Variational Omni vs Pacifica

Variational Omni or Pacifica: which to use

Variational Omni vs Pacifica comes down to fees and how trades are priced. Variational Omni charges 0 bp maker and 0 bp taker, and a market maker quotes each trade on Arbitrum. Pacifica charges 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker, and matches orders on a public central limit order book on Solana. Variational Omni lists far more markets, and both offer up to 50x with no ID. Pick Variational Omni for zero fees and a wide market list. Pick Pacifica if you want a visible order book and hourly funding on every market.

How each exchange is built

Both are decentralized exchanges (DEX): you trade from your own self-custody wallet, not from an account held by a company. Variational Omni runs on Arbitrum. Pacifica runs on Solana.

The matching differs. Variational Omni uses request-for-quote: a market maker quotes each trade, and there is no public order book. Pacifica uses a central limit order book, so resting orders sit on a public book until they are filled.

For the trader, this changes what you can see before you trade. On Pacifica you can read the book and place a limit order at a price you choose. On Variational Omni you get a quote for your size.

Fees and what they mean

Variational Omni's base tier is 0 bp maker and 0 bp taker, per Variational's fee page. Pacifica's base tier is 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Pacifica's fee page.

A market order pays the taker fee on entry and again on exit. On Pacifica that is 8 bp in fees for a round trip. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead, 1.5 bp each way. On Variational Omni neither order type carries a fee at the base tier.

The fee is only part of a trade's cost. The rest is slippage: the price you move by eating through the order book, which grows with size. The cost table above adds both for each size, and every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026, Variational Omni lists 557 active perps, 121 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. Pacifica lists 77, 24 of them real-world assets.

Both allow up to 50x on their highest-leverage markets; most markets allow less. Funding differs. Pacifica pays every 1 hour on every market, so a position settles funding 24 times a day. Variational Omni pays every 1 hour, 4 hours or 8 hours depending on the market, so the interval of the market you trade decides how often funding settles. The markets both exchanges list are further down this page, with each one's funding rate.

Who can use them

Neither exchange asks for ID. Variational Omni is not for US or Canadian persons, Taiwan or sanctioned regions. Pacifica blocks the US, Canada, the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines and sanctioned countries. If you are in Taiwan, check Pacifica's list before you deposit. If you are in the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine or the Philippines, check Variational Omni's list before you deposit.

Tokens and points

Neither exchange has a token yet. As of 19 September 2026, the points and airdrop program status of both was "Active". The airdrops page tracks the programs running. Neither exchange runs a vault that arb.sh tracks.

Reading the numbers on this page

Both exchanges publish open interest as longs plus shorts, so each figure reads about twice a one-side count. Variational Omni's figure is the sum of traders' longs and shorts against a pool or dealer. Pacifica's counts both sides of every position. The open interest row and chart are comparable in method, but neither is a one-side figure.

Variational Omni prices by request-for-quote, so it has no public book depth. The BTC order-book depth row in the Head to head table therefore has nothing to read for it, and the cost table is the better way to compare size. Variational Omni also has no TVL row, because DefiLlama has no figure for it. Pacifica's TVL is DefiLlama's figure for the exchange.

Which one fits you

• Pick Variational Omni if you want a 0 bp maker and 0 bp taker fee on market orders.
• Pick Variational Omni if you want a long list of markets, including 121 real-world asset perps.
• Pick Variational Omni if you trade from an Arbitrum wallet.
• Pick Variational Omni if you are in the UK, China, Ukraine or the Philippines.
• Pick Pacifica if you want a public order book and limit orders at prices you set.
• Pick Pacifica if you want funding paid every hour on every market.
• Pick Pacifica if you trade from a Solana wallet.

Variational Omni's page and Pacifica's page have each exchange's markets, funding and points.