clob.ink

← All comparisons

Drift vs Lighter

How Drift and Lighter differ on chain, volume, fees and model.

DriftLighter
TypeSolana perp DEXzk perp DEX
ChainSolanazk rollup
How it worksA Solana-native perps venue combining an order book with JIT and AMM liquidity, reaching up to 101x on select markets, tightly integrated with Solana DeFi.A zero-knowledge-proven order-book DEX that charges retail zero trading fees, earning revenue from its liquidity pool plus mandatory 1:10 LIT staking. ~248k active addresses, TVL ~$1B.
Scale*Solana leader~$25B/wk · zero-fee
Max leverageup to 101xhigh
Best forSolana perps with high leverageFee-free retail perps

Drift

  • Leading Solana perp DEX
  • High leverage (up to 101x)
  • Deep Solana DeFi integration
  • Solana-only
  • Hybrid model (not pure CLOB)

Lighter

  • Zero fees for retail traders
  • zk-proven order book (verifiable)
  • Fast-growing volume & users
  • Mandatory LIT staking to access
  • Younger venue

Bottom line

Pick Drift for solana perps with high leverage; pick Lighter for fee-free retail perps.

* Volume/TVL = dated snapshot (DefiLlama + venue reports, 2026).