Coinbase and Robinhood are two of the preferred platforms used to commerce cryptocurrencies, however which one is best for you? The reply will depend on your wants, particularly on how a lot crypto buying and selling you propose to do and the prices you’re prepared to pay.
Coinbase and Robinhood could attraction to completely different sorts of merchants, although there’s possible some vital overlap.
- Coinbase is a cryptocurrency trade that targets merchants immersed on the earth of digital currencies.
- In distinction, Robinhood is a buying and selling app that enables customers to purchase and promote shares, ETFs, choices and a few sorts of crypto for no out-of-pocket price.
Right here’s how Coinbase and Robinhood differ alongside just a few different key dimensions.
Coinbase vs. Robinhood
| Function | Coinbase | Robinhood | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Can get costly with charges on commonplace platform | Slightly cheaper, however it will depend on what you’re buying and selling | Robinhood |
| Deposit charges | ACH: freeWire: $10 | Free (varies by exercise for community and fuel charges) | Robinhood |
| Withdrawal charges | ACH: freeWire: $25 | Free (varies by exercise for community and fuel charges) | Robinhood |
| Accessible crypto | ~240 | 28 | Coinbase |
| Custody | Provides personal pockets, although customers can take custody in their very own pockets | Robinhood Pockets, a self-custody app | Coinbase |
| Staking rewards | Ethereum, Cardano, Solana and extra | Solana and Ethereum | Coinbase |
| Securities provided | Crypto | Crypto, shares, choices and ETFs | Robinhood |
| Buyer help | Cellphone, reside chat and electronic mail | 24/7 telephone and reside chat | Robinhood |
| Ease of use | Straightforward, designed for crypto buying and selling | Much less straightforward, designed for inventory buying and selling | Coinbase |
Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Charges
The price constructions at Coinbase and Robinhood are considerably completely different, and it doesn’t assist issues that Coinbase obscures a lot of its charge construction from potential clients (although it does disclose them proper earlier than you really place a commerce). That mentioned, Robinhood just isn’t precisely easy about the way it makes its cash, both.
Robinhood’s crypto buying and selling charges
The charge construction at Robinhood is straightforward, relative to Coinbase’s. Consistent with the dealer’s “no commissions” mannequin for inventory and choices, you received’t pay any price immediately out of your pocket for getting and promoting crypto.
Nevertheless, you’ll pay charges for particular merchandise like:
- Good Trade Routing, which mechanically sends crypto trades to a couple of trade for the most effective value/execution.
- You’ll additionally pay community and fuel charges for crypto transfers, however utilizing Robinhood Shopping for Energy, which is the sum of money you should utilize to buy shares, choices, futures or crypto, is free.
- There’s additionally Robinhood Join — a characteristic you possibly can decide into that permits you to commerce and switch crypto immediately into self-custody wallets and decentralized apps utilizing your Robinhood account, with a small charge of as much as 1.5 p.c for debit card or financial institution transfers. Join is free in case you’re utilizing Robinhood Shopping for Energy.
Right here’s an summary of Robinhood’s charges mentioned above.
| Class | Payment particulars |
|---|---|
| Shopping for and promoting crypto | |
| Market Maker Routing | No commissions |
| Good Trade Routing | 0.85% (Robinhood) plus 0.02% (accomplice), $0.01 min |
| Crypto transfers | $0 (community and fuel charges fluctuate by exercise) |
| Robinhood Join | |
| Debit card cost | 0.0%-1.5% |
| Checking account switch | 0.0%-1.5% |
| Robinhood Shopping for Energy | $0 |
Coinbase’s crypto buying and selling charges
Coinbase’s charge construction is complicated, to say the least. Not solely does it cost various charges primarily based on how a lot you buy, however it additionally has a fundamental tier of service and a complicated tier, known as Coinbase Superior, every of which has completely different charges. There’s additionally Coinbase One, which is a subscription service that lets customers commerce as much as $10,000 per thirty days with no charges. Coinbase appears to obscure the charges for its fundamental service, making it troublesome for potential clients to see how a lot they’re paying. (Spoiler alert: Costs are excessive in case you’re shopping for just a bit little bit of crypto on the fundamental tier.)
Coinbase Superior buying and selling charges
Coinbase won’t make the charges for its fundamental mode tremendous clear, however it does present the charge construction for its Superior buying and selling mode. When you decide to make use of Coinbase Superior (just by toggling a button on the backside left of your private home display), you’ll be capable of rating decrease general charges, even in case you’re buying and selling with decrease quantities. Superior mode doesn’t price merchants something to make use of.
Coinbase Superior makes use of a maker-and-taker charge construction, which will depend on whether or not you’re including liquidity to the market (the place the fee ranges from 0 to 0.4 p.c of commerce worth) or taking liquidity from the market (with commissions starting from 0.05 to 0.6 p.c).
The charges are as follows:
| 30-day quantity | Maker | Taker |
|---|---|---|
| Lower than $10,000 | 0.40 p.c | 0.60 p.c |
| $10,000 – $50,000 | 0.25 p.c | 0.40 p.c |
| $50,000 – $100,000 | 0.15 p.c | 0.25 p.c |
| $100,000 – $1 million | 0.10 p.c | 0.20 p.c |
| $1 million – $15 million | 0.08 p.c | 0.18 p.c |
| $15 million – $75 million | 0.06 p.c | 0.16 p.c |
| $75 million – $250 million | 0.03 p.c | 0.12 p.c |
| $250 million – $400 million | 0 p.c | 0.08 p.c |
| $400 million and up | 0 p.c | 0.05 p.c |
Coinbase funding charges
| Fee technique | Payment |
|---|---|
| ACH | Free |
| Wire (USD) | $10 deposit charge; $25 withdrawal charge |
Benefit: Robinhood, for the simplicity of its charge construction and its no-commission mannequin.
Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Accessible cash for buying and selling
Coinbase helps buying and selling in additional than 240 completely different cryptocurrencies, together with the biggies corresponding to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, Dogecoin and extra. So, you’re prone to discover what you’re searching for. Certain, Coinbase doesn’t provide 1000’s of different a lot smaller digital currencies, however that received’t matter for nearly anybody however area of interest merchants.
In distinction, Robinhood limits customers to twenty-eight digital currencies: Aave, Avalanche, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Money, Chainlink, Compound, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Traditional, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, Stellar Lumens, Tezos, Uniswap and extra. Nevertheless, the app does give merchants entry to real-time information on these cryptos and others.
Benefit: Coinbase, for its a lot broader vary of accessible cash.
Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Cryptocurrency custody
When you’re seeking to deal with custody of your crypto belongings your self, Coinbase might be your finest guess. The trade presents its personal pockets, however it’s also possible to take custody of the belongings your self by means of your individual pockets. So you possibly can decide the answer that matches your wants finest, whether or not you’re searching for a {hardware} pockets or software program pockets, otherwise you simply need to depart it with Coinbase for buying and selling.
Robinhood does provide Robinhood Pockets as an app that’s separate from the core Robinhood platform. The app is a self-custody pockets that serves because the portal for storing and managing your crypto on networks corresponding to Ethereum or Bitcoin.
Benefit: Coinbase has the sting right here for providing extra choices, although in case you intend to commerce sometimes, this issues much less.
Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Staking rewards
Coinbase and Robinhood additionally differ considerably relating to cryptocurrency staking, a course of by means of which house owners of cryptocurrency obtain revenue on their holdings. Staking is like incomes curiosity on a checking account, although with vital variations and dangers.
With Coinbase, customers can stake their crypto belongings, that are then used to validate transactions on the given foreign money’s blockchain. Presently, purchasers can earn staking rewards on eight crypto cash, together with Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and extra. Coinbase takes care of the technical particulars behind the scenes, and also you earn further cash for protecting your belongings there.
Robinhood solely presents staking on Solana and Ethereum as of June 2025.
Benefit: Coinbase, for providing staking rewards on extra cash.
Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Forms of securities provided
In terms of the kind of securities being provided, Coinbase is all crypto, on a regular basis. In order for you anything — shares, ETFs, choices — you’ll have to search out it elsewhere.
In distinction, Robinhood presents a wider vary of securities, together with shares, choices, ETFs and cryptocurrencies, although it doesn’t provide bonds or mutual funds. Nonetheless, the app will reel in loads of merchants with what it does provide, so it might attraction to a large viewers even with a shallower pool of crypto.
Benefit: Robinhood, for its broader vary of choices.
Authorized stumbles
Each corporations have confronted scrutiny from regulators lately. The Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) sued Coinbase in June 2023, alleging it had illegally operated as an trade, broker-dealer and clearing company, along with providing and promoting unregistered securities. The SEC dismissed the case in February 2025.
In 2020, Robinhood agreed to pay $65 million to settle SEC expenses that it misled clients over the funds it acquired from buying and selling companies for sending clients’ orders to them. The SEC discovered that clients acquired inferior commerce costs that price them $34.1 million as a complete, even after accounting for the charges saved from the dearth of fee charges. Robinhood didn’t admit or deny the SEC’s findings.
Backside line
Which platform is best for you in the end will depend on your wants, however it’s truthful to say that merchants looking for all kinds of crypto will discover Coinbase a greater match. Alternatively, these inquisitive about just a few well-liked crypto cash as a part of a broader portfolio could want Robinhood, and so they could even need to try rival Webull, which additionally presents cryptocurrency buying and selling.
— Bankrate’s Logan Jacoby contributed to an replace of this text.
Editorial Disclaimer: All buyers are suggested to conduct their very own impartial analysis into funding methods earlier than investing determination. As well as, buyers are suggested that previous funding product efficiency is not any assure of future value appreciation.
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