Looking for ways to avoid Coinbase fees without sacrificing the simplicity of the platform’s design? Fair enough! Coinbase boasts one of the most convenient user-friendly interfaces, while Coinbase sending fees are probably the highest in the market. But why are Coinbase fees so high? So, we will answer this question and review top Coinbase alternatives that offer similar quality services at a lower cost. For those determined to stay with the platform, we will provide some strategies for avoiding Coinbase fees.
What Are Coinbase Fees, And What’s Wrong With Them?
With 100+ million users and 200+ coins supported, Coinbase is one of the biggest and most trusted platforms for cryptocurrency operations. It is ranked second after Binance in CoinMarketCap’s Top Cryptocurrency Spot Exchanges and boasts a quarterly trading volume of $217 billion. Additionally, many users complain about the “Coinbase fees too high” problem, which is not ungrounded.
But what are Coinbase fees exactly? Let’s take a look. The information presented below is retrieved from Coinbase Help Center and the Coinbase fee calculator.
| Coinbase crypto service: transferring crypto from one Coinbase primary balance to another one | free |
| Coinbase debit card fees | free (except for the fees charged by ATM) |
| Coinbase credit card fees | 2-4% depending on a country |
| Coinbase network fees (miner fees) | 1.4-3.9% depending on the transaction amount and the payment method |
| Coinbase wallet fees for conversion | 1% |
| Coinbase fee selling crypto | 1.4-3.9% |
| Coinbase wallet fees for withdrawals with crypto | 1-5% for BTC and less than 1% for other crypto coins |
| Coinbase wallet fees for withdrawals with fiat money | 1-20% depending on the withdrawal method |
Why Are Coinbase Fees So High? Coinbase Pricing Explained
So why are Coinbase fees too high as opposed to similar platforms? Here are a few details about Coinbase pricing that can explain this:
- Location: As a US-based platform, Coinbase bears high compliance costs, which further informs high Coinbase network fees.
- Simplicity and reputation: Cheap Coinbase pricing has never been the type of value that the platform prioritizes. Instead, it places a special emphasis on top-notch user experience and reliability.
- High trading volume: Coinbase manages a great deal of trading volume, which impacts Coinbase network fees.
Minimizing Costs: 2 Tips On How To Avoid Coinbase Fees
At this point, the question arises as to whether there is a simple way to avoid Coinbase fees. Although there does not exist a solution that allows avoiding Coinbase fees entirely without switching to another platform, here are a couple of tricks to minimize Coinbase network fees.
Strategy #1: Use Coinbase Pro instead of Coinbase
While largely similar to Coinbase, Coinbase Pro is specifically designed for experienced traders. It provides advanced users with charting and trading options, and some of its fees are cheaper than Coinbase network fees. For example, as the Coinbase fee calculator shows, the Coinbase network fee for a transaction of $5k varies between 1.48% and 3.99%. In contrast, Coinbase Pro only charges 0,4-0,6% for transactions smaller than $10k.
Strategy #2: Avoid using a debit card as a payment method
Another way to avoid Coinbase fees is by sticking with cheaper payment methods. Let us again turn to the Coinbase fee calculator and compare the fees associated with different transaction methods. For example, what is Coinbase’s fee for a transaction of $2k? If we choose U. S. bank account or Coinbase USD wallet, the fee is $29.8. If we choose debit card buy as a payment method, the fee rises to $79.81.
In the meantime, even when choosing a cheaper payment method, this should not mean avoiding Coinbase fees completely. Yes, the platform does not have a Coinbase debit card fee, but it does have a credit card fee, and this fee — 2-4% — is fairly high. Now add to those Coinbase wallet fees for conversion and withdrawal, and you will see that whatever strategy you use, the “Coinbase fees too high” issue remains. That is why our next section offers a review of cheaper Coinbase alternatives.
Top 5 Coinbase Alternatives With Lower Fees And Great Features
One of the simplest ways to avoid Coinbase fees is to use a different crypto trading platform. In this section, we have collected the top 5 Coinbase alternatives with fees more attractive than Coinbase sending fees.
Alternative #1: Binance
Overview: Binance is the #1 cryptocurrency spot exchange, according to CoinMarketCap. The platform has its token (BNB) and blockchain (Binance Chain). With almost 400 crypto coins and various payment methods in its portfolio, Binance is a good alternative to Coinbase especially given the high Coinbase network fees.
Binance fees VS Coinbase pricing: Fixed miner fee of 0.1% VS Coinbase network fees of 1.4-3.9%.
Best suited for: Experienced crypto traders.
Alternative #2: Gemini
Overview: With an interface as simple as that of Coinbase and 100+ crypto coins in its assortment, Gemini is an attractive alternative with an average fee lower than the Coinbase wallet miner fee. A particularly attractive feature of this platform is the 3% cashback available in BTC and other cryptos.
Gemini fees VS Coinbase pricing: While Coinbase wallet miner fee varies between 1.4-3.9%, that of Gemini is free (for trades ＜$200) or 1.49% (for trades ＞$200).
Best suited for: Crypto trade beginners who seek how to avoid Coinbase fees without sacrificing the user-friendly platform design.
Alternative #3: Robinhood
Overview: Robinhood is a user-friendly stock trading platform with over 10 million accounts and almost a dozen crypto coins. At only $5, users can get a subscription with access to trade market data, research, and reports.
Robinhood fees VS Coinbase pricing: Robinhood does not charge commissions for crypto trading.
Best suited for: users interested in small quantity trading.
Alternative #4: Kraken
Overview: Kraken is another alternative that might be of interest to both those concerned about how to avoid Coinbase fees and those looking for some advanced trading options. A peculiar feature of this platform is that it has different verification levels: the higher the user’s level is, the more trading options are available.
Kraken fees VS Coinbase pricing: 0-0.26% miner fee at Kraken VS 1.4-3.9% Coinbase wallet miner fee.
Best suited for: traders who seek avenues for growth and development.
Alternative #5: Pionex
Overview: What makes Pionex stand out from other platforms is its super low fees that come with a rich diversity of free tools such as Grid Trading Bot and Trailing Sell Bot. Add a comprehensive cryptocurrency portfolio and user-friendly design to get an ideal substitution for Coinbase.
Pionex fees VS Coinbase pricing: Pionex’s transaction fee of 0.05% VS 1.4-3.9% Coinbase wallet miner fee.
Best suited for: users who are after the most cost-effective crypto trading platform.
Wrapping Up
To sum up, if you want to avoid Coinbase fees without switching to another platform, you can either try Coinbase Pro or use cheaper payment methods. Both these options enable you to minimize Coinbase sending fees slightly. Or, if you are after a solution that allows avoiding Coinbase fees entirely, you are welcome to consider one of the Coinbase alternatives that offer equally great services at a lower cost.
FAQs
Coinbase fees vary by type and depend on different factors. For example, there are no Coinbase debit card fees, but there are 2-4% credit card fees, depending on the country. Coinbase wallet miner fee, in turn, varies between 1.4-3.9%. You can use the Coinbase fee calculator for a more accurate estimation.
Coinbase sending fee is 1.4-3.9%. Because Coinbase send fee depends on the payment method, it is recommended to use the Coinbase fees calculator to determine the exact sum.
There are no Coinbase USDC fees: you can buy USDC on Coinbase without commission.
It depends on the type of fees you would like to avoid. For example, when it comes to the Coinbase sending fee, you can minimize it by using cheap payment methods. You can use the Coinbase fees calculator to determine the best method.
The Coinbase fee calculator is an app that helps to calculate Coinbase fee selling for this or another payment method. You normally use it to find the Coinbase fee for your transaction size and the preferred payment method.
