9 Best Crypto Exchanges of 2026

Kraken is the best all-round crypto exchange on this list because it covers both a simple app and a full trading platform, and its optional Kraken+ plan makes regular buying cheap. Without a subscription, Kraken charges a 1% fee on instant and recurring trades, 1.5% on custom orders and up to $2 on small instant trades, plus a spread. Kraken+ costs $4.99 a month after a free 30-day trial and waives trading fees on up to $10,000 of monthly volume in the Buy, Sell and Convert features, which is far more headroom than the $500 in Coinbase One Basic. Spreads and card processing fees still apply under Kraken+, and the plan does not cover Kraken Pro, futures or API trades. Kraken lists prices for more than 200 cryptocurrencies and publishes a proof of reserves report, which showed a 102.9% reserve ratio for BTC at its June 30, 2026 snapshot. Staking rewards on flexible terms carry a 30% commission.

Coinbase is the easiest place on this list to buy a first coin, and it adds Coinbase Advanced for people who outgrow the simple buy button. The catch is cost on simple trades. Coinbase includes a spread in quoted prices, may charge a Coinbase fee of 1.875% depending on payment method, and adds a separate 1% execution fee on simple limit orders. Every fee and the spread appear on the order preview screen before you confirm. Coinbase Advanced trades directly on the order book with no spread, which is the cheaper route for regular traders. Coinbase One Basic costs $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year and waives trading fees on up to $500 a month, with $1,000 of account protection coverage; Preferred costs $29.99 a month and raises the allowance to $10,000. The zero-fee benefit does not apply to the 1% limit order fee. Staking carries a 35% standard commission on assets such as ETH and SOL.

Robinhood Crypto suits people who already invest in stocks on Robinhood and want crypto in the same app. Default in-app trades go through market maker routing with no explicit fee; instead, Robinhood earns from the spread, and it discloses that as of June 15, 2026 it receives $0.95 for every $100 of crypto order volume routed this way. You can switch eligible coins to exchange routing, where fee tiers range from 0.00% to 0.95% based on your trailing 30-day volume and resting limit orders get a reduced maker fee. Orders routed this way can execute on Bitstamp, which Robinhood owns, or another partner exchange. Robinhood does not charge an extra fee to receive crypto and shows the network fee estimate before you send. Two limits: the reduced and standard fees are still rolling out, and crypto in Robinhood Crypto is not FDIC insured or SIPC protected.

Binance.US is the cheapest exchange here for people willing to place their own orders. Its Advanced (Spot) trading charges a 0% maker fee on every pair and a 0.02% taker fee on all pairs except BNB/USD, which costs 0.01%, with no subscription or volume requirement. On a $1,000 market order, 0.02% is 20 cents. ACH bank deposits and withdrawals are free, and paying fees in BNB takes 5% off. The exchange lists 200+ cryptocurrencies and staking on 25+ assets, and you can start with $1. The trade-off is effort: the lowest rates apply to order-book trades, which ask a beginner to understand maker and taker orders, and the platform has fewer side products than Coinbase or Kraken. Volume discounts barely matter here, since the taker rate only drops to 0.01% at $500 million of monthly volume.

Gemini is run by Gemini Trust Company, LLC, a New York trust company, and it publishes separate fee schedules for each product. Its ActiveTrader schedule starts at 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker for accounts under $10,000 of 30-day volume, falls to 0.40% and 0.80% from $10,000, and keeps dropping at higher tiers, which you can also reach by holding a large asset balance. Selected stablecoin pairs trade at 0.00%. Funding is cheap by bank: ACH and wire deposits are free, ACH withdrawals are free and crypto deposits are free, while USD wire withdrawals cost $25, debit card deposits 3.49% and PayPal deposits 2.50%. Withdrawals to an external wallet carry a dynamic fee that tracks network costs, and Gemini says it does not pocket the fee. For small traders, entry-level fees are higher than at Binance.US, Bitstamp or Kraken+.

Bitstamp is a straightforward order-book exchange, now marketed as Bitstamp by Robinhood. Its fee schedule, valid from October 21, 2026, charges 0.30% maker and 0.40% taker under $10,000 of monthly volume, dropping to 0.20% and 0.30% above $10,000 and to 0.00% maker at very high volume. Stablecoin and FX pairs cost much less, starting at 0.060% maker and 0.080% taker. ACH deposits and withdrawals are free. The expensive routes are Basic Trading, which builds a fixed 1.8% spread into the price of most crypto plus up to 0.5% when markets are volatile, and Instant Purchase by card at 4%. Staking commissions are published per asset, such as 15% for ETH and 25% for ADA. Bitstamp has announced an updated fee schedule from November 24, 2026, so check the page before trading.

River is built for people who want to buy bitcoin on a schedule and hold it, not for trading many coins. One-time buys and sells cost 1.00% on orders up to $1,000,000, with lower rates above that, and River may include a spread. Recurring buys become free after the first week: daily or hourly plans are zero-fee from the 8th day, and weekly plans from the second order. Payroll deposits set to convert automatically to bitcoin are free up to $30,000 a month per account title. Cash in a River account earned 3.50% APY as of October 3, 2026, paid in bitcoin, and USD is FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Lead Bank, though that does not protect against River's own failure. Standard withdrawals are free, while instant cash withdrawals cost 1%, with a $1 minimum and $150 maximum.

Cash App is the simplest way to add bitcoin for people who already use it to send money. It only supports bitcoin and stablecoins, so it is not a general exchange. Market buys and sells carry a sliding fee: 2.0% from $1 to $499, 1.5% from $500 to $999, 0.9% from $1,000 to $1,999 and 0% from $2,000, plus a spread that Cash App says ranges from 0% to 0.75%. The better route is automatic buying: Auto Invest, Round Ups and paycheck deposits into bitcoin carry zero fees and zero spread, and you can start with $1. Lightning Network payments carry no Cash App fee, and standard-speed bitcoin withdrawals are free. Bitcoin services come from Block, Inc., which is licensed by the New York State Department of Financial Services, but they are not available in every US state.

Uphold gives access to over 300 cryptoassets, more than any other app on this list, which makes it useful for people looking for coins outside the majors. It prices trades mainly through a spread built into the quote, and its service fee page says costs depend on the asset, trade size, market conditions and liquidity costs, with newly supported and small cap tokens costing more. When spreads are unusually wide, above 4%, Uphold shows an in-app notice so you can decide whether to continue, and it adds no fees between Preview Trade and Confirm Trade. Conversions between US dollars and supported USD stablecoins run at 1:1 with a 0% spread for the first $20,000 a month. Uphold holds SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 and PCI DSS certifications. We could not confirm its current crypto spread percentages from the fee page as fetched, so check the in-app preview before trading.