Guide · 5 min read
Swap aggregator vs exchange vs DEX: what is the difference?
By the AltoSwap team · Reviewed and updated · Editorial policy
Short answerA centralised exchange holds your funds in an account and matches your order on its own book. A decentralised exchange (DEX) trades from your wallet through smart contracts, on one chain or via bridges. An instant swap service converts coin A to coin B across any chains with no account, using its own liquidity. A swap aggregator such as AltoSwap sits on top of many instant swap services, compares their live offers and routes you to the best one.
Four ways to trade one coin for another
| Centralised exchange | DEX | Instant swap service | Swap aggregator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account | Required | None (wallet connection) | None | None |
| Who holds funds | The exchange | You, in your wallet | The service, for minutes | The chosen service, for minutes |
| Cross-chain | Yes, via deposit and withdrawal | Limited; needs bridges | Yes, natively | Yes, natively |
| Price comes from | The exchange's order book | On-chain liquidity pools | One provider's quote | Best of many providers' quotes |
| Native coins such as BTC, XMR | Yes | Mostly wrapped versions | Yes | Yes |
| Typical use | Active trading | On-chain tokens, DeFi | Simple one-off conversion | One-off conversion at the best available rate |
Why aggregation changes the result
Instant swap services quote independently. For the same pair and amount at the same second, the best and worst offers commonly differ by one to several percent, and the ranking changes with the pair, the size and each provider's inventory.
No single service is cheapest across the board. Comparing by hand means opening many sites and re-entering the same order; an aggregator does that comparison in one request and shows the answers sorted by what you would receive.
When each option is the right one
- You trade frequently and want order types, charts and margin: a centralised exchange.
- You want an on-chain token that only exists in liquidity pools: a DEX on that chain.
- You want to turn one coin into another, on any chains, once, without registering: an instant swap, plus an aggregator to make sure you get the best rate for it.
How AltoSwap fits in
AltoSwap is an aggregator. It never takes custody of funds: it requests offers from 20+ providers through its aggregation network, takes one of the best-paying, shows you its rate type, time estimate and KYC rating, and creates the order with that provider. From there your deposit goes to that provider and the payout comes back to your address.
Ready to swap?
No account, no KYC by default, top rates from 20+ exchanges.