Uniswap vs SushiSwap: Which Decentralized Exchange Is Right for You?

Uniswap and SushiSwap both let you trade crypto without a middleman - but they’re built for very different people.

If you’re new to decentralized finance, you’ve probably heard of Uniswap. It’s the go-to DEX for most crypto traders. SushiSwap came along later, promising extra rewards and more features. But which one should you actually use? The answer isn’t about which is "better." It’s about what you want to do with your money.

Uniswap is simple. SushiSwap is powerful. But power comes with complexity. Let’s break down the real differences - not the hype.

How They Work: Same Core, Different Goals

Both Uniswap and SushiSwap use automated market makers (AMMs). That means there are no order books. Instead, pools of tokens are locked in smart contracts, and prices shift based on supply and demand. You swap one token for another directly from these pools.

Uniswap invented this model in 2018. It became the blueprint for nearly every DEX that followed. SushiSwap was launched in 2020 as a fork of Uniswap’s code - meaning it copied the core system. But instead of just copying, it added incentives. The goal? To lure liquidity away from Uniswap by paying users to provide it.

That’s the key difference: Uniswap focuses on being the most reliable, efficient swap tool. SushiSwap wants to be a full DeFi hub - where you swap, earn, stake, and farm all in one place.

Liquidity and Volume: Who Has the Most Money?

As of November 2025, Uniswap has about $4 billion locked in its liquidity pools. SushiSwap has around $400 million. That’s a tenfold difference.

Why does this matter? More liquidity means tighter spreads - the gap between what you pay and what you get when you trade. On Uniswap, swapping ETH for USDC feels almost instant. On SushiSwap, you might notice a slight slippage on larger trades, especially on less popular pairs.

Daily trading volume tells the same story. Uniswap handles $1-2 billion per day. SushiSwap does $50-150 million. If you’re trading big amounts, Uniswap’s depth makes it safer. If you’re trading small amounts or newer tokens, SushiSwap’s lower volume might mean worse prices.

Fees: Who Gets Paid?

Both platforms charge a trading fee. Uniswap V3 lets you choose between 0.05%, 0.3%, or 1% depending on the token pair. Stablecoins like USDC/USDT use the 0.05% tier. Wilder tokens like new memecoins use 1%. The fee goes entirely to liquidity providers.

SushiSwap sticks with a flat 0.3% fee. But here’s the twist: 0.25% goes to liquidity providers, and 0.05% goes to people who stake SUSHI tokens. That’s the xSUSHI system. If you hold and stake SUSHI, you earn a cut of every trade on the platform - even if you’re not providing liquidity.

That’s a big deal. On Uniswap, you only earn from your own liquidity. On SushiSwap, you can earn just by holding the token. It’s like getting dividends from the exchange itself.

Token Rewards: Free Crypto for Providing Liquidity

SushiSwap runs something called the Onsen Program. It’s a liquidity mining engine that rewards users with extra SUSHI tokens for adding liquidity to new or low-volume token pairs. If you’re early to a new project on SushiSwap, you could earn hundreds of dollars in SUSHI rewards - sometimes more than the trading fees.

Uniswap doesn’t do this. No token rewards. No mining. No bonuses. You get the trading fees, and that’s it. If you’re a passive liquidity provider who just wants to earn from fees without chasing yield, Uniswap is cleaner.

But if you’re an active DeFi user who likes to farm, SushiSwap gives you more tools. You can stake your LP tokens in Onsen pools, earn SUSHI, and even compound your rewards. It’s more work - but it pays more.

Blockchain Support: One Chain or Many?

Uniswap is on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and BNB Chain. That’s six major networks. Solid. Reliable. Popular.

SushiSwap supports 14+ chains, including Avalanche, Fantom, Harmony, Celo, and Moonbeam. That’s a big advantage if you’re using less common networks or want to avoid Ethereum gas fees entirely.

If you’re trading mostly on Ethereum or Arbitrum, Uniswap is your best bet. If you’re hopping between chains - say, you’re on Polygon one day and Avalanche the next - SushiSwap gives you a single interface to manage everything. No need to switch platforms.

Interface and Ease of Use

Uniswap’s interface is clean. Connect your wallet. Pick tokens. Swap. Done. The mobile app is simple and fast. It’s designed for people who just want to trade.

SushiSwap’s interface is cluttered. There are tabs for swaps, lending, limit orders, yield farming, staking, and cross-chain bridges. It’s overwhelming for beginners. Even experienced users sometimes get lost in the menus.

That said, SushiSwap has improved. The UI is no longer the mess it was in 2021. But it still feels like a Swiss Army knife - useful, but not always intuitive. Uniswap is a hammer. It does one thing, and it does it well.

Governance: Who Controls the Platform?

Both have governance tokens: UNI for Uniswap, SUSHI for SushiSwap. But they serve different purposes.

UNI has no staking rewards. You can’t earn anything by holding it. You can vote on proposals - like changing fees or adding new chains - but there’s no financial incentive to hold it. The max supply is 1 billion tokens.

SUSHI is different. You can stake it as xSUSHI and earn 0.05% of all trading fees. You can also vote on governance proposals. The max supply is 250 million. That means each SUSHI token has direct economic value beyond voting - it’s a revenue-sharing asset.

If you believe in the long-term growth of the platform, SUSHI gives you skin in the game. UNI is just a vote.

Who Should Use Which?

Use Uniswap if:

• You’re new to DeFi
• You want the cheapest, fastest swaps
• You trade mostly on Ethereum, Arbitrum, or Polygon
• You don’t want to manage staking or farming
• You value reliability over extra features

Use SushiSwap if:

• You’re comfortable with DeFi and want to earn more than just fees
• You trade on lesser-known chains like Avalanche or Fantom
• You like farming rewards and want to compound earnings
• You want to earn passive income just by holding SUSHI
• You’re interested in limit orders, lending, or other DeFi tools

Real User Experiences

On Reddit and DeFi forums, beginners consistently say Uniswap is the only DEX they use. One user wrote: "I tried SushiSwap once. I spent 20 minutes figuring out how to stake. I just wanted to swap ETH for DAI. I went back to Uniswap."

Experienced users say the opposite: "I use Uniswap for stablecoin swaps. I use SushiSwap for everything else - new tokens, farming, staking. I make more from xSUSHI than from trading fees."

Security-wise, both are trusted. Neither has been hacked at the protocol level. Uniswap’s longer track record gives it a psychological edge - people feel safer using it. But SushiSwap’s code has been audited and battle-tested for over four years.

The Future: Where Are They Headed?

Uniswap is doubling down on core trading. It added an NFT marketplace. It’s optimizing for speed and cost on Layer 2s. It’s not trying to be everything. It’s trying to be the best swap tool.

SushiSwap is building a DeFi super-app. It added lending, limit orders, and cross-chain bridges. It’s betting that users will want one platform to do everything - not just swap, but earn, lend, and hedge.

Uniswap wins on volume. SushiSwap wins on flexibility. Neither is going away. But they’re not competing for the same users anymore.

Final Take

Start with Uniswap. Learn how swaps work. Understand slippage, impermanent loss, and wallet connections. Then, if you want to earn more, explore SushiSwap.

You don’t have to choose one forever. Many users run both. Use Uniswap for quick trades. Use SushiSwap for farming and staking. They’re not enemies - they’re tools for different jobs.

The best DEX isn’t the one with the most features. It’s the one that matches what you actually want to do.