MetaMask Review
EVM access with the clearest published fee
of 10
MetaMask publishes its swap fee as an exact figure — 0.875% — which almost no competitor does. Its licence, however, is not an open-source one: the repository ships a proprietary ConsenSys agreement limited to non-commercial use.
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Swap fee
0.875% (published)
Licence
Proprietary ConsenSys licence, non-commercial use
Custody
Self-custodial; vendor cannot access the wallet
Chains
EVM
Source
Published, but not under an open-source licence
Scores
Each criterion carries equal weight. The overall score is the average of these 5 scores — (9.0 + 3.0 + 7.0 + 10.0 + 5.0) ÷ 5 = 6.8.
Pros
- Publishes the swap service fee as an exact 0.875% rather than folding it into the rate
- Support documentation states plainly that MetaMask cannot access your wallet
- Source code is published for inspection
- The default route into most EVM applications
Cons
- Licence is proprietary, not open source — restricted to non-commercial use
- Confined to EVM chains
- Hardware wallet pairing is not stated on the pages we checked
- 0.875% is a high swap fee relative to trading directly on a DEX
The fee is published, and that counts
MetaMask's help centre states the swap service fee as 0.875%. Most wallets in this category disclose no figure at all, so a reader can compare a known cost against an unknown one. Knowing the number also makes it easy to see it is high — swapping directly on a decentralised exchange typically costs less.
Published source is not the same as open source
The extension's repository is public, but the licence file is a ConsenSys agreement granting limited rights for non-commercial use rather than a recognised open-source licence. Wallets are frequently described as open source on the strength of a visible repository; here the licence file says otherwise, and the score reflects the licence rather than the marketing.
Self-custodial by design
MetaMask's documentation states that because of its self-custodial design it cannot access your wallet, and that a lost recovery phrase cannot be restored by the company. That is the correct trade-off to make, stated plainly.
How it compares
Sources
Scored from published primary sources rather than hands-on use. Every figure above comes from one of the pages below, on the date shown. Manufacturers change prices and specifications without notice — if something here no longer matches the source, tell us and we will correct it.
- 1.MetaMask Help Center — user guide: swaps (service fee) — checked
- 2.MetaMask extension — LICENSE file — checked
- 3.MetaMask Help Center — what is a self-custodial wallet — checked
Frequently asked questions
How much does MetaMask charge for swaps?
MetaMask's help centre states a service fee of 0.875%, separate from network gas fees.
Is MetaMask open source?
Not under a recognised open-source licence. The repository is public, but the LICENSE file is a proprietary ConsenSys agreement limited to non-commercial use.
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