of tokens held in a liquidity pool must be equal - if you were to use an ETH/USDC pool to swap some ETH for USDC, the price of ETH (as denominated in USDC) would decrease slightly because you would add more ETH into the pool while removing some USDC at the same time. The incentive for users to provide liquidity is that they earn a portion of the transaction fees generated by the pool.

Uniswap is the top decentralized exchange on Ethereum, having solidified its market leading position after launching its UNI governance token in September of 2020. UNI has since grown to become one of the largest crypto assets on the market - at the time of writing, it has a market capitalization of $16.7 billion.

If you’re using the Ethereum blockchain and simply want to swap between two different tokens, Uniswap is definitely an option to consider. The platform can also be a solid option for users who want to earn passive income by providing liquidity, but you have to keep in mind that impermanent loss is always a risk for liquidity providers on AMMs. If you are looking for a platform similar to PancakeSwap on Ethereum, Uniswap is one of the best choices.

Uniswap summary

Trade on Uniswap

2. 1inch - Best Multichain DEX Aggregator Alternative

1inch is a DEX aggregator that monitors different decentralized exchanges to find the best rates for users. The protocol is capable of routing orders through multiple protocols to minimize slippage and ensure that you’re paying the lowest fees possible.

One of 1inch’s biggest strengths is that it supports multiple blockchains - it’s available on Ethereum, Polygon and Binance Smart Chain, and the team is constantly working to expand their protocol to even more blockchain platforms. Another distinguishing feature of 1inch is that it supports limit orders, a functionality that’s very hard to find in decentralized finance protocols. This provides a lot more flexibility to users, and brings the user experience closer to the standard set by centralized exchanges.

If you’re looking to swap between different tokens directly on the blockchain and want to find the most efficient way of doing so, 1inch can save you quite a lot of money. The platform even gives you the option of optimizing for