Top where to buy crypto compared

About Top where to buy crypto compared

Buying crypto comes down to cost and who holds the coins. This ranking covers 171 places to buy crypto and scores each one on what a trade costs, on what the account offers, and on trust. The trade-off runs through all of it. A platform that charges almost nothing to trade may hold a short list and keep custody, while one that lists a long menu and adds staking usually charges more. Most brands here are centralised, at 97.6% of the category, and most are custodial, at 77.8%, so your balance sits with the company until you withdraw it. Funding is mostly by bank and card, and support ranges from a single help centre to email, chat and phone. Read the fee first, then check who is regulated and who holds the keys.

How we picked

Scores here rest on three inputs, weighted for the way crypto buyers actually decide. Cost carries 35%, trust carries 40% and the breadth of the offer carries 25%. A cheap platform with a thin coin list and thin support cannot outrank a slightly pricier one that is properly regulated, publishes proof of reserves and covers the coins most people want. Cost means maker and taker fees, plus withdrawal fees where they are published. Trust means regulators, custody model, and whether a brand publishes proof of reserves. The offer means coin count, funding routes, staking, cards and support channels. Figures come from each brand's own published pages, its fee schedules and public regulator registers, and each number carries its own figure rather than a summary. Where entries belong to the same company, such as the Bit2Me and eToro pairs, every entry is scored only on the facts attached to it. Partners are listed first, then the rest in score order, and the position in the list follows that score.

Our top picks

1. 1. eToro

   Same firm, same pricing, same regulator: this eToro entry lists from 150 coins, charges 1% to takers, is run by eToro (Europe) Ltd in Cyprus and is registered with Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and SIPC. Withdrawing costs $5 flat fee, and support runs on help centre alone. It sits just under the eToro listing above it in this ranking because the two share every figure that matters for buying crypto, so the decision comes down to the account you hold. The next brand here, Vivid Plus, is also custodial with staking and lists from 300 coins, but it takes 2.25% from takers, the steepest taker charge in this ranking, and its support runs on help centre and chat.

   • Monthly fee: €0
   • Currency conversion fee: 0%
   • Free ATM withdrawals: €2,500 to €12,000

   Pros

   • Card upkeep with monthly fee at €0 and Visa acceptance for everyday spending.
   • Currency conversion at 0% with balances across 4 for travel use.
   • Cashback at 4% on debit spending with functions covering multi currency, crypto and travel.

   Cons

   • Trading taker fee is 1%, above the site median of 0.25% for frequent traders.
   • Broker withdrawals carry a charge of $5, which adds cost for moving funds off the platform.

2. 2. eToro: best for eToro

   eToro is a trading and investing platform where users can buy crypto assets.

   • Taker fee: 1%
   • Coins listed: from 150
   • Regulators: Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), SIPC

   Pros

   • Regulated in Cyprus by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under MiCA CASP 213800GIFQMSV7HROS23 and a member of SIPC under SIPC member 70212
   • A coin list of from 150 sits well above the 62 site median
   • Fiat deposits run through card and bank, so funding works without a crypto transfer first
   • Running since 2007, so the operation is established rather than new
   • Staking is offered on a custodial basis, per custodial and staking

   Cons

   • A taker fee of 1% is far above the 0.2% site median and above 0% at ActivTrades
   • Withdrawals cost $5 flat fee, which adds to every round trip
   • Support runs on help centre only, with no live channel listed
   • Custody sits with the platform through custodial and staking, so coins are held by the exchange rather than by the account holder

What to look for

Cost of the trade itself

Taker fees across this category run from 0% to 5.5%, with a median of 0.25% and the lower quartile at 0.1%. Maker fees and withdrawal fees matter too on brands that publish them.

Length of the coin list

The median brand in this ranking lists 60 coins, the upper quartile reaches 305 and the lower quartile sits at 25. Check that the coins you want are on the list, not just that it is long.

Who holds the coins

Custodial accounts are the norm at 77.8% of this category, against 13.8% that let you hold the keys yourself. Self-custody removes the platform from the chain of custody and puts key management on you.

Regulator on the licence

Licensed brands make up 131 of this category, so a named regulator is a useful filter. It tells you who is accountable, not what a trade costs or how many coins you can buy.

Proof of reserves

Published by 78.2% of the brands in this category, against 21.8% that do not. It is a trust signal rather than a guarantee, and it matters most on custodial accounts.

Support when something goes wrong

A help centre is offered by 91.6% of brands in this category, email by 64.1% and live chat by 44.9%. A single channel means a single route to a person when an order goes wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Top where to buy crypto compared by country

• Australia
• Canada
• Germany
• India
• Philippines
• Singapore
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV