Crypto Exchange Fees Explained

Every fee type an exchange can charge — and how to find the real all-in cost before you trade.

Reviewed by Stephan Kulik · Last updated: 2026-04-23 · How we rank

Key takeaways

Trading fees come in two forms: maker/taker (on order-book exchanges, 0.10–0.60% per side) and conversion fees + spread markup (on "simple" retail apps, often 1–3% all-in).
Spread markup on retail apps is a hidden cost — it is added on top of the real market price and is not shown as a line item.
Withdrawal fees vary wildly by coin and network. For stablecoins, always check whether Solana / Tron / Polygon withdrawals are supported — network choice can save $10+ per withdrawal.
Below ~$10K monthly volume, choosing the cheaper exchange matters more than optimizing tier.

The seven fee categories

Every crypto exchange charges some combination of seven fee types. Read the entire schedule before large trades — sites rearrange schedules quarterly and a "0% promo" on the landing page rarely tells the full story.

Trading fees (maker/taker) — the posted percentage on each buy/sell on the order book.
Spread markup — the hidden percentage between the real market bid/ask and the price you actually get. Only exists on retail "simple" apps.
Fiat deposit fees — bank transfer (often free), card (3–4%), wire ($25–$35), PayPal (2.5–3.5%).
Fiat withdrawal fees — SEPA/FPS often free, wire $25–$35.
Crypto withdrawal fees — per-coin, covers the on-chain network fee plus an exchange margin.
Conversion fees — retail-app swap-style fees (1–3% all-in) when you are not trading on an order book.
Account fees — inactivity, maintenance, or currency-conversion for holding non-native fiat. Uncommon but present on some exchanges.

Maker vs taker, in plain English

Imagine a Bitcoin order book. Someone placed a limit order to sell 1 BTC at $65,100, and it is sitting there waiting for a buyer. If you come in and buy at market price, you take that liquidity — you are a taker. If you instead place a limit order to buy at $65,050 and wait for a seller to drop to your price, you are providing liquidity — you are a maker.

Exchanges prefer makers because the order book's depth is what makes the exchange tradable at all. They charge takers slightly more. On most 2026 exchanges at the lowest retail tier, the spread is 0.00–0.20 percentage points:

Binance spot: 0.10% maker / 0.10% taker
Kraken Pro: 0.25% / 0.40%
Coinbase Advanced: 0.40% / 0.60%
Bybit spot: 0.10% / 0.10%
OKX spot: 0.08% / 0.10%

All are subject to 30-day volume tier discounts that kick in meaningfully only above ~$100K monthly. Below that, pick the cheaper base rate.

The hidden cost: spread markup on "simple" apps

This is where retail users lose the most without noticing. If you buy $1,000 of Bitcoin on the Coinbase simple app (not Coinbase Advanced), you are quoted a rate and click confirm. Coinbase takes a ~1.5% spread markup plus a ~1% fee — you pay roughly 2.5% all-in. Compare to Coinbase Advanced on the same day: ~0.6% taker, no spread markup. Same company, same custody, but one product costs 4x more.

Crypto.com app, Revolut, PayPal crypto, Cash App, Robinhood Crypto all use this pattern — quoted-rate trading with spread markup in the 0.5%–2% range. Convenient, but expensive at scale.

Bitstamp, Kraken Pro, Binance, Coinbase Advanced, Bitfinex, Bybit, OKX all trade against the real order book with no markup — you pay only the stated maker/taker fee.

Withdrawal fees — the sneakiest line item

Exchanges often advertise low trading fees and make up the revenue on withdrawals. A $5 BTC withdrawal fee on a $500 balance is 1% — more than most trading fees. Check before depositing.

BTC withdrawal 2026: Binance ~0.00005 BTC, Kraken Pro variable (near-zero), Coinbase ~0.0005 BTC, Crypto.com ~0.0006 BTC.
ETH withdrawal 2026: Varies with network gas. Binance ~0.003 ETH, Coinbase passes through network fee, Kraken passes through.
USDC/USDT withdrawal: Here network choice is everything. ERC-20 (Ethereum) is $2–$20. Solana / Tron / Polygon / Arbitrum are typically under $1. Most exchanges support multiple networks — picking Solana over Ethereum for USDC is a 10–20x saving.

Fiat deposit and withdrawal

In EU / UK, SEPA and Faster Payments are the cheapest — usually free on Kraken, Binance, Bitstamp. Card deposits are always expensive (3–4%). Wire transfers typically $25–$35 outbound, sometimes free inbound. PayPal / Apple Pay / Google Pay carry 2.5–3.5% markups, as do "instant buy" services on retail apps.

How to compute your real all-in cost

The formula for a round-trip (buy then sell, in the same asset and currency):

total_cost_percent =
  deposit_fee_percent +
  (trading_fee_buy_percent + spread_markup_percent) +
  (trading_fee_sell_percent + spread_markup_percent) +
  withdrawal_fee_flat * 100 / trade_amount

Worked example, $1,000 buy and sell on Coinbase simple app: 1% + 2.5% + 2.5% + negligible = ~6% round-trip. On Kraken Pro: free SEPA + 0.25% + 0.40% + $0.001 = ~0.65%. The 10x difference is real money on any meaningful position.

When you hit meaningful volume

At $100K+ monthly volume, tier breaks start to matter. Binance VIP-1 kicks in at $1M 30-day volume and drops spot to ~0.09%/0.10%. Kraken Pro Intermediate tier starts at $100K. Coinbase Advanced Pro tier at $10K monthly. For most readers, these are aspirational — focus on base-rate selection first.

Frequently asked questions

What is a maker fee vs a taker fee? +

A "maker" places a limit order that does not execute immediately — it adds liquidity to the order book and waits for someone to match it. A "taker" places an order that executes immediately against an existing order — it removes liquidity. Most exchanges charge the taker more than the maker because liquidity provision is valuable. Typical 2026 spot fees at the lowest tier: 0.10% maker / 0.10% taker (Binance), 0.25% / 0.40% (Kraken standard), 0.40% / 0.60% (Coinbase Advanced). Tier breaks lower these as your 30-day volume grows.

What is spread, and why is it a hidden fee? +

The spread is the gap between the highest bid (what buyers will pay) and the lowest ask (what sellers will accept). On top of this market spread, some "simple" exchange apps (Coinbase retail UI, Crypto.com app) add a spread markup of 0.5%–2% on top of the market. You never see it as a line item — your displayed rate is simply worse than the real one. On advanced / pro UIs (Coinbase Advanced, Kraken Pro, Binance) you trade at the real order-book price and pay the posted maker/taker fee.

Are withdrawal fees the same on every exchange? +

No. Withdrawal fees vary by coin and by exchange. BTC withdrawal fees ranged from 0.00005 BTC (Binance) to 0.0005 BTC (Coinbase) to 0 BTC (Kraken Pro) in 2026. ETH withdrawal can range from $0.50 to $8 depending on network congestion and the exchange's policy (pass-through vs subsidized). Stablecoin withdrawals on cheap networks (Solana, Tron, Polygon) are usually under $1; on Ethereum L1 they can be $5–$20. Always check the coin-specific fee page before depositing.

Do exchanges charge for fiat deposits? +

Often yes, and it depends on method. SEPA (EU) and FPS (UK) bank transfers are usually free at Kraken, Binance, Bitstamp; $5–$10 at Coinbase. Card deposits are almost always 3–4% and should be avoided for anything over $200. Wire transfers typically $25–$35 outbound. PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay carry 2.5–3.5% markups. The cheapest path is almost always local bank transfer in your currency.

Does 30-day volume tiering actually save money? +

Only if you trade meaningfully. Most tier schedules cut maker/taker by 0.01–0.02 percentage points per tier and the first meaningful break is usually $100K+ of monthly volume. Below $10K/month you are at the top retail tier — shopping between Binance (0.10%), Kraken Pro (0.25%), and Coinbase Advanced (0.40%) matters more than tier optimization.

What is a "conversion" fee, and is it different from a trading fee? +

Yes and no. "Conversion" is the terminology used on retail apps (Coinbase, Crypto.com app, Revolut) when you are not placing an order on an order book — you are swapping at a quoted price. The fee is usually a combination of (a) a small stated fee (0.5–1.5%) and (b) the spread markup. Total real cost is typically 1–3%. On order-book exchanges, "trading fee" means the posted maker/taker rate only — the spread is the true market spread, not added to.

Are there inactivity or account-maintenance fees? +

Uncommon but not unheard of. In 2025–2026, a few exchanges introduced small dormant-account fees ($5–$10/month after 12+ months inactive) to offload cold-storage costs for abandoned small balances. Bittrex US, pre-closure, charged something similar. Reputable major exchanges (Binance, Coinbase, Kraken) currently do not. Check the fee schedule before depositing if you plan to park funds for long periods.

Which exchange has the lowest real all-in cost? +

For pure spot trading at 0–$100K monthly volume, Binance (where available) is typically cheapest at ~0.10% maker/taker with no spread markup. Bitstamp and Kraken Pro follow closely. For US retail, Coinbase Advanced is the default and its 0.40% taker on low tier is the market rate. The "simple" Coinbase app adds 1–2% spread — always use Coinbase Advanced, not the simple interface. For stablecoin-to-stablecoin conversions, Binance and Bitstamp often have 0% promos. Check the Fee Schedule page on each exchange before every large trade — schedules change quarterly.