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Head-to-head · Tax Software

Koinly vs ZenLedger Koinly leads by 8 points.

Koinly scores 8 points above ZenLedger, led by your tax form, cost-basis method, and complex transactions. Koinly ranks #1 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.

Koinly81
ZenLedger73
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #1 and #8 of 11
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot Evidence verified through 4 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-KOINLY-VS-ZENLEDGER-b1977c7b
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

Koinly leads by 8 points

Koinly scores 8 points above ZenLedger, led by your tax form, cost-basis method, and complex transactions.

Koinly #1 of 1181
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 termKoinly leads on 4 of 4 published criteria; ZenLedger on 0. The terms sum to the gap.
TermKoinlyZenLedgerWeightPoints
Your tax form8/107/107.7+2.0for Koinly+1.0 of 32
Cost-basis method8/106/106.2+3.2for Koinly+1.7 of 32
Complex transactions8/107/105.3+1.4for Koinly+0.7 of 32
Record portability8/107/104.8+1.2for Koinly+0.6 of 32
Net of the terms+7.9
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+7.8
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below8173+8.0

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.
FactKoinlyZenLedger
Entry planSnapshothttps://koinly.io/pricing/ — fetched 29 September 2026; plain curl returns HTTP 403 (Cloudflare interstitial), the page was rendered in headless Chrome (HTTP 200). Header "Simple pricing". Four columns as rendered: FREE "Essential features" "$ 0" "free forever"; NEWBIE "Just getting started" "$ 49" "per tax year"; HODLER "Taking it easy" "$ 99" "per tax year"; TRADER "Hustling like a pro" "$ 199" "per tax year". USAGE row "Transactions": Free "10,000", Newbie "100", Hodler "1000", Trader "3000", with a "10,000+" selector; "Wallets & exchange accounts" "Unlimited" on all four. Under TAX REPORTS the rows "Form 8949, Schedule D", "International tax reports", "Comprehensive audit report" and "Export to TurboTax, TaxACT" are marked "-" on Free. FAQ: "You only need to purchase a plan to download your tax reports." | "You can generate and download unlimited number of reports for the tax year that your plan is valid for." | "If you exceed the limits of our top plan you can purchase additional transactions in the app. Koinly supports up to 100,000 transactions on regular accounts." No fifth price renders. The help article https://support.koinly.io/en/articles/9856841-tax-plans (rendered 29 September 2026, "June 23, 2026") names a fourth paid tier the pricing page does not price — "Pro" "Up to 10.000 transactions" — and the unpriced add-ons "Extra transactions", "Dual Nationality", "Daily Sync" and "Expert Review". Contract (https://koinly.io/legal/terms/, "Revised on Jan 2, 2026", rendered 29 September 2026): "Refunds are not possible once you have downloaded any reports and must be made within 7 days of purchase." 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?

Koinly

81#1 of 11
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Koinly 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
Two, and the first costs money before it costs time. US buyers: paying does not by itself produce a filled 8949. "USA-specific reports like Schedule D and form 8949 require the 1099-DA flow to be completed. Without the information if you received the 1099-DA form or not, some of the fields cannot be filled." and "If you didn't complete the 1099-DA flow and download reports, some of them will be empty (1kb PDFs)" (https://support.koinly.io/en/articles/13791356-usa-uploading-1099-da-forms-to-koinly, re-loaded 2026-08-19). Now read that against the contract: "Refunds are not possible once you have downloaded any reports and must be made within 7 days of purchase. The refund reason must be related to a bug/issue within Koinly that we are unable to resolve within reasonable time." (https://koinly.io/legal/terms/, reached from https://koinly.io/terms/, loaded 2026-08-19, "Revised on Jan 2, 2026"). Downloading the empty 1kb PDF is itself the act that extinguishes the refund. Second: German and Austrian buyers get NO statutory form. The pricing FAQ names Germany among countries with "specialised tax reports" (https://koinly.io/pricing/), but the help centre's Localized Tax Reports list has no German entry — Germany appears only as a report LANGUAGE, and the countries article routes German filers to the generic artefact ("Our Comprehensive Tax Report is suitable for anyone looking to declare taxes - no matter which country.", https://support.koinly.io/en/articles/9489962-which-countries-does-koinly-calculate-taxes-for). No Anlage SO, no ELSTER handoff, no Austrian E1/E1kv and no FinanzOnline appears on any page loaded. A German filer pays for a Complete Tax Report written in German and transcribes it. And anyone filing in two countries pays the "Dual nationality" add-on again for each extra country, each tax year. THIRD, added in verification: the help centre's "Each yearly plan is valid for 10 years from the date of purchase" has no counterpart in the contract, which reserves the right to terminate "without any prior notice" on grounds including "Any extended periods of inactivity;", to delete "any and all related information, files, and any such content that may be associated with or inside your account, or any part thereof;", and states "If your account is terminated by Us, you will not be entitled to any refund of any monies spent on Koinly." A buyer who pays for a tax year and comes back in year four is relying on a help article, not on a term.

ZenLedger

73#8 of 11
Pick it when
ZenLedger leads Koinly 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
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?

KoinlyLeads

Choose Koinly 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

ZenLedger leads Koinly on no published criterion

  • Choose it only if something outside the published criteria decides for you — your country, a funding rail, or custody.
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 86Koinly leads
Koinly8 out of 10
ZenLedger7 out of 10

Cost-basis method

by 2 of 10weight 6.2 of 86Koinly leads
Koinly8 out of 10
ZenLedger6 out of 10

Complex transactions

by 1 of 10weight 5.3 of 86Koinly leads
Koinly8 out of 10
ZenLedger7 out of 10

Record portability

by 1 of 10weight 4.8 of 86Koinly leads
Koinly8 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
Koinly14/20ZenLedger14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Koinly19.2/30ZenLedger16.2/30
Koinly leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Koinly2.7/10ZenLedger2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Koinly3.2/8ZenLedger3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Koinly8.3/18ZenLedger8.3/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order

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

ZenLedger leads Koinly 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
  • 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% (Koinly 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% (Koinly 8/10, 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% (Koinly 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% (Koinly 8/10, ZenLedger 7/10)
Every failure family that applies to this category is scored.
Questions

Frequently asked questions

Koinly scores 8 points above ZenLedger, led by your tax form, cost-basis method, and complex transactions. Published scores, out of 100: Koinly 81 (rank 1 of 11 tax software), ZenLedger 73 (rank 8 of 11).

Related pages

Go deeper

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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