The Cheapest Platform to Buy Crypto That Won't Fleece You with Fees
Finding a cheap place to buy and trade crypto isn’t just about the sticker fee. You also need to watch for hidden markups, wallet “convenience” surcharges, and network costs. Below is a practical tour through the most popular centralized exchanges (CEX), decentralized exchanges (DEX), and in-wallet swaps — plus simple money examples so you can see exactly what you’d pay at $1,000, $10,000, and $100,000.
Centralized Exchanges: The Real-World Baseline
Most CEXs use a maker-taker model. If you hit the market and take liquidity, you pay the taker fee; if you place a limit order and add liquidity, you pay the (usually lower) maker fee. Nearly all of them offer volume tiers and a discount if you pay fees with the exchange’s own token.
On Binance, the standard spot fee is 0.10% for both maker and taker. If you turn on fee payment in BNB, your effective rate drops to about 0.075%. They sometimes run promos with zero fees on specific pairs, but assume the normal 0.10% for day-to-day planning.
Bybit is similar at 0.10%/0.10% for non-VIP accounts, with lower rates as your 30-day volume grows. Guides on their help center show how it plays out on real orders, which is handy if you’re new.
OKX often quotes 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker for spot as a reference. Holding OKB or reaching VIP tiers cuts that further. Note that fee tables can differ by region, so check the grid that applies to your account.
KuCoin starts at 0.10%/0.10% but gives a simple 20% discount if you pay fees in KCS, landing around 0.08% in practice.
MEXC is the fee killer for spot: 0% maker and 0.05% taker out of the box, with frequent zero-fee campaigns on top pairs. If you’re comfortable placing limit orders, the “0% maker” part is hard to beat.
Gate.io is more expensive at the entry level: 0.20% maker and taker. It falls with volume, but the baseline is roughly double a Binance, KuCoin, or Bybit-style account.
Kraken Pro uses a volume ladder. For low volumes, expect something around 0.25% maker and 0.40% taker, then it steps down as your 30-day activity rises. Important: Kraken’s “Instant Buy” is a different product with higher all-in costs — use Pro if you care about fees.
Coinbase Advanced Trade is transparent but steep at small volumes (up to 0.40% maker and 0.60% taker). There are special breaks on certain stablecoin-fiat pairs, but for most retail pairs you’ll pay above the market average unless you’re moving serious size. Coinbase’s “simple buy” flow is even pricier because it bakes in extra markups.
Gemini is fine only if you switch to ActiveTrader (the pro interface). Entry rates are roughly 0.20% maker and 0.40% taker, and they scale down with volume. The regular app/website flow is far more expensive.
What this means in dollars
If you place a market order (taker) for $1,000, MEXC charges $0.50. Binance, Bybit, KuCoin, and OKX charge $1.00. Gate.io costs $2.00. Kraken, Gemini, or Coinbase Advanced at low tiers run $4–$6. On a $10,000, scale that is $5, $10, $20, and $40–$60. That’s a $50+ swing per trade between a cheap and an expensive CEX.
Dex: Tiny Pool Fees + Cheap Networks Can Beat Cex
On a DEX you pay a percentage that’s built into each liquidity pool, plus the network fee “gas”. Modern AMMs often offer ultra-low tiers on stable or tightly correlated pairs, and if you use a low-cost chain (BNB Chain, Base, Solana, many L2s), gas is pennies, not dollars — so the pool fee dominates.
Uniswap v3 lets each pair exist at several fee tiers: 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.30%, and 1%. Stable-stable and correlated majors often have 0.01–0.05% pools; exotic tokens typically sit at 0.30% or 1%.
PancakeSwap v3 mirrors that structure on BNB Chain and other networks: 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.25%, and 1%. For stablecoins on BNB Chain, 0.01% pools are common, and gas is tiny.
Orca (Solana) offers “fixed” tiers (like 0.05% or 0.30%) and “adaptive” ones that nudge the fee when volatility jumps. Because Solana’s gas is so cheap, your total cost is basically the pool fee you see.
Aerodrome (Base) with Slipstream is a concentrated-liquidity hub on Coinbase’s Base L2. It competes at ultra-low basis points on correlated markets, and Base gas is cents, so all-in swap costs can undercut a standard CEX taker.
Hyperliquid isn’t an AMM — it’s a decentralized order book on its own high-speed chain. Baseline fees look like 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker, which is “CEX-level” cheap without giving up self-custody.
Meteora (Solana) uses a dynamic model: a base fee plus a volatility add-on. In calm markets, you can end up near low bps; in fast moves, it rises — so always glance at the live fee shown before you swap.
What this means in dollars
On a 0.01% pool (Pancake v3 or Uniswap v3 stables), a $1,000 swap costs $0.10; $10,000 costs $1; $100,000 costs $10. At 0.05% those become $0.50 / $5 / $50. At a “classic” 0.30%, it’s $3 / $30 / $300. If you’re swapping stablecoins on a cheap chain, a 0.01–0.05% DEX trade almost always beats a CEX market order.
Wallet Swaps: The Convenience Tax
Self-custody wallets don’t charge to hold or send beyond network gas — but many add a service fee when you use their built-in swap. That’s the convenience tax most people miss.
MetaMask Swaps adds 0.875% on top of the quote. On a $1,000 swap, that’s $8.75 extra, before counting any DEX pool fee or gas.
Phantom (Solana, EVM) takes 0.85% on selected pairs, and its “gasless” Solana swaps (when you don’t hold SOL) come out to 1.5% all-in.
Trust Wallet doesn’t tack on its own fee. You pay the DEX fee and network gas — basically what you’d pay if you clicked the DEX yourself.
Ledger Live routes through aggregators like ParaSwap. Ledger itself doesn’t add a wallet surcharge; you pay what the aggregator, DEX charges, plus gas.
Exodus uses partners and a spread rather than a fixed percentage. The markup can be noticeable on some pairs — always check the “you receive” number before you approve.
Atomic Wallet is explicit: 0.5% wallet fee plus the partner’s fee/spread, which often lands around ~1% all-in on typical small-to-mid swaps.
Guarda passes along the partner fee (often around 0.5%) and doesn’t add its own on top.
Coin Wallet is unusual: for some coins (like BTC) it adds a 0.5% service fee plus a small fixed add-on when you send; for many EVM tokens it’s just network gas. Check our coin-by-coin table before you move size.
ZenGo relies on providers and spreads; the range can reach a few percent unless you’re on a paid plan. For frequent swaps, it’s more expensive than going to a DEX or a low-fee CEX.
What this means in dollars
At $1,000, MetaMask’s convenience fee alone is about $8.75; Phantom is $8.50 (or $15 in gasless mode). Atomic or Guarda tend to land around $5–10 plus network cost. Trust and Ledger usually match the underlying DEX cost (so 0.01–0.30% plus cheap gas). At $10,000, MetaMask’s surcharge alone jumps to $87.50 — while a Pancake v3 0.01% pool would have been $1.
Quick reality checks
- A one-off $1,000 buy from scratch
If you want a clean, low fee, the typical play is a big CEX with a bank transfer and a limit order. On Binance you’re around $0.75–$1.00 (paying fees in BNB gets you closer to $0.75). KuCoin with KCS is roughly $0.80. MEXC with a market order is $0.50. On Coinbase simple buy you’ll likely pay much more; even in Advanced Trade, small retail tiers can hit $6 on non-stable pairs unless you qualify for special pricing.
- Stable-to-stable swap
On Pancake v3 or Uniswap v3, if your pair has a 0.01–0.05% pool, a $10,000 swap costs $1–$5 plus tiny gas. On Hyperliquid, a market order at 0.045% is $4.50. Doing the same thing through MetaMask adds $87.50 just in the wallet fee.
- Active trading at $100,000 notional
MEXC at 0.05% taker costs $50; maker is $0. Binance at 0.10% taker is $100 (about $75 if you pay in BNB). Hyperliquid’s market is $45; the limit is $15. On Uniswap, the fee depends on the pool: $300 at 0.30%, $50 at 0.05%, and $10 at 0.01%.
The Bottom Line
For fiat on-ramps and occasional buys, a large low-fee CEX is the simplest and cheapest path: think Binance, Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, with MEXC as the ultra-cheap option on spot. For crypto-to-crypto—especially stable or highly correlated pairs — modern DEXs on low-cost chains are hard to beat. A 0.01–0.05% pool on BNB Chain, Base, or Solana is often cheaper than a CEX market order, even before discounts.
Inside wallets, you’re paying for convenience. Trust Wallet and Ledger Live are closest to “no markup” because they don’t add a wallet fee on top of the DEX/aggregator quote.
Coin Wallet is also a strong pick if you want something simple and reliable across many coins and networks: day-to-day it’s smooth to use, and fees are shown clearly in-app — most EVM tokens just pay network gas, while some coins (like BTC) add a small service fee (about 0.5% plus a tiny fixed amount).
MetaMask and Phantom feel great to use, but that extra ~0.85–0.875% adds up fast. Atomic and Guarda sit in the middle (roughly half a percent plus partner costs). Exodus and ZenGo can get pricey depending on the pair and the provider’s spread.
If you keep just three rules in mind, you’ll save real money:
- Prefer limit (maker) orders on CEX whenever you can.
- Turn on the exchange-token discount (BNB, KCS, etc.).
- For stable swaps, pick 0.01–0.05% pools on a cheap network and avoid wallet markups.
Do that, and your fee line goes from “silent profit leak” to “rounding error.”