Best simple buy in 2026

Simple-buy apps evaluated across all-in cost, withdrawal to self-custody, availability and onboarding friction, and custody posture.

Strike

#1 of 9 · published ranking

Strike

86ChainChoice Score

Why it leads

22 points ahead of Coinbase (Simple Buy): +12.0 pts all in cost, +6.5 pts withdrawal

Cost

Not priced · No published rate on this basis

Below the table

How this ranking works

Everything the table draws on continues here: how firm the #1 is, the per-criterion arithmetic behind each score, who pays ChainChoice, and the full guide to choosing.

Direct answer

What is the best simple buy in 2026?

Strike ranks #1 overall for simple buy on ChainChoice. Bitcoin-only app that quantifies its spread — a 0.22% target on top of a 0.89% entry fee. It holds that rank under an affiliate-blind methodology scored across 4 published, weighted criteria — the code that ranks providers physically cannot read affiliate payouts (CI-enforced), so a payout can't move a rank. The verdict re-computes on every fee change, incident, or regulatory action; full reasoning and the audit receipt are below.

Best picks

Best simple buy in 2026

Weighted on all-in cost of the purchase (32), withdrawal to self-custody (26), availability & onboarding friction (22), and custody & regulatory posture (20). The heaviest is all-in cost of the purchase: Fee plus embedded spread plus payment surcharge — the number the buyer actually pays.

Best overall

Strike

Bitcoin-only app that quantifies its spread — a 0.22% target on top of a 0.89% entry fee.

Data checked Sep 2026

Strike still does the rare thing — putting a NUMBER on the spread (0.22% target) rather than an adjective, as River also does. The eight-tier table starting at 0.99% that this row carried from 2026-08-03 is not what Strike publishes: its own FAQ, read again 14 September 2026, lists six US tiers on monthly volume, from 0.89% under $5,000 to 0.25% above $15,000,000. Entry all-in is about 1.11% (0.89% plus the 0.22% target), below River's about 1.25%. One cost sits outside the advertised tier: an uncapped spread with an explicit volatility carve-out — 'The spread can widen significantly during periods of high market volatility'. The self-custody exit has a free route: 'Strike does not charge an on-chain send fee for the Flexible delivery time.'

Best for: Bitcoin-only app that quantifies its spread — a 0.22% target on a 0.89% entry fee

Why this score4 published criteria · leads 2 of 4

Published criterionWtScore, and the best hereGap/10Pts

All-in cost of the purchase7.7·77.2

Withdrawal to self-custody6.2−286.7

Availability & onboarding friction5.3·96.3

Custody & regulatory posture4.8−463.8

Σ methodology points24.0/32

Each bar is the score on that criterion’s own 0–10 scale, never rescaled to the pool. The dark line is the best any product here reached on that axis. Wt is the most the criterion can add to the 86-point weighted total. Pts is weight × score × 32; the sum is the methodology score, and each weighted point behind the leader costs 2.6 on the displayed score. how these are weighted

Considered and not ranked

12 products we looked at and left out

A shortlist is only honest if it says who it turned away. Each of these was assessed against the same published criteria as the ranked table and excluded for a stated reason — not overlooked.

We assessed 16 products here and rank 4 — 25% of what we looked at. That share is of the products we assessed, not of the category: how many exist is not something we can count, so we do not claim a number for it.

Venmo· Ranked elsewhereTrade RepublicWebullN26Revolut XBitpanda Fusion· Ranked elsewhereBISON21bitcoinShakepayWealthsimple CryptoPocket BitcoinSwissBorg

Why it ranks first

Why Strike leads this category right now

Best for

Bitcoin-only app that quantifies its spread — a 0.22% target on a 0.89% entry fee

Main tradeoff

One cost sits outside the advertised tier: an uncapped spread with an explicit volatility carve-out.

Verify before signup

Individuals resident in all 50 US states, DC and Puerto Rico ('Buying, selling, and holding bitcoin is supported everywhere'); over 95 countries globally. Zap Solutions, Inc. serves the US. Zap (Strike) Europe Limited, licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority as a MiCA CASP, serves eligible European countries and the UK, but 'Strike is not authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority'. E4 S.A. de C.V. serves all other countries. Loans, the line of credit, bill pay and Send Globally are limited to select states and territories; the buy flow is not. Bitcoin-only.

Recommendation summary

What should decide this category

How much are you buying, and do you want it to leave for a wallet you control?

Which payment methods and regions must the simple-buy app support cleanly?

Which payment method will you use — card, bank transfer, or an instant rail?

Quick picks

Strong options in this category

Start with the lead choice first, then use the shortlist only if you still need a challenger or stronger fit for a specific setup.

Best overall

Strike

Bitcoin-only app that quantifies its spread — a 0.22% target on top of a 0.89% entry fee.

Best for: Bitcoin-only app that quantifies its spread — a 0.22% target on a 0.89% entry fee

All-in cost of the purchase · 32%

7/10

Withdrawal to self-custody · 26%

8/10

Availability & onboarding friction · 22%

9/10

Custody & regulatory posture · 20%

6/10

Quick pick

Coinbase (Simple Buy)

The default first buy in the US — and the only flow in this pool whose price cannot be looked up before you…

The measurable record here is the ABSENCE of a published rate, and it remains the most important finding in this category. The 1.49% bank / 3.99% debit / 0.50% spread figures that dominate 2026 comparison articles are legacy numbers recycled by aggregators; independent searching this pass reproduced them only from third-party sites, never from Coinbase, and even those aggregators concede the spread is 'baked into the quoted price'. Coinbase's own fees page, read again 14 September 2026, states that the order preview 'shows you the total amount you will pay for the trade, including spread and fees' and that 'This information about spread and fees is also available in your transaction history for completed transactions.' What Coinbase does disclose is arguably worse than a high number: it retains excess spread, spread may vary for… Unquotable pre-trade cost combined with disclosed price discrimination. The most-used first-buy route in the US is very likely the most expensive route available on the same platform, and the buyer cannot learn by how much until the order preview screen — after account opening and KYC.

Best for: The default first buy in the US — and the only flow in this pool whose price…

All-in cost of the purchase · 32%

1/10

Withdrawal to self-custody · 26%

4/10

Availability & onboarding friction · 22%

9/10

Custody & regulatory posture · 20%

4/10

Quick pick

Relai

Swiss/EU bitcoin app that never custodies — coins land in your own wallet — but the no-KYC era ended in…

Two verifiable facts cut in opposite directions, and both survived re-verification. First, self-custody is the default rather than an exit to be paid for: Relai never holds client funds, bitcoin is delivered directly to the user's non-custodial wallet, and Relai absorbs the on-chain network fee on buys — so there is no withdrawal fee, no withdrawal minimum and no platform custody risk, uniquely in this pool. That is a structural advantage over every custodial provider here, and it is the reason unverified users could still move their coins out even after the KYC deadline. Second, the card surcharge is disclosed… An unquantified, uncapped spread sits on top of the 1.00% fee, and the 3.0% card surcharge is substantially retained margin — so the attractive 1% headline holds only for bank-transfer or instant-SEPA buyers who never touch a card.

Best for: Swiss/EU bitcoin app that never custodies — coins land in your own wallet — but…

All-in cost of the purchase · 32%

5/10

Withdrawal to self-custody · 26%

10/10

Availability & onboarding friction · 22%

6/10

Custody & regulatory posture · 20%

10/10

Quick pick

Bitpanda

EU broker-style simple buy at a 0.99% fee on bitcoin with free SEPA.

A European retail buyer pays a 0.99% fee on bitcoin with free EUR SEPA, against Revolut's 1.49% plus a 0–3% product-added spread on identical rails. The 0.99% is not a verified all-in figure. Bitpanda's cost-transparency document says its fees 'are calculated based on a firm quote as provided by Bitpanda', and its helpdesk separates an 'Offer Price – The price of the asset excluding fees' from the fee and states 'The difference between the buying and selling price is known as the spread.' How far that quote sits from mid-market is not published on the pages read on 14 September 2026. Two limits on the pricing story: Bitpanda both sets the quote and charges the premium against its own quote, so deviation from independent mid-market is not externally observable the… Bitpanda sets the quote and charges the premium against its own quote with no independently itemised spread line — the 0.99% is verifiable but the quality of the underlying price is not, and only stablecoins, bitcoin and VSN receive that rate. The same cost-transparency document prices Bitpanda Fusion, the order-book route on the same account, at 'Level 1 0 ≤ Amount ≤ 100,000 0.25%'.

Best for: EU broker-style simple buy at a 0.99% fee on bitcoin with free SEPA —…

All-in cost of the purchase · 32%

7/10

Withdrawal to self-custody · 26%

4/10

Availability & onboarding friction · 22%

7/10

Custody & regulatory posture · 20%

6/10

Frequently asked

Questions people ask before choosing fiat simple buy

What is a fiat simple-buy app in crypto?

An app whose whole job is turning your card or bank transfer into crypto in a few taps, without the order books, charts and account tiers of a full exchange. The convenience is real and so is its price: these apps are usually paid through a spread folded into the quoted rate rather than a stated fee, which is why this page scores the all-in cost of the purchase rather than the advertised commission. The second thing to check is whether you can withdraw what you bought to your own wallet at all — several cannot.

When do I need an simple-buy app instead of an exchange?

When buying is the only thing you want to do, and the funding method matters more than the venue. If your bank blocks card payments to exchanges, if you want the purchase to land straight in a wallet you already use, or if you buy small amounts occasionally and will never place an order, a simple-buy app is the shorter path. Choose an exchange instead when you will trade repeatedly, hold a balance, or care about the difference between a 1.5% spread and a 0.2% taker fee — at any regular volume that gap dwarfs the convenience.

What matters most when choosing a crypto simple-buy app?

The all-in cost you actually pay, and whether the asset can be withdrawn. Fee plus embedded spread plus payment surcharge is the real number, and a venue that will sell you an asset but not let it leave is a different product from one that will.

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How this ranking is built

Reviewed on all-in cost of the purchase, withdrawal to self-custody, availability & onboarding friction, and custody & regulatory posture.

Data checked Sep 2026 · Independent rankings · We show our work

Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research