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Centralized platforms and brokerage apps for buying, selling and trading crypto, compared on fees, coin selection, security and regional availability.
8 reviews · Ranked by score
Kraken Review: Pro Fees That Beat Coinbase, If You Use Kraken ProWe opened accounts on Kraken and Coinbase, ran the same trades through both and compared the maker and taker fee schedules to work out whether Kraken's security record and cheaper Kraken Pro tier actually beat Coinbase for an active buyer.
Binance Review: Cheap Fees Weighed Against a Long Rap SheetWe checked Binance's live spot fee schedule and trading interface against its BNB discount and VIP tiers, then set the resulting savings against a $4.3 billion settlement, an exit from several countries and a US arm that still cannot offer everything the main platform does.
Bybit Review: A $1.5 Billion Hack Later, Is It Still Safe to Trade?North Korea's Lazarus Group stole $1.5 billion from a Bybit cold wallet in February 2025, the largest crypto theft on record. Bybit covered every dollar itself. We checked its fees and its proof-of-reserves audits to see if that trust is earned.
Coinbase review: is the easy app worth paying more per trade than Kraken or Advanced TradeCoinbase's simple app charges a spread plus a flat or percentage fee on every buy and sell, well above what its own Advanced Trade platform or rivals like Kraken charge. We tested the account flow, the fee gap and Coinbase One to see who the simple app actually suits.
Gemini Review: Compliance You Can Check, Fees You'll NoticeWe opened a Gemini account, checked its ActiveTrader fee schedule against Kraken and Coinbase, counted its coin list against theirs and read through Gemini's NYDFS trust charter and $125 million insurance policy to see if the compliance record justifies paying more per trade.
Crypto.com App Review: Convenient, but the Spread Costs MoreWe funded a Crypto.com App account, compared its buy and sell prices against the Exchange order book, and read the published Level 1 through Level 5 fee tables to work out exactly what that convenience costs an occasional buyer versus an active trader.
OKX review: a strong exchange for traders the US locks out entirelyOKX pairs low base fees with a self-custodial wallet supporting over 130 chains, a combination few rivals match. We checked its fee tiers, tested the built-in wallet and confirmed exactly who OKX will and will not let sign up.
Robinhood Crypto Review: Withdrawals Arrived, But So Did a Florida SubpoenaWe opened a Robinhood Crypto account, compared its default market-maker spread against the disclosed exchange-routing fee tier, checked the crypto transfer and self-custody wallet options, and read through the Florida Attorney General's July 2025 probe into the company's lowest-cost marketing claims.
