Ranked & Reviewed
Best Crypto Exchanges
Compare the best cryptocurrency exchanges by fees, liquidity, security, supported assets, and regulation to find the right platform for spot trading, staking, and custody.
No money changes hands. This is a non-commercial project: no advertising, no sponsored placements, and no affiliate or referral links. Links to the services below earn us nothing. Every overall score is the plain average of the criteria shown on the page, so you can check the arithmetic yourself — see our rating methodology and how the site is funded.
By Mara Okonkwo · Last checked Jul 24, 2026
Best Crypto Exchanges, ranked by score
Bitfinex removed maker and taker fees entirely on 17 December 2025, across spot, margin, derivatives, securities and OTC. There are no volume requirements, no token holdings and no tier conditions — the rate is zero for every customer.
Pros
- Zero maker and taker fees for all customers
- No volume thresholds, token holdings or tier conditions to qualify
- Applies across spot, margin, perpetuals, securities pairs and OTC
- The change is dated and announced publicly rather than buried in a table
Cons
- A zero-fee model depends on the venue earning elsewhere; the schedule does not detail what those revenue sources cost you
- Non-trading charges such as withdrawals are not covered by this criterion set
- This ranking does not assess custody, reserves or licensing — see the note below
Binance charges 0.100% maker and 0.100% taker at the regular user tier, with a further 25% off — taking both to 0.075% — for those who pay fees in BNB. The discount is a position in the exchange's own token, not a saving.
Pros
- 0.100% maker and taker at the entry tier, below most competitors here
- Full tier table published openly
- The BNB discount and its 25% value are stated rather than implied
Cons
- The best rate requires holding and spending BNB, which is exposure to the venue's own token
- The regular tier applies below $1m of 30-day volume, so most readers will not see better
- This ranking does not assess custody, reserves or licensing
Kraken Pro charges 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at its entry tier, falling with 30-day volume. Discounts depend on how much you trade rather than on holding a house token, which is the cleaner arrangement even though the starting rate is high.
Pros
- Discounts depend on trading volume alone — no token holding required
- Full tier schedule published
- Maker and taker are clearly distinguished at every tier
Cons
- 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at the entry tier is well above Binance and Bitfinex
- Reaching competitive rates requires substantial monthly volume
- This ranking does not assess custody, reserves or licensing
Gemini's ActiveTrader schedule starts at 0.600% maker and 1.200% taker for accounts at the lowest volume and balance tier — by a wide margin the most expensive entry point in this comparison.
Pros
- Tier schedule is published with both maker and taker rates
- Tiers depend on volume and balance, not on holding a house token
- Rates fall as volume or balance rises
Cons
- 1.200% taker at the entry tier is twelve times Binance's regular rate
- 0.600% maker is the highest starting maker fee here
- This ranking does not assess custody, reserves or licensing
At a glance
| Service | Score | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Bitfinex | 9.8 | Zero trading fees with no conditions attached |
| Binance | 7.8 | Low headline rate, with a token condition on the discount |
| Kraken | 7.3 | Volume-based pricing with no token requirement |
| Gemini | 6.0 | Published schedule, but the highest entry cost here |
How are crypto exchange fees structured?
Centralised exchanges charge a maker fee when you add liquidity to the order book (a limit order that rests) and a taker fee when you remove it (a market order that fills immediately). Rates fall as your 30-day trading volume rises, so the number that applies to most people is the entry tier, not the discounted rate a professional desk sees. Some venues reduce fees further if you hold or pay in the exchange's own token — a discount that is really a position in that token rather than a saving.
What does an exchange's fee tell you, and what does it not?
A published fee schedule is one of the few parts of an exchange that is fully documented, dated and directly comparable. It tells you the cost of trading. It does not tell you whether the venue is safe: custody arrangements, proof-of-reserves, incident history and licensing vary by jurisdiction and are far harder to verify to the same standard. A low fee is not evidence of a sound exchange, and where you hold your assets matters more than what a single trade costs.
What should you check beyond the headline rate?
- Entry-tier cost: the maker and taker rate that applies at zero volume, not the best available.
- Fee conditions: whether the advertised discount requires holding the venue's token.
- Full disclosure: whether the whole tier table is published openly or hidden behind a login.
- Product coverage: whether the quoted rate covers spot, margin, derivatives or OTC — so you know it applies to what you intend to trade.
Why custody is the real question
When you hold funds on an exchange, the exchange controls the keys — you have a claim on the platform, not direct ownership of the coins. That is convenient for trading and a genuine counterparty risk for holding. The phrase "not your keys, not your coins" captures it: assets you do not intend to trade imminently are generally safer in self-custody than on any exchange, however low its fees.
How we score this category
This ranking scores published trading costs, and only that. Fee schedules are the one part of an exchange that is fully documented, dated and comparable — custody arrangements, reserve attestations and licensing vary by jurisdiction and could not be verified to the same standard, so they are deliberately not scored here rather than guessed at. Read this as a cost comparison, not as a safety assessment: a cheap venue is not automatically a sound one, and where you hold your assets matters more than what a trade costs.
Every service in this ranking is scored 0–10 against the same 4 criteria, each carrying equal weight (25% apiece). The overall score is their plain average, rounded to one decimal place, and each review prints the individual numbers and the arithmetic so you can reproduce the result yourself.
What each criterion covers
- Fee disclosure25% of the score
- Whether the full schedule is published — every tier, both sides of the book, and the conditions attached — rather than a headline rate with the detail behind a login.
- Entry-tier cost25% of the score
- What someone trading small amounts actually pays, taken from the lowest volume tier rather than the discounted rate a professional desk would see. This is the number that applies to most readers.
- Fee conditions25% of the score
- What the advertised rate requires. A discount conditional on holding the venue's own token is a position in that token, not a saving, and is scored as the condition it is.
- Product coverage25% of the score
- Which markets the published schedule actually covers — spot, margin, derivatives, OTC — so a reader knows whether the quoted rate applies to what they intend to trade.
What does not affect a score
Nothing commercial, because there is nothing commercial to affect it. This is a non-commercial project: no advertising, no sponsored placements, and no affiliate or referral links anywhere on the site. Links to the services above earn us nothing, so no provider can buy a score, a rank, or an entry in this list. Where two services finish level, they are listed alphabetically rather than ordered silently.
The process across all categories, including how often we re-check, is set out in our ratings methodology.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important factor when choosing a crypto exchange?
Security and custody usually outweigh everything else, because low fees mean little if the platform loses your funds. Look for proof-of-reserves attestations, cold-storage practices, a clean incident history, and regulatory licensing in your jurisdiction. Once those are satisfied, compare fees and liquidity for the pairs you trade.
How do crypto exchange fees work?
Most exchanges use a maker-taker model: makers who add liquidity to the order book pay lower rates than takers who remove it, with tiers that fall as your 30-day volume rises. Beyond trading fees, factor in bid-ask spreads, deposit and withdrawal charges, and network gas costs, which often exceed the headline trading rate.
Are centralised exchanges safe to hold funds on?
Holding assets on any exchange carries counterparty risk, since you rely on the operator's solvency and security. Regulated platforms with published proof-of-reserves, segregated custody, and insurance reduce that risk but do not eliminate it. For long-term holdings, self-custody in a hardware wallet removes exchange exposure entirely.
Rankings are editorial. Nothing here is financial advice. Editorial policy · How we score · How we're funded.