PancakeSwap vs Uniswap
Neutral on-chain benchmarking of slippage, revert rates, and overall execution quality.
PancakeSwap and Uniswap are effectively tied on ClearTrace's on-chain slippage benchmark on Ethereum, 91.9 vs 90.2 out of 100 (within measurement noise), so the better choice comes down to the specific token pair and trade size. The ordering is not the same on every chain these two share: Arbitrum (PancakeSwap ahead by 3.9). ClearTrace publishes one chain rather than a blend, so read this as a finding about Ethereum. (data as of October 14, 2026)
Protocol Scorecard
| PancakeSwap | Uniswap | |
|---|---|---|
| Slippage Score (0-100) | 91.9 Ethereum |
90.2 Ethereum |
| Trades Analyzed Ethereum |
16,385 | 365,599 |
PancakeSwap and Uniswap are both decentralized exchanges (AMMs), where trades execute directly against on-chain liquidity pools. The comparison comes down to pool depth, fee tiers, and how exposed each venue's order flow is to MEV such as sandwich attacks.
Across the flow ClearTrace benchmarked, PancakeSwap posted a slippage score of 91.9/100 versus 90.2/100 for Uniswap, a statistical dead heat of 1.7 points on Ethereum. Ethereum is ClearTrace's publication chain: ClearTrace compares a pair on its publication chain when both venues are benchmarked there, and otherwise on the shared chain carrying the most data on the smaller side. Either way the comparison is one chain, not one venue's all-chain rollup set against another's, because two rollups cover different chains. The ordering is not the same on every chain these two share: Arbitrum (PancakeSwap ahead by 3.9). ClearTrace publishes one chain rather than a blend, so read this as a finding about Ethereum. The score reflects realized slippage only, derived from median slippage versus a minute-level off-chain reference price (Dune prices.usd, an interpolated 5-minute exchange-aggregate feed and not a VWAP), where a higher number means lower slippage. The median is taken over individual fills, while the counts below are distinct transactions, and one transaction can contain several fills. MEV exposure and revert rates are tracked as separate metrics. PancakeSwap was measured over 16,385 benchmarked transactions (3% of its benchmarked flow) and Uniswap over 365,599 benchmarked transactions (25% of its benchmarked flow).
The sample sizes differ substantially (Uniswap: 365,599 transactions; PancakeSwap: 16,385), so PancakeSwap's score reflects a narrower slice of activity and may move as more volume is observed.
On current data the two are effectively tied on Ethereum. Within measurement noise, either is a reasonable choice, and the better option often comes down to the specific token pair and trade size. We recalculate these scores on every data refresh; see our methodology for how they are derived.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which has better execution quality, PancakeSwap or Uniswap?
They are essentially tied on our slippage score on Ethereum, ClearTrace's publication chain. PancakeSwap scored 91.9/100 and Uniswap 90.2/100 in ClearTrace's on-chain benchmarking there, a difference within measurement noise. The ordering is not the same on every chain these two share: Arbitrum (PancakeSwap ahead by 3.9). ClearTrace publishes one chain rather than a blend, so read this as a finding about Ethereum.
Does PancakeSwap or Uniswap offer better MEV protection?
ClearTrace publishes a slippage-based score and per-aggregator revert rates, not a per-aggregator MEV-protection score. On slippage, PancakeSwap was tighter on Ethereum (~8.1 bps vs ~9.8 bps). For MEV specifically, the dashboard surfaces detected sandwich activity as a separate metric.
Is PancakeSwap or Uniswap better for large trades?
For large orders, the venue with deeper liquidity for your pair usually wins on price impact. Both PancakeSwap and Uniswap are AMMs, so compare pool depth for your token pair; the live dashboard tracks current execution quality.