Buying bitcoin, with the fees written down
The same order can cost you 1.49 percent or 0.20 percent at Gemini, on the same account, depending on which of its two screens you place it from. Pay with a debit card at Coinbase and the fee is 4.2 percent. Most of what a first purchase costs is decided before any of it reaches the market.
This site compares five exchanges on what they charge, where they operate and whether they let you move the coins out afterwards. Fees are copied by hand from the pages linked in each row, and each row carries the date it was read.
Five exchanges side by side
| Exchange | Simple buy | Advanced screen | Debit card | UK | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraken | 1 % on an instant buy in the app The instant buy quotes one price with the fee inside it. Kraken Pro shows the order book, so there the fee and the price are two numbers you can read separately. | 0.25 % maker on Kraken Pro | card processing on top, the rate depends on the payment method | Kraken still serves UK clients. Its affiliate and referral programs closed to UK residents on 2025-08-08. | Sep 11, 2026 |
| Coinbase | about 0.5 % spread on a simple buy, plus the Coinbase fee The simple buy screen prints one number and folds the spread into it. The same order on Advanced Trade costs a fraction of that, and it is the same account. | 0.40 % maker and 0.60 % taker on Advanced Trade | 4.2 % on a debit card | The UK affiliate program is reported closed. Second-hand, not read on their site. | Sep 11, 2026 |
| Gemini | 1.49 % minimum on a simple buy The gap between the simple screen and ActiveTrader is the widest of the five, 1.49 against 0.20 percent, and switching costs nothing. | 0.20 % maker and 0.40 % taker on ActiveTrader | 3.49 % on a debit card | Closed to UK and EU account holders in 2026 | Sep 11, 2026 |
| eToro | 1 % on the buy and 1 % again on the sell One rate for everyone below the Club tiers, so there is no cheaper screen to switch to. The 1 % is charged twice over a round trip. | the same 1 %, lower only at the higher Club tiers, down to 0.10 % | not checked | Authorised by the FCA and open to UK buyers | Sep 11, 2026 |
| Bitstamp | 1.8 % fixed spread on Basic Trading, plus up to 0.5 % more when the market is volatile Basic Trading folds a fixed 1.8 % into the quoted price and adds a volatility spread of up to 0.5 % on top. The same order on the order book costs 0.40 % as a taker, and the maker rate falls with monthly volume, down to zero above $100 million. | 0.30 % maker and 0.40 % taker on the order book below $10,000 a month | 4 % on Instant Purchase by debit or credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay | Bitstamp UK Ltd is FCA registered for crypto activities, Faster Payments withdrawal 2 GBP | Sep 26, 2026 |
A cell that reads "not checked" means nobody has read that fact on the exchange's own page. Treat it as unknown rather than as a no.
What the table comes down to
Every exchange here runs two storefronts. One is a simple screen built for someone buying for the first time, with a single price and the cost folded into it. The other is an order book, where the fee is printed separately and is between two and seven times smaller. The account, the identity check and the balance are the same. Only the screen changes.
Cards are the other expensive habit. A 4.2 percent card fee on 1 000 dollars is 42 dollars for the convenience of not waiting two days for a bank transfer. Bank transfers are free or close to it at all five.
Where you live decides more than either. Kraken serves no one in New York or Maine, Gemini covers all fifty states, Coinbase all but Hawaii, and eToro's US arm sits out of nine. Check your own state before you compare a single fee.
If this is your first purchase
The order that works is dull and it holds up: pick an exchange that operates where you live, get the identity check out of the way, fund the account by bank transfer, place the order from the advanced screen, then withdraw the coins to a wallet you hold the keys to. The last step is the one people skip.
- How to buy bitcoin Six steps, in the order they happen.
- The exchanges Every column of the table, one exchange at a time.
- Fees Simple against advanced, card against bank, and the spread.
- Wallets Moving the coins off the exchange, and what a seed phrase is.
- In the UK What the FCA rules changed, and who pulled out.
- Questions Minimums, waiting times, and what happens if an exchange fails.