Kraken Review: Pro Fees That Beat Coinbase, If You Use Kraken ProKraken Pro's maker and taker fees undercut Coinbase Advanced Trade at every tier we checked, and Kraken's clean 14-year security record backs up the low prices. The simple Kraken app narrows that gap sharply though, so the savings only show up once you actually move to Pro.Best for: Active traders willing to use Kraken Pro instead of the simple app to capture the lower feesCrypto Exchanges, ranked
Sorted by our score out of 10. The verdict and the buyer each product suits sit on every row.
8 reviews
Kraken Review: Pro Fees That Beat Coinbase, If You Use Kraken ProKraken Pro's maker and taker fees undercut Coinbase Advanced Trade at every tier we checked, and Kraken's clean 14-year security record backs up the low prices. The simple Kraken app narrows that gap sharply though, so the savings only show up once you actually move to Pro.Best for: Active traders willing to use Kraken Pro instead of the simple app to capture the lower fees
OKX review: a strong exchange for traders the US locks out entirelyOKX is one of the stronger all-in-one platforms outside the United States: 0.08 percent maker spot fees at the base tier, a self-custodial wallet spanning more than 130 chains, and deep derivatives and bot tools in one account. The catch is availability. The global site blocks the US, Canada, Hong Kong, India and several other markets outright, and traders in those regions are pushed toward a more limited OKX US entity or a different exchange entirely.Best for: Traders outside the US and its blocked markets who want spot, derivatives and a multi-chain wallet under one login
Binance Review: Cheap Fees Weighed Against a Long Rap SheetBinance's 0.10% base spot fee, cut further with BNB or trading volume, undercuts most rivals we have tested, and the order books we watched on major pairs are as deep as any exchange in this category. That price comes bundled with a $4.3 billion 2023 settlement over sanctions and Bank Secrecy Act violations, exits from the UK, Netherlands and Canada, and a separate, more limited Binance.US for American residents, so the low fees only tell half the story.Best for: Active traders outside the US who want low fees and deep liquidity and accept the regulatory baggage
Bybit Review: A $1.5 Billion Hack Later, Is It Still Safe to Trade?Bybit lost $1.5 billion to a wallet-signing exploit in February 2025 and made every affected user whole within days, funded by bridge loans and its own balance sheet rather than user funds. Its monthly Hacken-audited proof of reserves has stayed at or above 100 percent since. That record, plus 0.1 percent spot fees and 0.055 percent taker fees on USDT perpetuals, makes it a defensible pick for derivatives trading, but the hack itself is a reminder that even a top-three exchange by volume can lose a cold wallet to a convincingly faked signing screen.Best for: Active derivatives traders who want deep USDT perpetual liquidity and accept centralized custody risk
Gemini Review: Compliance You Can Check, Fees You'll NoticeGemini's ActiveTrader base tier charges 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker, double Coinbase Advanced's 0.40%/0.60% base and well above Kraken Pro's 0.40%/0.80%, and its coin list of roughly 90 assets is the smallest of the three. What that fee premium buys is a New York trust charter, $125 million in insurance and a clean decade-plus security record, real assurances for a compliance-conscious trader, not a marketing line.Best for: US-based traders who prioritize regulatory oversight and insured custody over the lowest fee and the widest coin list
Coinbase review: is the easy app worth paying more per trade than Kraken or Advanced TradeCoinbase remains the easiest on-ramp for a first-time buyer in the United States, with clear regulatory standing and a simple app that removes every reason to hesitate. That ease costs real money on every simple trade, and anyone moving more than a few hundred dollars a month should route the same order through Advanced Trade or pay for Coinbase One instead of accepting the spread by default.Best for: First-time buyers who want a regulated, well-known exchange and do not mind paying for that comfort
Crypto.com App Review: Convenient, but the Spread Costs MoreThe Crypto.com App works well for a first purchase: it holds a 250 million user base, cold storage for customer coins and an Account Protection Program covering up to $250,000 per account. What it does not advertise upfront is that its convenience is priced into the spread, a cost of roughly 0.5% to 2% baked into the buy and sell rate rather than shown as a line-item fee. Move the same trade to the Crypto.com Exchange and the published Level 1 rate is 0.25% maker and 0.50% taker, a rate that improves fast once you hold CRO or trade volume. The app suits someone buying occasionally in small amounts; anyone trading often should open the Exchange tab in the same app instead.Best for: Occasional US buyers who want a simple app and are willing to pay a hidden spread for it
Robinhood Crypto Review: Withdrawals Arrived, But So Did a Florida SubpoenaRobinhood Crypto now lets you send coins in and out freely, closing the biggest gap it used to have against a real exchange, and its exchange-routing option discloses a fee that drops from 0.85% to 0.03% as your 30-day volume climbs. The catch is the default: app orders route to a market maker that pays Robinhood roughly $0.95 per $100 of volume, a cost folded into the spread rather than shown as a line item. Florida's Attorney General is already asking Robinhood to justify its lowest cost marketing under subpoena. Traders who switch on exchange routing get a fair deal; anyone on the default screen pays more than the slogan promises.Best for: Existing Robinhood brokerage users who will switch on exchange routing and watch their fee tier