Kraken vs. Coinbase — Which Is the Best in 2024?

Kraken and Coinbase are two of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, having been around for over a decade and boasting millions of users. In this guide, we’re settling the debate regarding Kraken vs. Coinbase once and for all!

Join us as we share our thoughts on these two trading platforms and look at everything from fees and payment methods to mobile apps and features. After reading our article, you’ll know for sure whether you’re team Kraken or Coinbase!

How Many Cryptos Can You Trade on Kraken and Coinbase?

• Kraken — 7.5/10
• Coinbase — 6.5/10

Kraken is home to over 300 cryptocurrencies, while Coinbase is slightly behind, with just over 240. Both exchanges have liquid markets for all the top 20 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Ripple, Tron, and Cardano.

Kraken is more liberal with the tokens it lists and offers a wider selection of low market cap altcoins and meme coins. If Bitcoin isn’t volatile enough for you and you are looking for the next Doge, Kraken is the superior exchange.

Kraken Fees vs. Coinbase Fees

• Kraken — 7.7/10
• Coinbase — 6.3/10

Based on our analysis, it is cheaper to trade at Kraken than Coinbase. At Kraken, trading fees start at 0.25% (maker) and 0.40% (taker) if you trade $10,000 or less per month, while at Coinbase, they start at 0.60% and 0.40%.

Kraken consistently undercuts Coinbase in this regard — at least until you hit $50,000 monthly trading volume. At that point, the fees are pretty much the same, as Kraken charges 0.14% (maker) and 0.24% (taker), while Coinbase charges 0.15% (maker) and 0.25% (taker).

Kraken also has the edge when it comes to instant buy. When you purchase Bitcoin via bank transfer at Kraken, you’ll pay 1.5%, whereas Tether transactions come with a 0.9% fee. Card transactions cost 3.75% + $0.25.

On the other hand, Coinbase charges a 1.5% fee for ACH purchases and a 3.99% fee for card payments. Coinbase also includes a spread when you buy cryptocurrency.

Analysis, Tools, and Features

• Kraken — 7.5/10
• Coinbase — 6.5/10

Kraken and Coinbase share a lot of the same features, from margin trading to crypto staking. Overall, though, Kraken offers more in-depth tools (like technical indicators) and is home to features you won’t find at Coinbase, such as demo trading. This is why Coinbase tends to attract novice crypto enthusiasts while serious traders opt for Kraken.

1. Staking

Kraken and Coinbase offer staking, which allows you to earn a yield on your digital assets. These yields are risk-free, and no user has lost their crypto while staking at either exchange. You can stake a wide range of tokens on both platforms.

A key advantage of Kraken is that it offers staking for USDT and USD, which Coinbase doesn’t. Also, the rewards are slightly higher at Kraken. For example, right now, you can earn up to 10% APR on Solana at Kraken, while Coinbase pays a 5.67% APR.

2. Margin Trading

Kraken offers up to 5x margin for spot trading over 100 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Chainlink, Filecoin, Uniswap, Doge, and Solana. You are charged between 0.01% and 0.02% to open the position, and then rollover fees apply.

When trading derivatives at Kraken, you’ll enjoy up to 50x leverage, and the maintenance margin is just 1% of your position.

Coinbase is not a margin-friendly crypto exchange. It offers a 3x margin for limited spot trading pairs and just 5x for perpetual futures. As far as leverage is concerned, Kraken is a much better option.

3. OTC

Kraken’s OTC markets offer deep liquidity for over 150 cryptocurrencies. You’ll receive a single quote for orders over $100,000, which is guaranteed to be filled in full. Kraken consistently features the best prices for OTC trades, and based on what we’ve seen, transactions are settled within just 24 hours.

Coinbase does offer OTC trading, but its markets are far less liquid than Kraken’s, and it’s only available to select Prime clients. Coinbase provides wide spreads for OTC transactions and is not competitive with Kraken in terms of price.

4. Demo Trading

Create a demo account at Kraken within seconds and trade the crypto markets with real prices. There are over 200 trading pairs available, and you can even connect your bot using the exchange’s API.

As mentioned, Coinbase doesn’t offer demo accounts. You can only trade for real money at this exchange, which makes testing new strategies risky and potentially costly!

5. Futures 

Both Kraken and Coinbase offer perpetual futures. Coinbase’s futures markets are only available to pro users, though. Frustratingly, you must set up a separate account and transfer funds there. Also, users are unimpressed with the hidden fees, spreads, and tax implications, which turn winning trades into sudden losses.

Kraken, on the other hand, offers much more liquid perpetual futures markets for over 200 cryptocurrencies, compared to Coinbase, which has only 6 trading pairs. Kraken also features some of the lowest futures trading fees of any exchange, starting at only 0.05% (taker) and 0.02% (maker). The exchange even offers rebates up to 0.0060%.

6. Card 

Coinbase has its own Visa debit card, allowing you to use your cash and crypto portfolio around the world. There are no fees for USD or USDC, and you can even qualify for crypto rewards when making purchases.

At the moment, Kraken doesn’t offer a debit card.

7. NFTs

Buy NFTs at Kraken and pay zero gas fees. It charges a flat 2% transaction fee and gives instant access to a marketplace filled with thousands of Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon-based non-fungible tokens. Kraken is also an amazing platform for NFT creators, who receive a portion of the transaction every time an NFT changes hands.

You can also buy NFTs at Coinbase. However, gas fees do apply, and at the moment, selling non-fungible tokens directly from your Coinbase wallet is not supported.

Kraken vs. Coinbase User Experience

• Kraken — 8/10
• Coinbase — 7/10

Coinbase markets itself as being ultra-beginner-friendly. However, Kraken offers a more intuitive trading experience due to its more intuitive menus, faster page speed, and more responsive customer support team.

When comparing Kraken vs. Coinbase, you will notice that the two exchanges have similar themes. Both have gone with minimalist, mostly white designs, with Kraken opting for purple accents and Coinbase choosing blue. The sites are well-designed, and placing buy and sell orders is very straightforward.

Kraken’s instant buy feature is superior thanks to a greater range of payment options; plus, this exchange doesn’t hit you with a nasty spread, unlike Coinbase. Another thing we liked is that live chat is available 24/7 from Kraken’s mobile app, where you can chat with human agents. In contrast, Coinbase forces you to converse with a bot, and often, there aren’t enough support staff.

Kraken finds the perfect balance between usability and offering advanced features like technical indicators, endless charts, and easily accessible margins. Coinbase is great for buying and selling Bitcoin but feels too basic compared to Kraken.

Coinbase’s mobile app is, at times, clunky. We found that when there was serious volatility in the market, there was a delay in placing orders. On the flip side, Kraken’s app features very low latency, and we can consistently jump in and out of positions in real time.

Mobile Trading Apps

• Kraken — 8.2/10
• Coinbase — 7.8/10

Kraken and Coinbase have official apps for iOS and Android, which you can download from the App Store and Google Play. Kraken’s app offers a superior user experience. It accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay, so you can instantly buy crypto with a click of a button.

You can also set up recurring orders, allowing you to buy pre-set amounts of over 200 cryptocurrencies at specific times, which helps you dollar-cost average into positions. It’s also ultra-secure, as a password and Face ID protect your account.

Other things we like about the Kraken app are the wide range of currencies accepted, including USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, and CHF — and based on our experience, it offers some of the highest staking rewards of any crypto trading app on the market.

Coinbase’s app is also loaded with helpful features, from built-in charts for every time frame imaginable to NFT markets, dApps, and auto-enabled 2FA. However, the fees are significantly higher on this platform, the network latency is slower, and Kraken has a greater selection of cryptocurrencies.

Deposits & Withdrawals

• Kraken — 7.5/10
• Coinbase — 7/10

Kraken offers the following deposit methods:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Bank transfer
• Skrill
• PayPal
• Neteller
• Cryptocurrency

All deposit methods at Kraken, except bank transfer, are processed instantly. The minimum purchase is $10, and Kraken charges a 1.5% fee for Bitcoin and a 0.9% fee for stablecoins.

Currently, you can only withdraw from Kraken via ACH, bank transfer, or cryptocurrency. ACH withdrawals are free and processed within 2 days, and the minimum limit is only $1. Crypto withdrawals come with a small network fee and are processed within minutes.

At Coinbase, you can deposit via the following payment methods:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Google Pay
• Apple Pay
• Bank transfer
• PayPal
• Cryptocurrency

When you purchase crypto at Coinbase via the instant buy feature, you’ll receive your tokens immediately. Card transactions come with a 3.99% fee, while Coinbase charges 1.5% for ACH deposits. The exchange also includes a price spread when you buy crypto.

At Coinbase, you can withdraw via ACH, wire, or instant debit card. ACH withdrawals are free and take up to 2 days to process, while wire transfers have a $25 fee, and you’ll receive your money within 3 days. As the name suggests, instant debit card withdrawals are processed right away but come with fees between 1.5% and 3.99%.

As you can see, Kraken offers a few more e-wallet payment options and reduced fees. Additionally, Coinbase only accepts debit card payments, while Kraken also processes credit card transactions.

Customer Support

• Kraken — 8/10
• Coinbase — 6/10

Kraken is renowned for its customer support, which is available via live chat (mobile app only), email ([email protected]), and phone (+1 888 837 8818).

When we contacted Kraken through live chat, we were greeted by a cheerful human agent within seconds. The support member offered detailed explanations about how leverage and staking rewards worked and went out of his way to ensure all our issues were resolved. We were also impressed with Kraken’s email support, as we received a reply in less than 4 hours.

Coinbase also offers email ([email protected]), live chat, and phone support (+1 888 908 7930). Unfortunately, our experience with Coinbase’s customer support leaves a lot to be desired. We initially contacted them via live chat but were stuck talking to a useless bot and never managed to reach an agent.

We also tried to ring Coinbase but were left on hold for over 30 minutes. Based on other users’ reports, what we dealt with was standard for this exchange.

Licensing and Security

• Kraken — 7.5/10
• Coinbase — 8.5/10

Kraken is licensed across the world, including in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and UAE. In America, Kraken is registered as a money services business and is regulated by FinCEN. The exchange is also supervised by the Wyoming Division of Banking under a Special Purpose Depository Institution charter.

Coinbase is also licensed in numerous jurisdictions, including the US, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, Italy, Spain and other countries. The exchange holds a money transmitter license in over 40 US states, including Texas, Florida, and New York.

Coinbase has the added benefit of being a publicly-traded company listed on the NASDAQ and is, therefore, subject to more stringent oversight than Kraken, a private company.

When it comes to security, Kraken and Coinbase are both industry leaders. They always keep 1:1 reserves, so there is no chance of a run on the exchange. Also, accounts are protected by 2FA, and the exchanges employ state-of-the-art encryption to keep hackers at bay.

Despite the high levels of security, your cryptocurrency is not insured at either exchange. Kraken and Coinbase will reimburse you if their platform is hacked, but if your account is breached due to your email account or password being compromised, it’s unlikely you’ll receive compensation. That’s why you should only use exchanges to trade and store your digital assets in a hardware wallet.

Conclusion

After comparing Kraken vs. Coinbase and looking at everything from trading fees and withdrawal processing speed to staking rewards and maximum leverage, a clear winner emerged: Kraken!

Kraken is home to more cryptocurrencies than Coinbase and offers much higher leverage and staking rewards. Kraken’s app is also smoother than Coinbase’s, and connecting with Kraken’s customer support is instantaneous, unlike at Coinbase, where getting a reply is often a challenge.

So there you have it, if you’re looking for the best cryptocurrency exchange with a user-friendly trading experience, sign up to Kraken!

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