Binance scores 16 points above Kraken, on measured data rather than any published criterion. Kraken ranks #11 and Binance #4 of 17 published exchanges. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
Kraken59
vs
Binance75
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #11 and #4 of 17
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+15.3
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below7559+16.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
Binance leads on no published criterion; Kraken is ahead on trading cost. The gap comes from measured data.
BinanceScore 75Deepest-liquidity global exchange with a published 0.10%/0.10% base spot tier table (25% BNB discount) — now contracting all users through three FSRA-regulated Abu Dhabi (ADGM) entities with trust-based custody, after pleading to U.S. charges in 2023 and exiting the EEA entirely on 1 July 2026 without a MiCA licence.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 7/10Watch-out: The surface a new account actually lands in — Convert/instant buy — prices in a spread Binance nowhere quantifies behind a 'no additional fees' framing, and the account's freeze grounds are explicitly non-exhaustive and 'may be based on confidential criteria' Binance is 'under no obligation to disclose'; an EU, US or UK buyer cannot open this account at all.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
1 of 3 rows read the same for both.
FactKrakenBinance
Pro taker feeSnapshotKraken 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."Binance spot fee rates, read 29 September 2026 at https://www.binance.com/en/fee/trading (curl receives an empty HTTP 202 challenge; read through a rendering fetch). Maker / taker, and with the "BNB 25% off": "Regular User" "< 1,000,000 USD" or "≥ 0 BNB" "0.100% / 0.100%", "0.07500% / 0.07500%"; "VIP 1" "≥ 1,000,000 USD" and "≥ 5 BNB" "0.090% / 0.100%"; "VIP 3" "≥ 20,000,000 USD" and "≥ 100 BNB" "0.040% / 0.060%"; "VIP 5" "≥ 150,000,000 USD" and "≥ 1,000 BNB" "0.025% / 0.031%"; "VIP 9" "≥ 4,000,000,000 USD" "0.011% / 0.023%". Volume rule on the same page: "Trade volume includes all Spot volumes from Spot, Margin, Convert, Copy Trading and Trading Bots." Convert, the instant surface (https://www.binance.com/en/support/faq/frequently-asked-questions-on-binance-convert-3289b5fb64634df8ab99d5f3d99b87ab, "Updated on 2026-04-20"): "Binance Convert pricing does not include traditional trading fees when converting cryptocurrencies." and "There are no additional fees beyond the quoted price.", while "the quoted prices for simple conversions may vary from time to time and from the price available on other markets" with no number published for that spread. Per-asset withdrawal fees sit behind "Log in and see a full overview of your fee and transaction history".
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, caasia, mena, latam
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
Kraken
59#11 of 17
Pick it when
Pick Kraken if trading cost matters most — it scores 7/10 to Binance's 5/10 there (weight 30).
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'.
Binance
75#4 of 17
Leads
Pick it when
Binance leads on no published criterion; its edge is measured data (13.2 vs 3.5 points). Pick it if that term is what you are buying.
Strength
Withdrawal incident record — 7/10
Tradeoff
The surface a new account actually lands in — Convert/instant buy — prices in a spread Binance nowhere quantifies behind a 'no additional fees' framing, and the account's freeze grounds are explicitly non-exhaustive and 'may be based on confidential criteria' Binance is 'under no obligation to disclose'; an EU, US or UK buyer cannot open this account at all.
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
Kraken
Choose Kraken if trading cost matters most
Trading cost: 7/10 against 5/10 for Binance (weight 30)
Withdrawal track record: 8/10 against 7/10 for Binance (weight 28)
Licence coverage: 8/10 against 5/10 for Binance (weight 24)
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'.
BinanceLeads
Binance 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.
BinanceScore 75Deepest-liquidity global exchange with a published 0.10%/0.10% base spot tier table (25% BNB discount) — now contracting all users through three FSRA-regulated Abu Dhabi (ADGM) entities with trust-based custody, after pleading to U.S. charges in 2023 and exiting the EEA entirely on 1 July 2026 without a MiCA licence.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 7/10Watch-out: The surface a new account actually lands in — Convert/instant buy — prices in a spread Binance nowhere quantifies behind a 'no additional fees' framing, and the account's freeze grounds are explicitly non-exhaustive and 'may be based on confidential criteria' Binance is 'under no obligation to disclose'; an EU, US or UK buyer cannot open this account at all.
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
by 2 of 10weight 7.2 of 86Kraken leads
Kraken7/10 out of 10
Binance5/10 out of 10
Withdrawal track record
by 1 of 10weight 6.7 of 86Kraken leads
Kraken8/10 out of 10
Binance7/10 out of 10
Licence coverage
by 3 of 10weight 5.8 of 86Kraken leads
Kraken8/10 out of 10
Binance5/10 out of 10
Asset protection
weight 4.3 of 86Tie
Kraken7/10 out of 10
Binance7/10 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
Kraken12/20Binance12/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Kraken18/30Binance14.2/30
Kraken leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Kraken2.7/10Binance2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Kraken3.2/8Binance3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86
Kraken3.5/18Binance13.2/18
Binance leads
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Binance unless the term Kraken leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick Kraken if trading cost matters most — it scores 7/10 to Binance's 5/10 there (weight 30).
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% (Kraken 8/10, Binance 7/10)
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% (Kraken 7/10, Binance 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% (Kraken 8/10, Binance 5/10)
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
Binance scores 16 points above Kraken, on measured data rather than any published criterion. Published scores, out of 100: Kraken 59 (rank 11 of 17 exchanges), Binance 75 (rank 4 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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