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Head-to-head · Tax Software

CoinTracker vs ZenLedger CoinTracker leads by 3 points.

CoinTracker scores 3 points above ZenLedger, led by your tax form, cost-basis method, and complex transactions. CoinTracker ranks #6 and ZenLedger #8 of 11 published tax software. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.

CoinTracker76
ZenLedger73
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #6 and #8 of 11
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot Evidence verified through 4 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-COINTRACKER-VS-ZENLEDGER-dfac29d1
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

CoinTracker leads by 3 points

CoinTracker scores 3 points above ZenLedger, led by your tax form, cost-basis method, and complex transactions.

CoinTracker #6 of 1176
ZenLedger #8 of 1173
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termCoinTracker leads on 3 of 4 published criteria; ZenLedger on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
TermCoinTrackerZenLedgerWeightPoints
Your tax form8/107/107.7+2.0for CoinTracker+1.0 of 32
Cost-basis method8/106/106.2+3.2for CoinTracker+1.7 of 32
Complex transactions8/107/105.3+1.4for CoinTracker+0.7 of 32
Record portability4/107/104.8−3.7for ZenLedger−1.9 of 32
Net of the terms+2.9
Reproduced gap+2.9
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below7673+3.0

Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.

Quick facts

At a glance

2 of 3 rows read the same for both.
FactCoinTrackerZenLedger
PricingSnapshothttps://www.cointracker.com/plans — fetched 29 September 2026; plain curl returns HTTP 403 (bot challenge), rendered in headless Chrome (HTTP 200). Cards: "Free" "$0" ("No tax filing"); "Base" "Starting at" "$59" "/year" ("2025 tax forms and all past years", "Up to 100 transactions per year"); "Prime" "Best value" "Starting at" "$199" "/year" ("Up to 1,000 transactions per year"); "Ultra" "Starting at" "$599" "/year" ("Change cost basis method by year", "Up to 10,000 transactions per year"); "Full Service" "Starting at" "$3499" "/year" ("Up to 300,000 transactions per year", "Up to 15 hours of hands-on support to manage CSVs, fix errors, and reconcile accounts for the current tax year"). Comparison table, columns Free | Base/Base+ | Prime/Prime+ | Ultra/Ultra+: "Yearly transaction limit for tax forms" "100 | 250", "1,000 | 2,500", "10,000 | 50,000"; "Lifetime transactions limit for tax forms" "200,000" on each paid tier; pricing row "$0 per year", "$59 / $99 per year", "$199 / $299 per year", "$599 / $1999 per year". Counting rules: "We only count transactions from your current tax year — not your entire history." | "File for any prior year at no extra cost — one plan covers all your past tax years." Purchase shape, from https://support.cointracker.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413049695249-CoinTracker-Personal-plan-pricing (rendered 29 September 2026): "CoinTracker subscriptions auto-renew annually on the original purchase date." and "CoinTracker offers a 100% money-back guarantee within 30 days of purchase, provided that no tax forms have been downloaded." https://www.cointracker.com/pricing is not the pricing page; /plans is. Prices unchanged since 19 August 2026.https://zenledger.io/pricing/ — fetched 29 September 2026, HTTP 200, plain curl (page JSON-LD dateModified 29 July 2025; content identical to 19 August 2026). <title> "Crypto Tax Software Plans"; the meta description still says "including a free plan" but no free tier is rendered. DIY cards: Silver "$49" "Per year" "100 transactions or less"; Gold "$199" "Per year" "5,000 transactions or less" "Most Popular"; Platinum "$399" "Per year" "15,000 transactions or less", with "Unlimited Transactions +$600" and "*Unlimited also includes 1 hr of live support"; then "Save 10% when you purchase multiple years!". Comparison table: "Annual Fee" $49 / $199 / $399; "Transactions" "Up to 100" / "Up to 5,000" / "Up to 15,000"; "All Detailed Reports" and "DeFi / Staking / NFTs" on all three. "All plans also include:" "Audit Report", "Tax Pro Access", "HIFO/FIFO/LIFO", "TurboTax Integration" among ten items. Add-on: "Personal product consulting available per request at $150/hr as an add-on." Human-assisted: "Premium Support Consultation- with a ZenLedger Enrolled Agent" "$ 275" "60 minute consultation"; "Tax Pro Prepared Plan - Single Year" "$ 3500" struck to "$ 2800" "Per year"; "Tax Pro Prepared Plan - Multi Year" "$ 6500" struck to "$ 5200" "Per two years"; "Packages are based on time required; prices are estimated. The actual cost for your tax return may be higher depending on your unique situation." Separate product "State & Federal Tax Filing" "$ 30" "per year", "30 day money back guarantee", "No subscription required". Continuity and refunds, same page: "All ZenLedger plans have a 14 day refund policy. Access the report forever, so you can always update or add transactions to your crypto tax reports." — while the nav block on the same page still says "All plans offer a generous 1 year refund policy." (contradiction unchanged since August). Billing count, from https://support.zenledger.io/en/articles/2615544-what-do-you-count-as-a-transaction-for-billing-purposes (fetched 29 September 2026): "Any buy, sell, and trade transaction is counted as a transaction in ZenLedger for billing purposes." Prices unchanged since 19 August 2026.
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotglobalglobal
From the published criteria

Which should you pick?

CoinTracker

76#6 of 11
Leads
Pick it when
Pick CoinTracker if your tax form matters most — it scores 8/10 to ZenLedger's 7/10 there (weight 32).
Strength
Named form output — 8/10
Tradeoff
UPHELD IN FULL, and better sourced than submitted. You cannot get your money back once you look at your data, and you cannot get your data back once you stop paying — both halves are in writing on served pages. The refund dies at the first download, including a plain transaction file: the Terms (https://cointracker.io/terms → https://www.cointracker.com/terms, 'Last updated: March 10, 2026') state 'Refunds are not possible once you have downloaded any of the tax forms or CSV files (including Transaction History CSV).', and the help centre states the operational consequence on https://support.cointracker.com/hc/en-us/articles/38104390028945-Available-reports-on-CoinTracker (updated 2026-08-14): 'Please note: Downloading a report counts as downloading a tax form for refund-eligibility purposes. Once you've downloaded any report, your CoinTracker plan is treated as used for the tax year.' So the 30-day 'money-back guarantee' survives only for a buyer who never opens the thing they bought. The other half: this is an auto-renewing ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, and on lapse (https://support.cointracker.com/hc/en-us/articles/46693057775761-How-to-cancel-auto-renewal-on-your-CoinTracker-plan, updated 2026-08-14) 'Once canceled, your plan remains active until the end of your current billing period. After that date, your account moves to the free subscription. Your CoinTracker account and data will not be deleted.' — while the plans page shows the Free tier labelled 'No tax filing' with an empty cell in the 'Download tax forms (8949, Schedule D and others)' row. CoinTracker states the consequence for an ALREADY-FILED year on https://support.cointracker.com/hc/en-us/articles/31572739238417-Switching-to-Per-Wallet-tracking-after-missing-IRS-Safe-Harbor (updated 2026-08-14): 'You may need to renew your subscription plan to access your tax reports for 2024.' NEW EVIDENCE this pass, which the submitted record did not have and which hardens the caveat: the vendor's own regional-deadline table (https://support.cointracker.com/hc/en-us/articles/38071402566417-Regional-tax-extension-deadlines-observed-by-CoinTracker) spells the renewal toll out per region — the UK row reads 'Renewal is required before downloading 2025 tax forms.' and the Australia row 'Renewal is required before downloading your 2025 tax forms.'. The reports carrying the IRS safe-harbour position under Rev. Proc. 2024-28 are explicitly not retained for you: 'CoinTracker cannot save these reports for you, it is your responsibility to make sure that you keep all reports provided to you indefinitely.' And the migration is irreversible in place: 'Important: After you select Migrate now, CoinTracker locks all your data prior to 2025. You won't be able to edit pre-2025 transactions or tax reports afterward.' — preceded by the warning 'Ensure there are no Review suggested transactions remaining. Once you've made the allocation, you cannot go back to fix any issues.' Secondary, worth knowing before filing: the default lot-matching method is HIFO, not FIFO — 'Note: CoinTracker defaults all wallets to HIFO, as it tends to lower the tax bill.' — a Specific-ID subset the same page says the product cannot perform at unit level, on a page that also states Specific ID may no longer be applied retroactively for 2025-onward US returns. Changing it per year is an Ultra-tier ($599) feature: 'Changing your cost basis method will apply to all years unless you have an Ultra plan, which will allow you to set a different method for each tax year.'

ZenLedger

73#8 of 11
Pick it when
Pick ZenLedger if record portability matters most — it scores 7/10 to CoinTracker's 4/10 there (weight 20).
Strength
Named form output — 7/10
Tradeoff
Four things a buyer only finds out after paying. (1) THERE IS NO FREE REPORT. The homepage (loaded 2026-08-19) says "Calculate your DeFi, NFT, & crypto taxes and generate free crypto tax reports.", "Industry-leading pricing with a free crypto tax software plan.", "Choose from our free crypto tax software or full-service plans to meet your needs." and buttons reading "Get Started for Free"; the pricing page's meta description still reads "ZenLedger pricing and cost breakdown. We have many competitively priced crypto tax software plans, including a free plan." — but the rendered pricing table has NO free tier and the word 'free' does not appear in its rendered body at all (Silver $49 is the floor). ZenLedger's own help centre states the real rule: "Creating an account is FREE. Use ZenLedger to import and aggregate your crypto transactions without paying a dime." followed immediately by "You only pay to view, download, and access tax reports each year." The free thing is data entry; every fileable artefact costs money. (2) THE 'ONE-TIME' PLAN AUTO-RENEWS. It is sold as a per-tax-year purchase ("Think of it as similar to TurboTax's business model") but: "When you sign up for ZenLedger and pay for your plan, we will automatically subscribe you to yearly auto-renewal of your subscription. This will automatically charge the card you paid with your first plan with towards the end of the calendar tax year for that next tax year. You will be notified via email 7 days prior to the renewal charge." (3) THE PRICING PAGE CARRIES THREE DIFFERENT REFUND WINDOWS. On one served page: "All plans offer a generous 1 year refund policy." (DIY header) and "All ZenLedger plans have a 14 day refund policy." (table footer) and "Tax Professional Prepared Plans have a 14-day refund policy." and "30 day money back guarantee" (the april filing product). Terms of Use §14 governs the software and says 14 days, adding: "If you request a refund after You downloaded any of the tax forms or CSV files, ZenLedger reserves the right to refuse your refund request or issue a partial refund." You cannot check whether the forms are right for you without forfeiting the refund right. The '1 year' line is not confined to the pricing page — it rides the global nav and is served on the Terms of Use page itself, directly above the clause that contradicts it. (4) IT IS NOT A FILING TOOL AND SAYS SO. The page that names the forms also says: "We are not a full tax reporting software like TurboTax or TaxAct, so, you will need to combine what ZenLedger offers with a service like TurboTax or TaxAct to complete your tax return (if you are filing without the services of a CPA). For more information on how to import your reports from ZenLedger into TurboTax (which we have direct integration with!) please review this article." — and the TurboTax walkthrough that sentence links to is HTTP 404.
Self-identify in 10 seconds

Which one is actually for you?

CoinTrackerLeads

Choose CoinTracker if your tax form matters most

  • Your tax form: 8/10 against 7/10 for ZenLedger (weight 32)
  • Cost-basis method: 8/10 against 6/10 for ZenLedger (weight 26)
  • Complex transactions: 8/10 against 7/10 for ZenLedger (weight 22)
ZenLedger

Choose ZenLedger if record portability matters most

  • Record portability: 7/10 against 4/10 for CoinTracker (weight 20)
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

Your tax form

by 1 of 10weight 7.7 of 86CoinTracker leads
CoinTracker8 out of 10
ZenLedger7 out of 10

Cost-basis method

by 2 of 10weight 6.2 of 86CoinTracker leads
CoinTracker8 out of 10
ZenLedger6 out of 10

Complex transactions

by 1 of 10weight 5.3 of 86CoinTracker leads
CoinTracker8 out of 10
ZenLedger7 out of 10

Record portability

by 3 of 10weight 4.8 of 86ZenLedger leads
CoinTracker4 out of 10
ZenLedger7 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 · constant here
CoinTracker14/20ZenLedger14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
CoinTracker17.3/30ZenLedger16.2/30
CoinTracker leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
CoinTracker2.7/10ZenLedger2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
CoinTracker3.2/8ZenLedger3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
CoinTracker8.3/18ZenLedger8.3/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order

Choose CoinTracker unless the term ZenLedger leads on is the one you are buying.

Pick ZenLedger if record portability matters most — it scores 7/10 to CoinTracker's 4/10 there (weight 20).

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
  • Regulatory failure: no licence where you are, or a forced market exit.
    Scored by Which country's actual tax form comes out at the end — named, and for the year I am filing? · 32% (CoinTracker 8/10, ZenLedger 7/10)
  • Exit failure: you cannot get out at par, on time, or with what is yours.
    Scored by Can my accountant take this without redoing it — and if I stop paying, does my per-lot basis still leave with me? · 20% (CoinTracker 4/10, ZenLedger 7/10)
  • Information failure: the number is wrong or bought, or your data leaks.
    Scored by Which lot did it decide I sold, and does that method match what my tax authority actually requires? · 26% (CoinTracker 8/10, ZenLedger 6/10)
    Scored by My history has DeFi, staking, NFTs, a rug and ten transfers between my own wallets — what does it do with each one? · 22% (CoinTracker 8/10, ZenLedger 7/10)
Every failure family that applies to this category is scored.
Questions

Frequently asked questions

CoinTracker scores 3 points above ZenLedger, led by your tax form, cost-basis method, and complex transactions. Published scores, out of 100: CoinTracker 76 (rank 6 of 11 tax software), ZenLedger 73 (rank 8 of 11).

Related pages

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Written and reviewed by Founder
Reviewed Next review by 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.

Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.

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