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A bitcoin exchange is a company that lets you trade dollars for bitcoin, holds your coins until you move them, and sells them back to dollars when you want out. In the US, the ones worth using are licensed, verify your identity, and keep customer dollars at real banks.
We compare the seven below on the things that matter to a beginner: what a $100 buy really costs after fees and spread, how easy the app is, which coins it sells, whether it helps you move bitcoin to your own wallet, whether it serves every US state, and how long it has run without losing customer money. Each has a full review; this page is the overview.
How we compare them
- Fees. Not the headline rate but the all-in cost of a small buy, including the spread, the hidden gap between the price you pay and the market price. On some apps the spread is bigger than the fee.
- Ease. How many taps from signup to your first purchase, and whether the app explains what it is doing or buries you in charts.
- Coins. Whether it sells only bitcoin, bitcoin plus ether and a few majors, or hundreds of tokens. More is not automatically better for a beginner.
- Custody options. Custody means who holds the keys to your coins. Every exchange here lets you withdraw to your own wallet, but some make it a one-time chore and others build it in as a scheduled habit.
- US availability. Crypto licensing is state by state, and New York in particular requires a separate license. We note where each exchange cannot serve you.
- Trust record. Years in operation, whether customer funds have ever been lost, regulatory actions, and whether the company is based in the US and answers to US regulators.
All seven are available to US customers, verify identity under the same federal rules, and none has collapsed and taken customer money with it the way FTX did in 2022. Beyond that, they are built for different people, which is why the cards below do not have a single winner.
Kraken
Veteran exchange, US and Canada, with pro tools and reserves proof
- Coins
- Hundreds of cryptocurrencies (600+ pairs) plus US stocks and ETFs
- Fees
- Kraken Pro 0.40% maker / 0.80% taker at the entry tier (falls with volume); simple app 1% on instant and recurring buys, 1.5% on custom orders, plus a spread; ACH deposits free
- Custody
- Custodial; withdraw to your own wallet on-chain (0.000015 BTC fee) or over Lightning; no retail vault or multisig product
- Best for
- Buyers in the US (outside New York and Maine) or in Canada who want an established, regulated exchange and will use the Pro interface to keep fees low
- Free ACH and wire deposits and free ACH withdrawals
- Quarterly proof of reserves you can verify yourself (BTC 102.9% backed as of June 30, 2026)
- Operating since 2011 with no known theft of customer funds from its exchange wallets
- Not available in New York or Maine (US)
- Simple app pricing is 1% or more plus a spread; debit-card deposits cost 3.75%
- Insider data incidents in 2025 and 2026 exposed limited support data for about 2,000 accounts (no funds lost)
Coinbase
Biggest US exchange, also in Canada: easy on-ramp, pricey buys
- Coins
- 360+ crypto assets, plus US stocks, ETFs and prediction markets
- Fees
- Simple buys include a spread plus a Coinbase fee that depends on payment method and size (shown at checkout); Advanced Trade has no spread and volume-tiered maker/taker fees; Coinbase One from $4.99/month waives trading fees
- Custody
- Custodial; withdraw to your own wallet any time; optional Coinbase Vault with a 48-hour delay; separate self-custody Coinbase Wallet app
- Best for
- Beginners in the US or Canada who want the simplest, most regulated on-ramp and will use Advanced Trade or keep purchases small
- Publicly traded (Nasdaq: COIN, in the S&P 500) with audited financials and a New York BitLicense since 2017
- Easy to leave: withdraw to your own wallet any time, or use the free Coinbase Wallet app
- Available in all 50 states with bank, card and PayPal funding
- Simple buy/sell pricing is opaque: a spread plus a fee only revealed at checkout
- May 2025 insider data breach exposed personal data of about 69,000 customers
- No exchange-wide proof of reserves; relies on public-company audits instead
Gemini
New York-chartered custodian; use ActiveTrader to avoid the markup
- Coins
- Roughly 100+ cryptocurrencies (125 listed as tradable in May 2026), plus US stocks and ETFs
- Fees
- ActiveTrader 0.60% maker / 1.20% taker at the entry tier; simple Gemini Mode buys carry an unpublished fee plus a spread; ACH free, debit card 3.49%, USD wire withdrawal $25
- Custody
- Custodial (Gemini Trust Company, a New York-chartered qualified custodian); withdraw to your own wallet with a network-based fee
- Best for
- US buyers who prioritize a New York-regulated, audited custodian and are willing to learn ActiveTrader
- New York trust charter, SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type 2 audits by Deloitte, and customer funds held 1:1
- Free ACH deposits and withdrawals
- Gemini Earn customers were repaid in full in 2024, and the SEC dropped its Earn case in January 2026
- Simple-mode pricing is opaque and can total well over 2% all-in
- Debit-card buys cost 3.49% and wire withdrawals $25
- Heavy 2025 losses, 2026 layoffs and executive departures after its September 2025 IPO
Strike
Bitcoin-only app: free withdrawals, fee-free recurring buys, Lightning
- Coins
- Bitcoin only
- Fees
- One-time buys tiered by monthly volume (0.89%-0.99% for small buys, falling below 0.5% at high volume); recurring buys free after the first week; ACH and wire deposits free; on-chain withdrawals free on the slower Flexible tier
- Custody
- Custodial (Strike holds keys in-house, mostly multisig cold storage); free on-chain withdrawals and auto-withdrawals to your own wallet; Lightning sends supported
- Best for
- Bitcoin-only savers who dollar-cost average, want free withdrawals to their own wallet, or want to use Lightning
- Free on-chain withdrawals (Flexible tier) and free automatic withdrawals to your own address
- Recurring buys are fee-free after the first week; paycheck direct deposit converts to bitcoin fee-free up to $20,000 a month
- Licensed in 49 US jurisdictions including a New York BitLicense (March 2026); SOC 2 Type II audited
- No proof of reserves; you rely on Strike's statement that bitcoin is backed 1:1
- Small one-off buys pay the top fee tier; instant card deposits cost extra
- App-first with no desktop trading interface; bitcoin only, no altcoins or stocks
River
Bitcoin-only: zero-fee recurring buys, monthly proof of reserves
- Coins
- Bitcoin only
- Fees
- 1.00% on one-time buys and sells (lower above $1M) plus a spread of roughly 0.25% on buys and 0.50% on sells; recurring buys 0% after the first 7 days; ACH and wires free; one free on-chain withdrawal per month
- Custody
- Custodial, full-reserve, in-house cold storage with monthly proof of reserves; withdraw on-chain (one free send per month) or over Lightning; no user multisig product
- Best for
- US savers (outside New York and Nevada) who want zero-fee dollar-cost averaging from a transparent bitcoin-only company
- Recurring buys are 0% after the first week and one on-chain withdrawal per month is free
- Monthly on-chain proof of reserves and audited public financial statements for 2024 and 2025
- In-house full-reserve custody with SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II reports, plus Lightning and a cash account that pays interest in bitcoin
- One-time buys cost 1% plus a spread, so a lump-sum purchase runs about 1.25% all-in
- Not available to residents of New York or Nevada
- Bitcoin only, US only, and no self-custody or multisig product of its own
Swan Bitcoin
Bitcoin-only savings plans with free withdrawals, IRAs and vaults
- Coins
- Bitcoin only
- Fees
- 1% on buys and 1% on sells, first $250 of buys fee-free; $0 bitcoin and cash withdrawals; 0.03%/month custody fee if you leave coins with Swan, waived with auto-withdrawals on
- Custody
- Custodial via regulated third-party custodians (BitGo Trust; Bakkt for New York; Equity Trust for IRAs); free automatic withdrawals to your own wallet; Swan Vault 2-of-3 multisig where you hold two keys
- Best for
- Long-term savers who want a bitcoin-only plan that automatically moves coins to their own wallet, or a bitcoin IRA
- Free withdrawals plus an auto-withdraw feature that waives all custody fees
- Client bitcoin held in segregated accounts at regulated custodians and never lent out
- Broad range for holders: Swan IRA, Swan Vault multisig, guided self-custody, live in New York since November 2025
- 1% each way is higher than the best alternatives, and only the first $250 is fee-free
- Turbulent recent history: 2024 IPO cancellation and layoffs, litigation, and a pending 2026 suit from the Prime Trust estate
- No published proof of reserves
Crypto.com
All-in-one app: 400+ coins, Visa card, stocks; fees shown at checkout
- Coins
- 400+ cryptocurrencies, plus US stocks, ETFs and prediction markets
- Fees
- App buys are spread-based with fees shown only at checkout; ACH deposits free; Level Up subscription from $4.99/month removes trading fees up to $20,000/month; Exchange maker/taker advertised as low as 0.08%/0.18%
- Custody
- Custodial (1:1 reserves claimed); withdraw to whitelisted addresses; separate self-custody Crypto.com Onchain wallet app
- Best for
- People who want one app for crypto, stocks, a rewards card and staking, and do not mind spread-based pricing
- Broad licensing and certifications: FinCEN MSB, state licenses, MiCA (Malta), ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II
- SEC closed its investigation with no action in March 2025; all 483 victims of the 2022 hack were reimbursed
- Free ACH in and out, plus a genuine self-custody companion app
- No published trading-fee schedule for the App; the cost is a spread plus a fee you only see in the order preview
- Not available in New York (US)
- Proof of reserves is stale (last attestation December 2022) and perks depend heavily on the CRO token
Local Coin Swap
Peer-to-peer marketplace: coins sit in escrow, not a company wallet
- Coins
- Bitcoin plus a range of other assets, traded directly between users
- Fees
- Makers pay a percentage fee on completed trades; takers responding to an existing offer generally pay none. The price spread a counterparty sets is usually the larger cost, so check current rates on the site before trading
- Custody
- Non-custodial: coins are held in escrow released to your own wallet on completion, so there is no pooled company balance to lose or freeze
- Best for
- Buyers whose payment method or country is not served by a bank-linked exchange, and anyone who wants coins to land in their own wallet rather than an account balance
- Non-custodial escrow: no company wallet holding your balance
- Works with payment methods and in regions that bank-linked exchanges will not serve
- Coins settle to your own wallet rather than an internal account balance
- Counterparty risk replaces exchange risk: vet the trader before committing
- Reversible payment methods can be charged back after you release a trade
- Prices carry a spread, so it is usually dearer than a spot exchange
CoinZoom
US exchange app with a CoinZoom Visa card for spending crypto
- Coins
- Dozens of cryptocurrencies, plus the ZOOM token and a Visa debit card
- Fees
- Instant buys 0.75%-1.49%; order-book trading 0.44% maker / 0.60% taker before ZOOM-token discounts; ACH free, cards 3.99%; bitcoin withdrawals a flat 0.0005 BTC
- Custody
- Custodial (hot, warm and cold wallets; SOC 2 Type II claimed); no proof of reserves; deposits carry holds of up to 7 days before funds or crypto can leave
- Best for
- People who specifically want a Visa card that spends crypto; not a low-cost way to buy and hold bitcoin
- A US company with money transmitter licences in about thirty states, active in September 2026
- Free bank deposits and withdrawals
- A Visa card that spends crypto, usable without buying the ZOOM token
- A flat 0.0005 BTC bitcoin withdrawal fee, plus holds of up to seven days, makes moving small amounts to your own wallet very expensive
- Every fee discount and card reward depends on ZOOM, an illiquid in-house token about 93% below its peak
- No proof of reserves, a 2.5 Trustpilot score driven by stuck-funds complaints, and help pages that contradict each other
Uphold
Trade between crypto, precious metals and currencies in one account
- Coins
- 300+ crypto assets, plus US stocks, precious metals and national currencies
- Fees
- A spread built into the price: 1.8%-1.95% on bitcoin per Uphold's fee schedule, plus $0.99 on trades under $500; ACH deposits free, cards 3.99%; bitcoin withdrawals cost a 0.00004 BTC network fee
- Custody
- Custodial, with a self-published real-time reserves page (no independent audit found); bank-funded bitcoin cannot be withdrawn for up to 5 business days; optional paid Vault multisig supports bitcoin
- Best for
- People who want crypto, stocks, metals and currencies in one app and accept paying more for bitcoin
- Free bank deposits, and bitcoin withdrawals cost only a small fixed network fee
- Publishes its reserves in real time and says it does not lend customer funds
- One account for crypto, stocks, metals and currencies, with an optional multisignature bitcoin vault
- Expensive for bitcoin: a 1.8%-1.95% spread plus $0.99 on trades under $500, so a small buy costs around 4%
- Not available in New York, no new accounts in Louisiana, and bank-funded bitcoin cannot be withdrawn for up to five business days
- A $5 million New York settlement in 2026 and a sanctions settlement in 2023, plus steady complaints about restricted accounts
Bitcoin Well
Non-custodial: bitcoin sent straight to your own wallet
- Coins
- Bitcoin only
- Fees
- 1.2% spread on buys and sells, built into the quoted price; no withdrawal, account or deposit fees; ACH bank transfer only
- Custody
- Non-custodial: purchases are sent to your own wallet and the company never holds your bitcoin; a US dollar balance, if you fund one, is held by them
- Best for
- People who already have a wallet and want every purchase to land in it, and can wait about three business days
- Bitcoin goes straight to your own wallet: no exchange holding it and no withdrawal step
- One clear price with no withdrawal, account or deposit fees: a 1.2% spread in the US, 1.5% in Canada
- Bitcoin only, a public company with published financials, and no reported hacks
- You need a wallet before your first purchase, and mistakes cannot be undone
- Funded by ACH bank transfer in the US, about three business days to arrive, or by Interac e-Transfer or cash vouchers in Canada; no app, and limits are not published
- A small, thinly funded company, and it does not publish which US states it serves
Not sure where to start? Answer three questions and we will suggest a few. Want them lined up? Compare up to four side by side, filtered to where you live.
Which one is right for you?
Total beginner
Coinbase is the easiest first account: a clean app, the most familiar name, and the fewest surprises during signup. Its simple buy button carries a higher fee than the advanced screen, so once you are comfortable, switch to the advanced view. Gemini is a close second with a similar feel and a long record as a regulated New York trust company.
Bitcoin-only saver
If your plan is “buy a set amount every week and hold,” a bitcoin-only app removes the noise. Strike has low fees and doubles as a Lightning payment app. River and Swan are built specifically around recurring buys and automatic withdrawals to your own wallet, with Swan leaning on education and River on customer service and a US-based operation.
Active trader
Kraken has the lowest trading fees of the group at volume, a proper order book with limit orders, and one of the longest clean track records of any exchange, dating to 2011. Its Pro interface has a learning curve, but it is the one to grow into.
Wants many coins
Crypto.com lists the widest range of coins here and pairs it with a rewards card. Kraken and Coinbase also carry hundreds. Our standing advice from Other Coins applies: most of those coins will not be around in five years, so a long list is a feature only if you already know what you want.
Wants to move to self-custody easily
Self-custody means holding the keys to your bitcoin yourself instead of leaving it with a company. River and Swan make this the default path with scheduled withdrawals to a wallet you control. Strike and Kraken also make withdrawals simple and inexpensive. Read Wallets and Self-Custody first so you have somewhere to send it.
How we make money
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links: if you open an account through one, the exchange may pay us a referral fee. You pay nothing extra. We only list exchanges we would tell a friend to use, we do not rank by who pays most, and we say plainly what we do not like about each. Not every exchange here has an affiliate program with us, and that does not affect how we describe it. The full policy is in our affiliate disclosure.
Not on this list
We leave out offshore and unregulated exchanges on purpose. Many offer lower fees and no identity check, but they answer to no US regulator, may block US users without warning, and when they fail, as FTX did in 2022, US customers have little recourse. The small saving is not worth being unable to get your money out.
A few well-known US services also sell bitcoin but did not make the comparison. As of September 2026:
- Binance.US restored dollar deposits and withdrawals in February 2025 after nearly two years without them, but it is still not available in every state and its parent company’s 2023 guilty plea in the US leaves it with a trust deficit.
- Robinhood lets you buy bitcoin with no stated commission and now supports transfers to your own wallet, but the cost is hidden in the spread and the app is built to keep you trading stocks and options, not to hold bitcoin.
- PayPal and Venmo sell bitcoin and have allowed transfers to outside wallets since 2022, but fees and spreads are higher than a dedicated exchange.
- Cash App is a reasonable bitcoin-only option with wallet withdrawals and Lightning support; it lost out to Strike, River, and Swan mainly on fees for regular buys.
Head to head
Stuck between two? These pages put the closest rivals side by side, using the same verified figures as the reviews.
- Strike vs River: the two bitcoin-only savings apps.
- Coinbase vs Kraken: the two big general exchanges.