3+ best Coinbase alternatives & competitors in 2024

By:

James Knight

James is the Editor of Education for Invezz, where he covers topics from across the financial world, from the stock market, to cryptocurrency, to macroeconomic markets.... read more.

Updated: Jun 5, 2023

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What are the best Coinbase alternatives?

The best alternatives to Coinbase are eToro and Binance. Both platforms offer crypto trading and earning features, and have their own crypto wallets. eToro is best for low-fee trading, while Binance offers more ways to buy and trade. We’ve examined the top alternatives in the table below, or you can scroll down to find a more detailed comparison between each platform.

*Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

1. eToro: Best for low fee trading

• Easy trading at a low cost
• Copytrading function lets you follow top traders
• Over 2,000 CFDs available to trade

eToro is the best alternative if you’re looking for cheaper trading. There are more assets available too; while Coinbase is an exclusively crypto platform, eToro offers CFD trading on stocks, forex, commodities, and ETFs as well.

The main reason to choose eToro is that it offers low fee trading. Coinbase, by contrast, charges up to 4.5% on every trade, which can make a huge difference to your bottom line. Beginners can also start with a demo account to trade risk-free with virtual money.

Despite the positives, there are a couple of areas where eToro falls short by comparison. Its crypto wallet lags behind Coinbase and some features are not available in some locations; most notably in parts of the USA.

eToro vs Coinbase

Sign up with eToro now >

*77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

**Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

2. Binance: Best for altcoin trading 

• Highest trading volume of any exchange
• Lots of advanced features like futures and staking
• Cheaper trading fees if you own BNB

Binance is by far the best place to buy smaller coins known as ‘altcoins’. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies available on Binance and there’s never going to be a problem with liquidity; there’s almost ten times as much trading volume on Binance compared to Coinbase.

Originally an exchange that targeted more experienced crypto users, Binance has become a lot more accessible over the last couple of years. It now lets you choose between the normal interface and a slimmed down ‘lite’ alternative, which removes the clutter and makes it simpler to use.

Alongside becoming a better place for crypto newbies, it’s added an ‘earn’ feature that lets you stake your coins and earn money from them. Futures trading is available too to cater for more experienced users.

Binance vs Coinbase

Sign up with Binance now >

3. BitFlyer: Best for Bitcoin and Ethereum

• Market-leading security
• Very low minimum trades
• Lightning exchange for professional traders

BitFlyer is a great platform for buying and selling the top cryptos. If you want to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum then it’s the easiest place to do so. It has more of a global presence than Coinbase and is particularly popular in Japan.

The low minimum trades – just $1 – and clean and simple platform mean this is an excellent alternative platform for new users. The limited options are a drawback for anyone who wants to trade altcoins in particular, but its focus on the top of the market makes it easier for beginners to understand.

For more experienced users it has a ‘lightning exchange’, which has been deliberately created for the pros. This provides a much more inclusive trading experience than vanilla Coinbase, although of course that platform has a pro version as well.

BitFlyer vs Coinbase

Sign up with bitFlyer now >

4. Kraken: Best for advanced traders

• Leveraged and futures trading
• Huge number of payment options
• Transparency

Kraken is a crypto exchange with an array of different trading options for advanced users. It offers margin trading and crypto futures to all users, rather than hiding it behind a pro account.

The platform has made more of an effort to appeal to a wider customer base in recent times. Although it’s still geared towards those with higher trading volumes, it boasts an excellent library of educational content to help you get started.

However, while the platform offers a lot of options, the fee structure includes higher fees for crypto-to-crypto trading, buying stablecoins, and for using a digital wallet. Active traders who want to regularly swap between different coins might find Kraken a bit frustrating.

Kraken vs Coinbase

Sign up with Kraken >

5. Bitstamp: Best for institutional trading

• Low trading fees for high volume traders
• Supports multiple fiat currencies
• Liquidity concentrated into large cap coins

Bitstamp is an excellent choice for institutions and professional traders. There are significant discounts on trading fees once you trade more than $10,000 per 30 day period. The standard 0.50% fee is halved once you spend more than that amount every month, and fees keep decreasing at regular intervals. Once you trade more than $20 billion in a month, trading is completely free.

Most of Bitstamp’s energy and liquidity is focused on the top of the market. It’s an excellent place to trade BTC and ETH, and although there are 70 different cryptos available it doesn’t suit small cap trading so well.

Bitstamp vs Coinbase

Sign up with Bitstamp >

How to find an alternative to Coinbase

You should choose a broker based on its security, ease-of-use, unique features, and customer service. This is how we rank every platform we review, and you can find more information about why each factor is important in the list below.

• Platform security. Financial platforms have a responsibility to protect your money. We make sure every platform we recommend is regulated or insured against loss, in case it were to be the victim of a hack or any other kind of malicious activity online.
• Ease of use and accessibility. An intuitive interface is vital, particularly for any trading platform that wants to attract beginners. We prioritised alternatives where the website is easy to use and platforms that offer a good quality app for iOS and Android devices.
• Range of features. To find the best brokers we compared the features they offer and how useful they are. We put more of an emphasis on features like copy or social trading, which are more useful for beginners. Similarly, any platform that offers educational content to help traders learn scores higher than those that don’t.
• Customer service. We tested each platform’s customer service and looked at online customer reviews to get an impression of how much they care about their users. Platforms with a fast response time and positive online reviews were ranked above those which took longer or which had received a lot of criticism.

Why would I want to find an alternative to Coinbase?

Coinbase has been accused of using the data it stores about its clients to help government agencies identify people. This goes against many of the ideals of cryptocurrency, which has turned some users against the company.

It has also suffered from errors and outages in the past, which has cost its users money during periods of high volatility. People who have been affected by these problems have turned towards alternatives to Coinbase which are more transparent and suffer less downtime.

What are Coinbase’s limitations?

Coinbase is purely a cryptocurrency exchange platform. You have to have separate accounts with different brokers if you want to trade traditional finance instruments like stocks and forex. Its fees are higher than many competitors too; it charges up to 4.5% in an industry where free or almost-free trading has become the norm.

Despite its focus on crypto, some of the features it offers aren’t the best. Its new crypto wallet can be awkward compared to the best wallets and is completely inaccessible for many users outside the US, while some features are restricted unless you pay for Coinbase Pro.

How did we find other apps like Coinbase?

We looked for brokers and exchanges that offered crypto trading. From there, we narrowed it down to platforms that offered a similar service; a wide variety of coins to buy or trade, a beginner-friendly user experience, and wallet and/or staking features.

Once we had a core list of alternative platforms, we ranked them based on the factors listed above. This allowed us to reduce the list to a top five and to give you an idea of what each platform is best at. This review process is how we assess every service that we interact with.

How to move your money to an alternative broker

It’s easy to close your account and transfer money to a new brokerage. Follow the steps below to do so, but note that you will need to close your existing positions as part of the process.

1. Close all your existing positions. It may take a day or two for the trades to go through and all the money to be available in your account. There can also be a ‘holding period’ that prevents you from withdrawing money for a short time after you’ve sold cryptocurrency.
2. Withdraw your money to a bank account. This is normally a quick process, but it can take a day or two for bank transfers to go through.
3. Navigate to the ‘account’ section and delete your Coinbase account. You will have to enter your password and confirm it to delete the account completely.
4. Sign up for a new broker. Be prepared to comply with KYC regulations when you sign up to a Coinbase alternative, which means providing your contact details, address, and a form of photo ID to verify the account.
5. Deposit money into your new account. You may have to wait a short while for the full account features to be available after your first deposit.
6. Start trading. Open up new trading positions and start using your new account.

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