ApeX Protocol vs GMX Comparison
| 0.02% maker / 0.05% taker | Fees | 0.04% maker / 0.06% taker (V2) |
Cost comparison
The basis is a Bitcoin purchase worth €1,000, including all fees and spreads.
| 0.02% maker / 0.05% taker | Fees | 0.04% maker / 0.06% taker (V2) |
Pros & Cons
- No gas costs for users
- Perpetuals on equities, commodities and prediction markets too
- Around 90 crypto perpetuals, up to 100x leverage on BTC and ETH
- Operating since 2022 with no known loss of user funds
- Well-known backers
- Considerably lower volume than the market leaders
- Thinner order books in secondary markets
- No EU authorisation
- Support runs through community channels
- Trading against a liquidity pool — no order-book slippage
- Oracle-based pricing
- 100+ perpetual contracts at up to 100x leverage
- Live on several chains, centred on Arbitrum
- Long operating history in DeFi
- More expensive than fee-free order-book competitors
- Ongoing funding costs weigh on longer holding periods
- Dependence on oracle pricing as a structural risk factor
- No EU authorisation
Score Comparison
Features
- No gas costs
- Crypto, equity and commodity perpetuals in one interface
- Operating since 2022 without a known security incident
- Up to 100x leverage on the main markets
- Pool-based model instead of an order book
- No conventional slippage
- Leverage up to 100x
- Established protocol on Arbitrum
The five areas head to head
AI AnalysisFees & Costs
Perpetuals carry roughly 0.019% maker and 0.0475% taker fees, spot trading around 0.0425%. Users bear no gas costs. Referral programmes and rebates can lower effective costs further. As of August 2026.
In version 2, trading fees run around 0.04% for makers and 0.06% for takers. Ongoing funding costs apply to open positions, plus swap fees when collateral is exchanged. Network fees on Arbitrum sit in the range of a few cents. Anyone holding positions for days should price in funding costs above all. As of August 2026.
Usability & User Experience
The interface follows centralised exchange conventions and is immediately legible to users with futures experience. Access runs through a wallet connection without conventional registration. As of August 2026.
The interface is deliberately simple and one of the more approachable entries in the segment — position size, leverage and collateral are set in a few steps. Anyone unfamiliar with the pool model should read up on funding costs and oracle pricing first. As of August 2026.
Features & Offering
The offering covers roughly 90 crypto perpetuals with up to 100x leverage on BTC and ETH and around 50x on most other pairs. Beyond that, perpetuals on equities and commodities and prediction markets are available — a breadth that is unusual in the segment. As of August 2026.
More than 100 perpetual contracts trade against a liquidity pool, with WETH, USDC or GMX serving as collateral. Pricing comes from oracle feeds rather than an order book. Beyond trading, users can supply liquidity; the protocol's fees flow predominantly to those providers. As of August 2026.
Details
| ApeX Protocol (by Bybit) | Company | GMX Protocol |
| Singapore | Headquarters | Decentralised, no registered office |
Verdict
In our overall rating GMX leads with 4.2 against 3.7 for ApeX Protocol.
For most investors GMX is therefore the better choice.
ApeX — now operating as ApeX Omni — has run perpetual markets since 2022 and is backed by investors including Dragonfly Capital, Jump Crypto and Bybit-affiliated Mirana. No security incident involving loss of user funds is known, which counts for something in a segment with a short half-life.
Fees run around 0.019% for makers and 0.0475% for takers, and users bear no gas costs. The offering reaches beyond crypto: alongside roughly 90 crypto perpetuals at up to 100x leverage on BTC and ETH — around 50x on most secondary pairs — there are perpetuals on equities and commodities as well as prediction markets.
On scale ApeX sits clearly behind the volume leaders, which shows as thinner books in secondary markets. It is most interesting for users who want crypto and non-crypto perpetuals from a single interface. The platform holds no EU authorisation; perpetuals sit outside MiCA in any case, and tax reporting rests entirely with the user.
GMX takes a different route from order-book DEXs: trades run against a liquidity pool and prices come from oracle feeds. That has a practical benefit — even larger positions execute without the slippage a thin order book would produce. The counterweight is that liquidity providers carry the risk and are compensated through fees.
In version 2, trading fees run around 0.04% for makers and 0.06% for takers, plus ongoing funding costs on open positions. That makes GMX more expensive than the fee-free order-book competitors, particularly for positions held over longer periods.
The centre of gravity remains Arbitrum, with the protocol also live on Avalanche and further chains. More than 100 perpetual contracts trade at up to 100x leverage. GMX suits traders building larger positions who want to avoid order-book slippage and who price in funding costs. The platform holds no EU authorisation; perpetuals sit outside MiCA in any case, and tax reporting rests entirely with the user.