1inch on contract security
8.7/ 35% of the score
Aggregation router in production since 2019 across many chains, with published audits and an ongoing bug bounty; no exploit of the current router on record.
Best Decentralised Exchanges · Rank 04 of 8
1inch review
Cross-DEX routing when a single pool would slip
Last verified August 17, 20264 scored axes
Score8.6
Documented, with gaps
The short answer
1inch scores 8.6 out of 10 and ranks #4 of 8 in the best decentralised exchanges table, strongest on execution cost (9.0) and weakest on decentralisation (7.9).
The most mature EVM aggregator, with a Fusion mode that routes orders through resolvers and shields users from most sandwich attacks. You are trusting the routing layer as well as the pools it touches.
Key facts on record
- Launched
- 2019
- Model
- Aggregator with resolver auctions
- Chains
- Most major EVM networks
What the record shows
4 axes, weighted as published in the table’s methodology. Each score below is read from the fact printed under it.
1inch on liquidity quality
8.6/ 25% of the score
Quotes aggregate the chain's venues; Fusion mode fills through a resolver auction rather than a fixed pool, so depth is the resolvers' capital.
1inch on execution cost
9.0/ 20% of the score
No protocol fee on classic swaps; Fusion prices the resolver's spread into the quote and can return positive slippage; gas depends on the chain.
1inch on decentralisation
7.9/ 20% of the score
Router contracts are upgradeable and administered by the protocol's multisig; the quote API is operated centrally; governance sits with the 1INCH token.
Quick answers
- What is 1inch best for?
- Cross-DEX routing when a single pool would slip. The most mature EVM aggregator, with a Fusion mode that routes orders through resolvers and shields users from most sandwich attacks.
- Where does 1inch rank among best decentralised exchanges?
- #4 of 8, scoring 8.6 out of 10 — documented, with gaps on our band scale.
- What is the weakest part of 1inch?
- Decentralisation at 7.9. Router contracts are upgradeable and administered by the protocol's multisig; the quote API is operated centrally; governance sits with the 1INCH token.
Strengths and weaknesses
In its favour
- Consistently competitive quotes across many chains
- Fusion mode provides meaningful MEV protection by default
- Long track record with extensive audit coverage
Against it
- Routing contracts are upgradeable and centrally maintained
- Quote advantage narrows on very liquid pairs where a direct swap suffices
The aggregator that matured
1inch has routed EVM swaps since 2019 across most major chains, with published audits, an active bug bounty and no exploit of the current router on record. Its quote advantage is largest exactly where you would expect: mid-size orders in pairs where no single pool is deep enough to fill without impact.
Fusion is the feature that matters
In Fusion mode an order is filled through a resolver auction rather than executed directly against pools, which removes most of the surface a sandwich attack needs. For anyone who has watched a swap fill several per cent worse than quoted, that is worth more than a basis point of routing improvement. The cost is embedded in the resolver's spread rather than charged as a fee, and positive slippage can flow back to the user.
Who holds the keys
Router contracts are upgradeable and administered by the protocol's multisig, and the quote API is operated centrally. This is the ordinary shape of an aggregator and it is a materially different trust model from an immutable pool: you are trusting a live system, not a frozen one.
When aggregation stops paying
On the most liquid pairs at small size, the extra gas of a split route can exceed the price improvement it buys, and a direct swap wins. The aggregator earns its place on mid-size orders, thin pairs and any chain where a single venue does not dominate — which is most of them outside Ethereum.
Frequently asked questions
Is 1inch actually cheaper than swapping directly?+
Usually on mid-size and larger orders, where splitting across venues reduces price impact more than the extra gas costs. On very liquid pairs at small size, a direct swap is often just as good.
What is 1inch Fusion?+
A fill mode where resolvers compete in an auction to execute your order, rather than the trade hitting pools directly. It protects against sandwich attacks and prices the resolver's spread into the quote instead of charging a separate fee.
Is 1inch decentralised?+
Partly. The contracts are public and audited but upgradeable by a multisig, and the routing engine that produces quotes runs off-chain under the company's control.
How 1inch compares
8 services in best decentralised exchanges
- 01UniswapThe default venue for almost any EVM swap9.2
- 02CurveLarge stablecoin and pegged-asset swaps8.9
- 03JupiterAnyone trading on Solana8.8
- 041inchyou are hereCross-DEX routing when a single pool would slip8.6
- 05PancakeSwapBNB Chain trading and low-fee retail swaps8.3
- 06AerodromeBase-native liquidity and incentive-directed pools8.2
- 07RaydiumSolana pairs that need a direct pool rather than a route8.1
- 08BalancerWeighted pools and structured liquidity strategies6.8