Honeyswap Crypto Exchange Review: Low-Cost DEX for Gnosis Chain and Polygon

Most crypto exchanges charge high fees. Even the big ones. If you’ve ever tried swapping tokens on Ethereum and got hit with $50 in gas fees for a $100 trade, you know the pain. That’s where Honeyswap comes in. It’s not trying to beat Uniswap or SushiSwap in volume. It’s built for a different kind of trader - someone who wants to swap small amounts without getting crushed by fees.

What Is Honeyswap?

Honeyswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that launched in September 2020. It’s not a startup backed by venture capital. It’s a community project born from the 1Hive DAO. That means no CEO, no marketing team, no flashy ads. Just code, governance tokens, and people who care about low-cost DeFi.

It runs on the Gnosis Chain (formerly xDai), a sidechain of Ethereum designed for cheap, fast transactions. Gas fees here are pennies - often under $0.01. That’s why it exists. To make micro-transactions possible. If you’re trading $10 or $50 worth of tokens, Honeyswap is one of the few places where it still makes sense.

In 2025, it expanded to Polygon too. That gives users more options. But Gnosis Chain is still its heart. The platform supports 26 tokens and 40 trading pairs. You won’t find Solana or Avalanche pairs here. It’s focused. And that’s okay.

How It Works

Honeyswap uses the same automated market maker (AMM) model as Uniswap V2. You swap tokens directly from your wallet. No sign-up. No KYC. No middleman. You connect MetaMask, WalletConnect, or Fortmatic, pick your tokens, and hit swap.

The catch? You need to be on the right network. If you’re used to Ethereum Mainnet, you’ll get an error if you try to use Honeyswap without switching to Gnosis Chain. Setting up the network manually is easy, but it trips up beginners. You need to add the Gnosis Chain RPC manually in your wallet. The details: chain ID 100, RPC URL https://xdai.poanetwork.dev, symbol xDAI, block explorer https://blockscout.com/poa/xdai.

Once you’re on the right chain, you can bridge over tokens from Ethereum using OmniBridge. That’s the official bridge. Don’t use random ones. It’s safe, but it takes 10-15 minutes. Patience is part of the process.

Fees and Rewards

Every trade on Honeyswap has a 0.30% fee. That’s standard. But here’s the twist: that fee gets split three ways.

• 0.25% goes to liquidity providers - same as Uniswap.
• 0.05% goes to the protocol fund.
• Of that 0.05%, half (0.025%) goes to Honey (HNY) token holders. The other half (0.025%) goes to Comb (COMB) tokens.

Honey is the main governance token. You can vote on proposals, like adding new tokens or changing fee structures. Comb is local to Gnosis Chain. It’s a reward token for farming liquidity on the chain. Think of it as a bonus for helping the ecosystem grow.

This dual-token system is unique. Most DEXs give you one reward. Honeyswap gives you two. But here’s the reality: the rewards are tiny. In 2025, the entire protocol collected about $20,000 in fees annually. That’s not enough to pay developers full-time. It’s barely enough to cover server costs.

Trading Volume and Liquidity

Don’t expect big moves. Honeyswap’s 24-hour trading volume hovers between $31,000 and $32,000. That’s less than 0.001% of Uniswap’s daily volume. On CoinGecko, it ranks 48th out of 608 DEXs by volume. Not terrible - but not impressive either.

Total value locked (TVL) is around $1.04 million. $950,000 is on Gnosis Chain. $95,000 is on Polygon. Compare that to Uniswap’s $3 billion, and you see the scale difference.

Liquidity is thin. If you try to swap more than $5,000 in a single trade, you’ll likely get slippage over 2%. That’s not a dealbreaker if you’re trading small, but it’s a hard limit. This isn’t the place to dump your ETH for DAI in bulk.

Security and Audits

The code has been audited by CertiK. That’s good. The contracts are open-source on GitHub. The community has reviewed them. No major exploits reported since launch.

But audits don’t fix low liquidity. If a whale decides to drain a pool, there’s not enough depth to stop it. That’s a systemic risk for small DEXs. Honeyswap’s security is solid - but its size makes it vulnerable to manipulation.

User Experience

The interface is clean. Simple. It looks like Uniswap V2. If you’ve used a DEX before, you’ll feel at home. No clutter. No ads. No confusing tabs.

But that’s also the problem. There’s no help. No tutorial. No live chat. Support comes from Discord and Reddit. Response times? 12 to 24 hours. If you’re stuck setting up your network, you’re on your own.

User ratings are mixed. On Cryptogeek, it has a 3.0 out of 5 based on just two reviews. Trustpilot reviews from 2024 mention frustration with slippage and limited token options. But users who trade small amounts on Gnosis Chain? They love it. One Reddit user said, “I swap $20 of DAI for USDC every week. On Ethereum, that’d cost me $15 in gas. Here, it’s 10 cents.”

Who Is This For?

Honeyswap isn’t for everyone. It’s not for day traders. Not for big investors. Not for people who want the latest tokens.

It’s for:

• People who want to make small, frequent trades on Gnosis Chain.
• Users tired of paying $10+ in gas fees for tiny swaps.
• DAO members or 1Hive participants who want to earn HNY or COMB.
• Developers testing DeFi apps on low-cost chains.

If you’re trading over $100 at a time, look elsewhere. If you’re trading under $50, and you’re on Gnosis Chain or Polygon? Honeyswap is one of the best tools you’ve got.

Pros and Cons

Comparison of Honeyswap’s Key Features

Feature	Honeyswap	Uniswap (Ethereum)	SushiSwap (Polygon)
Network	Gnosis Chain, Polygon	Ethereum Mainnet	Polygon
Avg. Gas Fee	$0.005-$0.02	$5-$20+	$0.01-$0.10
24-Hour Volume	$31,000-$32,000	$1.2B+	$45M
TVL	$1.04M	$3B+	$400M
Token Rewards	HNY + COMB	UNI	SUSHI
Best For	Micro-transactions, low fees	High-volume trading	Mid-range trading, SUSHI farming

Future Outlook

Honeyswap’s roadmap says it’s planning to expand to Arbitrum and other EVM chains. That’s smart. But expansion doesn’t mean growth. It just means more places to be small.

The real question: Can a DEX survive on $20,000 a year in fees? Probably not. The team isn’t paid. The infrastructure isn’t funded. It runs on goodwill.

If Gnosis Chain takes off - if more apps move there - Honeyswap could grow. If Ethereum L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism become the default, Honeyswap might fade. Right now, it’s a niche tool. A quiet corner of DeFi.

But sometimes, the quiet corners are the most useful.

Final Verdict

Honeyswap isn’t a replacement for Uniswap. It’s not meant to be. It’s a solution for a very specific problem: trading small amounts without paying a fortune.

If you’re on Gnosis Chain or Polygon and you’re swapping under $50, it’s the best option you’ve got. Low fees. Safe contracts. Community-run. No fluff.

If you’re trading more than that? Go to a bigger DEX. Use a centralized exchange. But if you’re doing micro-trades, daily, for months? Honeyswap will save you hundreds in gas fees over time.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not big. But for the right person? It’s perfect.