1inch: Best-Price DEX Aggregator

Overview

1inch is a DEX aggregator founded in 2019, headquartered in Singapore, finding the best swap prices across 1000+ tokens and multiple chains. As a non-custodial aggregator, 1inch splits and routes orders across connected DEXs and liquidity sources to minimize slippage and find the most efficient execution path.

The “Payment” aspect refers to using 1inch’s aggregation infrastructure to settle crypto-denominated payments on-chain — a payer swaps into the token the payee wants at the best available price and delivers it directly to the payee’s wallet. 1inch’s Pathfinder algorithm splits trades across multiple DEXs to optimize for price, gas and slippage.

1inch operates across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Solana and other chains. The protocol is governed by the 1INCH token holder community. As of August 2026, 1inch continues to operate as a leading multi-chain DEX aggregator serving the Web3 ecosystem.

Best for: Web3-native users and dApps that need the best swap prices across multiple chains with no KYC and no custodial risk.

Fees & Pricing

1inch charges a small aggregator fee of approximately 0.1% on routed trades, with the only additional costs being underlying DEX fees and network gas. The aggregator’s best-price routing can offset the fee through better execution.

Cost model

Aggregator fee — approximately 0.1% on routed trades.
Underlying DEX fees — the swap fees of the DEXs 1inch routes through.
Network gas — optimized by 1inch’s gas-cost-aware routing; Layer-2s are cheaper than Ethereum mainnet.
Slippage — minimized by the Pathfinder algorithm’s split-routing.

Settlement

On-chain settlement at chain finality.
Direct wallet-to-wallet delivery — no custodial hold.

Features & Integrations

DEX aggregation

Pathfinder algorithm — splits and routes trades across multiple DEXs for the best price.
1000+ tokens supported across multiple chains.
Gas-cost-aware routing — optimizes for price, gas and slippage together.
Non-custodial — funds remain in user wallets until confirmation.
No KYC — fully decentralized, no identity verification.

On-chain payment capability

Swap-and-send — payers can swap into the payee’s preferred token at the best price and deliver it on-chain.
Suitable for Web3-native payment flows where both parties hold crypto wallets.

Multi-chain

Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Solana and more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Pathfinder algorithm finds the best prices by splitting routes across multiple DEXs
1000+ tokens supported across Ethereum, Solana and major Layer-2s
Gas-cost-aware routing optimizes for price, gas and slippage together
Low ~0.1% aggregator fee with no platform processing fee on top
Fully decentralized and non-custodial — no KYC, no custodial risk

Cons

DEX aggregator, not a merchant checkout gateway — no hosted payment pages or fiat settlement
Underlying DEX fees apply on top of the aggregator fee
Network gas applies and varies by chain
No fiat on/off-ramp — both parties need existing crypto wallets
No chargeback or refund mechanism — on-chain transactions are irreversible

Frequently Asked Questions

What is 1inch?

A DEX aggregator founded in 2019, finding the best swap prices across 1000+ tokens and multiple chains by splitting and routing trades across connected DEXs, with no KYC and no custodial risk.

Is 1inch a payment gateway?

No — 1inch is a DEX aggregator. It can be used for swap-and-send on-chain payments but is not a hosted merchant checkout or fiat payment gateway.

How much does 1inch cost?

Approximately 0.1% aggregator fee on routed trades, plus underlying DEX fees and network gas. The best-price routing can offset the fee through better execution.

Does 1inch require KYC?

No — 1inch is a non-custodial, decentralized aggregator. No identity verification is required to swap tokens.

What is the Pathfinder algorithm?

1inch's routing algorithm that splits trades across multiple DEXs and optimizes for price, gas and slippage together to find the most efficient execution path.