Coinbase scores 10 points above Kraken, on measured data rather than any published criterion. Coinbase ranks #5 and Kraken #11 of 17 published exchanges. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
Coinbase69
vs
Kraken59
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #5 and #11 of 17
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6959+10.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
CoinbaseScore 69US-listed anchor venue with two cost structures on one account: a preview-only-priced simple-buy default and a published 0.60%/0.40% entry-tier order book — wrapped in the deepest register-verifiable licence map in the pool.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 8/10Watch-out: The interface a new account actually lands in prices by spread that Coinbase declines to publish — the number exists only on your order-preview screen and 'may vary for similar transactions' — and the retail Advanced fee page that would show your real tier sits behind a login wall; you have to know to switch interfaces to get the published 0.60%/0.40% book pricing.KrakenScore 592011-founded exchange with cross-metric fee tiers (volume OR holdings), a MiCA CASP custody policy and a self-disclosed 2024 exploit record — but its proof of reserves names no attestor and no cadence beyond 'a regular cadence', and its terms admit 'a court may disagree with our treatment of your Digital Assets'.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 8/10Watch-out: The default Instant Buy surface charges 1% PLUS a spread Kraken discloses to exist but never numerically bounds — a recurring buyer who never finds Kraken Pro pays an unprintable premium on every order; and the support page warns withdrawal fees 'may differ from those displayed here'.
Quick facts
At a glance
2 of 3 rows read the same for both.
FactCoinbaseKraken
Pro taker feeSnapshotCoinbase Exchange fee page, read 29 September 2026 at https://help.coinbase.com/en/exchange/trading-and-funding/exchange-fees (plain curl gets HTTP 403; the text was read through a rendering fetch). Taker / maker by trailing-30-day USD volume: "$0K-$10K" "60bps" / "40bps"; "$10K-$50K" "40bps" / "25bps"; "$50K-$100K" "25bps" / "15bps"; "$100K-$1M" "20bps" / "10bps"; "$1M-$15M" "18bps" / "8bps"; "$15M-$75M" "16bps" / "6bps"; "$75M-$250M" "10bps" / "3bps"; "$250M-$400M" "6bps" / "0bps"; "$400M+" "4bps" / "0bps"; in the page's words a taker "will pay a fee between 0.04% and 0.60%" and a maker "will pay a fee between 0.00% and 0.40%". Fiat withdrawal column on the same page: ACH "Free"; Wire (USD) "$25 USD"; SEPA (EUR) "Free"; Swift (USD) "$25 USD"; Swift (GBP) "£1 GBP". Crypto withdrawals: "Coinbase Exchange will charge a fee based on our estimate of the network transaction fees that we anticipate paying for each transaction." Default retail surface (https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/trading-and-funding/pricing-and-fees/fees): no number for the spread, "When you place simple buy and sell orders, Coinbase includes a spread in the quoted price." and "Please note that the spread may vary for similar transactions."; the published retail cells are "a separate limit order execution fee equal to 1% of the amount you trade" and "a 1.875% Coinbase fee (varies by payment method)"; USDT withdrawals carry "a processing fee equal to 0.01% of the amount transferred, with a maximum of 20 USDT" and Lightning sends "a processing fee equal to 0.2% of the amount of bitcoin transferred". State-disclosure ceiling (https://www.coinbase.com/legal/licenses): "For all other transactions, the Coinbase Fee will not exceed 6% of the USD value of the cryptocurrency."Kraken fee schedule, read 29 September 2026 at https://www.kraken.com/features/fee-schedule (English; a fetch without a language header is served the same numbers in German). Kraken Pro spot tiers, columns "Spot 30-Day Vol (USD) OR", "Futures 30-Day Vol (USD) OR", "AoP (USD)", "Spot Maker (%)", "Spot Taker (%)": "Tier 1 $0+ < $5M N/A 0.40 % 0.80 %"; "Tier 2 $2.5K+ ≥ $5M N/A 0.30 % 0.60 %"; "Tier 3 $10K+ ≥ $10M 20k 0.22 % 0.38 %"; "Tier 12 $10M+ ≥ $300M 10m 0.0 % 0.10 %"; "Pro 5 $500M+ >5B 100m 0.0 % 0.05 %" (17 tiers in all). Tier rule: "Your tier is based on the best of :" spot volume, futures volume or assets on platform. Instant buy/sell, the default app surface: "Kraken charges a 1% trading fee on instant and recurring trades and a 1.5% fee on custom orders, which are waived for Kraken+ members on trading volume up to $10,000 per month (details below)." plus a spread the page discloses without a number: "the price you see includes a spread, the difference between the market rate and the rate you receive." and "Note: While trading fees are waived, spreads and card processing fees still apply." Small-balance conversion: "a fixed 3% fee applies to amounts below the minimum order size." Crypto withdrawals: a per-asset article exists (https://support.kraken.com/articles/360000767986, "Last updated: December 31, 2025") with the caveat "Withdrawal fees are subject to change and may differ from those displayed here; the final fees will be accurately shown at the time of confirmation."
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, caus, europe, ca
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
Coinbase
69#5 of 17
Leads
Pick it when
Coinbase leads on no published criterion; its edge is measured data (7.2 vs 3.5 points). Pick it if that term is what you are buying.
Strength
Withdrawal incident record — 8/10
Tradeoff
The interface a new account actually lands in prices by spread that Coinbase declines to publish — the number exists only on your order-preview screen and 'may vary for similar transactions' — and the retail Advanced fee page that would show your real tier sits behind a login wall; you have to know to switch interfaces to get the published 0.60%/0.40% book pricing.
Kraken
59#11 of 17
Pick it when
Kraken leads Coinbase on no published criterion and no score dimension — pick it only if a fact outside the score (country, funding rail, custody) decides for you.
Strength
Withdrawal incident record — 8/10
Tradeoff
The default Instant Buy surface charges 1% PLUS a spread Kraken discloses to exist but never numerically bounds — a recurring buyer who never finds Kraken Pro pays an unprintable premium on every order; and the support page warns withdrawal fees 'may differ from those displayed here'.
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
CoinbaseLeads
Coinbase leads Kraken on no published criterion
Choose it only if something outside the published criteria decides for you — your country, a funding rail, or custody.
CoinbaseScore 69US-listed anchor venue with two cost structures on one account: a preview-only-priced simple-buy default and a published 0.60%/0.40% entry-tier order book — wrapped in the deepest register-verifiable licence map in the pool.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 8/10Watch-out: The interface a new account actually lands in prices by spread that Coinbase declines to publish — the number exists only on your order-preview screen and 'may vary for similar transactions' — and the retail Advanced fee page that would show your real tier sits behind a login wall; you have to know to switch interfaces to get the published 0.60%/0.40% book pricing.
Kraken
Kraken leads Coinbase on no published criterion
Choose it only if something outside the published criteria decides for you — your country, a funding rail, or custody.
KrakenScore 592011-founded exchange with cross-metric fee tiers (volume OR holdings), a MiCA CASP custody policy and a self-disclosed 2024 exploit record — but its proof of reserves names no attestor and no cadence beyond 'a regular cadence', and its terms admit 'a court may disagree with our treatment of your Digital Assets'.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 8/10Watch-out: The default Instant Buy surface charges 1% PLUS a spread Kraken discloses to exist but never numerically bounds — a recurring buyer who never finds Kraken Pro pays an unprintable premium on every order; and the support page warns withdrawal fees 'may differ from those displayed here'.
Criterion by criterion
Scorecard
Published criteria · weight in points of 868 of 8 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology
Trading cost
weight 7.2 of 86Tie
Coinbase7/10 out of 10
Kraken7/10 out of 10
Withdrawal track record
weight 6.7 of 86Tie
Coinbase8/10 out of 10
Kraken8/10 out of 10
Licence coverage
weight 5.8 of 86Tie
Coinbase8/10 out of 10
Kraken8/10 out of 10
Asset protection
weight 4.3 of 86Tie
Coinbase7/10 out of 10
Kraken7/10 out of 10
Score dimensions
weights sum to 86
The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.
Availabilityweight 20 of 86
Coinbase12/20Kraken12/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Coinbase18/30Kraken18/30
Tie
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Coinbase2.7/10Kraken2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Coinbase3.2/8Kraken3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86
Coinbase7.2/18Kraken3.5/18
Coinbase leads
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Coinbase unless the term Kraken leads on is the one you are buying.
Kraken leads Coinbase on no published criterion and no score dimension — pick it only if a fact outside the score (country, funding rail, custody) decides for you.
The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .
From the published order
Next best action
If this isn't your case
Other matchups worth comparing
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
Custody failure: whoever holds the assets loses or withholds them.
Scored by When this venue broke, did people get their money out — and how would I know? · 28% (Coinbase 8/10, Kraken 8/10)
Insolvency failure: the firm or issuer that owes you cannot pay.
Scored by If this exchange fails — or freezes me — are the coins legally mine, and on whose terms? · 18% (Coinbase 7/10, Kraken 7/10)
Regulatory failure: no licence where you are, or a forced market exit.
Scored by Whose licence actually covers me in my country — and can I find it on the register? · 24% (Coinbase 8/10, Kraken 8/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Control failure, Liveness failure, Execution failure, Exit failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: What will I actually pay here at my volume — including the spread they don't print? (30%).
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Coinbase scores 10 points above Kraken, on measured data rather than any published criterion. Published scores, out of 100: Coinbase 69 (rank 5 of 17 exchanges), Kraken 59 (rank 11 of 17).
ReviewedRe-read in progressOverdue; re-read by 10 November 2026.Methodology v2026.10.18
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
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